Do you tell people about IBS?
#319491 - 11/26/07 03:02 PM
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Erilyn
Reged: 11/14/07
Posts: 743
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Canada
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Do you talk to people about your IBS? I used to be mortified at the thought, but a few months ago my workplace hired a young woman (about 19 or 20) who has Crohn's. We all know she has Crohn's, because she talks about it quite openly, and without a hint of embarrassment. It struck me how candidly she could just talk about something like that – and I wished that I could be that open. It took a few months, but about a two weeks ago, completely and utterly fed up with it all, I finally just decided that I could. If she can talk about bowel issues, dietary restrictions, and all the rest so confidently, then why can't I??
I've since told a few people I never would have dreamed of telling – a couple of co-workers, a "friend-of-a-friend" acquaintance that I see semi-regularly, and even a total stranger that I just met on the weekend. It's been so liberating. And the even more surprising part? A couple of these people admitted to me that they also have IBS, or that they have a loved one with IBS! This affliction is so ridiculously common, it's not funny! And here I was hiding away from everyone for YEARS, embarrassed and afraid to talk about this HUGE part of my life.
Of course I won't tell everyone (at least until I get even braver – LOL), but even this has been such a release on my stress. Stress is a MAJOR trigger for me and it's so wonderful to just be able to tell people honestly that, "no, I can't eat that because ____", or "no, I can't commit to that event because I have ____ and haven't been feeling well lately so I won't know how I'm feeling until closer the date", and not feel like I'm making up lame excuses!
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IBS-A since age 12, and fructose sensitive; with the exception of my pregnancy, have been following Heather's diet since Nov. 19, 2007.
Taking 12g of Acacia per day. Relatively stable since March 2008!
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Yeah, my co-workers totally know what's going on. It was a great stress reliever letting them know, plus I could count on them to cover me when I would have to run out of the classroom.
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Susan
IBS-A, Gas, Pain, Reflux
"The first in time and the first in importance of the influences upon the mind is that of nature. Every day, the sun; and after sunset, night and her stars. Ever the winds blow; ever the grass grows."
Emerson, August 31, 1837
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A few of my co-workers know about it and so do all of my family and friends. I didn't tell anyone for years, but once I did it was such a relief. It helped them understand why I can't eat everything or why somedays I feel really bad and can't participate in certain things. Good for you for starting to tell people about it!
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I have always been upfront with people about my ibs. When you share you will be surprised by how much care and concern your friends and co-workers show towards you.
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 Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow”. Mary Anne Radmacher
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I used to not talk about it at all and I was so embarrassed to talk about it until last year. You'd be surprised how many people have ibs as well. One day, I mentioned that I had it to someone at work and they said they had it too. After that, I felt more comfortale telling people that I have ibs. Your right it is liberating to be able to talk about it some times and not hide it! 
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Ibs-d and fructose sensitive.
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This is easy to talk about since its not considered purely mental anymore...the minute i got it, i started talking about it ....panic disorder is much harder for me since it has more of a mental stygma.......
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All of my immediate coworkers know and I had to tell them because I was constantly leaving work early or calling in sick and often times I'd turn right back around. I remember the day I told my boss upon turning right back around one morning and I just broke down and she couldn't believe it cause I never look sick, I'm always smiling and joking--just being me. I fessed up about it back in June. My coworkers are the best. Sure, they've seen me break down in tears on those rough mornings (me, a girl with tattoos crying, wtf?) Anyway, I couldn't ask for a better group of folks, that and the fact that they've known me since I was 17 (I'm 33 now) and they know that I'm not the slacking kind. Outside of my team of immediate workers, only a few others know. Anyone else I've not told is because some people ask how you're doing not because they care, but because they're just nosey and for those I always have one of my Wendy Special Sarcastic/Wise Ass Comments or I just simply say that I have food sensitivities and call it a day.
However, what my immediate coworkers don't know is that 3/4 of my battle is the anxiety and that is what would bring on the tears on those mornings--not the fact that I couldn't eat certain things, but the fact that I just had a rough subway ride (the train may've been stuck for several minutes in a tunnel and so I internally panick) and by the time I'm sitting at my desk, the tears would flow because I'd start to worry about making it through the day and making it home on the unpredictable subway and eventually, the anxiety would sloooowly dissipate. They do know that I've been fighting Meniere's disease since '96 and that's a huge cause for dizziness and nausea. I tell them that they can just say I'm a dizzy broad! Hey, I've got to find humor in some of this 'cause otherwise I'd be more useless than a pecker on a pope! (Don't mean to offend anyone out there, it's just my humor)
Having said that, don't be embarassed about anything. Usually, and in most cases, when you open up about something, you're opening the door to receive so much help and knowledge from others who may know of someone or may have their own little secret disease/syndrome etc. We're all human and all we can do is listen and comprehend each other.
I hear my tea kettle. Time for some fennel tea!
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Wendy IBS A thru Z 
Taking it one day at a time...
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There is so much relief in telling and talking to people about it! Of course my family and close friends know. But also my co-workers, bosses included, know what's going on with me and they are so understanding. There is no shame!!!!! Talking helps and it is surprising to learn how many other people have it or know someone who does 
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This is what I tell people at work (I avoid the term IBS because it's so demonized and I don't want to be a punchline):
"I have a stomach condition that I take medicine for. But the medicine has side effects, so it's easier to control what I eat. This is why I can't have what you guys eat all the time.
"Also sometimes I get bad anxiety and pain, so if you see me acting moody, it's probably nothing that anybody did. It's just my stupid body getting carried away."
At this point, if anyone asks what I have, I just pull out 3 or 4 prescription bottles and say, it's all stomach related." That usually shuts them up, when they see the bottles.
I never want to tell them "I poo aaall the time" or "I have naaasty trapped gas." So instead I just act really serious and instead of naming foods or symptoms one by one just say "The medicine controls my symptoms 90% of the time."
Hope this helps
~nelly~
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