Hi all
Well, my husband is pretty terrific. He's easy to please and doesn't care what I cook or where we go to eat. When my IBS is under control, I can eat pretty much everything I really want to eat. Lately my IBS has really flared up and I've been avoiding restaurants. Yesterday my husband and kids wanted to go to a restaurant after church, but when we got there, there wasn't really anything I could eat that I WANTED to eat. So I watched them eat, and after awhile, I decided to just leave and come back and pick them up. I think at that moment I was feeling sorry for myself but when we got home I had an IBS safe lunch and that cheered me up.
Socially, I do sense that my husband thinks I'm a hermit and perhaps a wee bit neurotic. He made a comment the other day when I declined a social invitation, "Well, Alex has a bathroom, too, you know!" That was frustrating.
I curtail a lot of activities because of my IBS. If there isn't a bathroom nearby (and if I'm not feeling pretty good), then I don't want to go. I know my husband wants me to do more outside stuff with our kids, like go camping, but I'm to the point that if I really don't want to go, I say no and stay home.
I think my worst experience with IBS came from my nuclear family. I was told I had IBS when I was in junior high school. To this day, I don't think my family understands what IBS is, but they were just glad that I didn't have a "serious" illness. I do believe they thought it was all in my head so my mom would always harp on me to "stop worrying." I also think they thought my frequent trips to the bathroom (and my unwillingness to go to places without bathrooms) was just my way of getting attention and trying to control the situation.
IBS isn't a death sentence. You learn to make your peace with it and co-exist with it. You find friends and family that understand and support you. At least that is how it's been for me.
Janet
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