Everyone should have a support system, or have people they can talk to about there disease. Unfortunately, some of the people you may speak with can only understand to a certain extent.
My fiancé lives with me, so he sees me take over twelve pills a day. He also witnesses me injecting a needle into my skin. He sees how easily fatigued I get, or irritable I can be. Not only that, but sometimes he is even lucky enough to go with me to my doctors appointments!
I do tell my sister and father about my IBD and keep them up to date on what is going on with me. My mom makes food when I see her that I can eat, to get me some variety. I think they do a good job understanding what I am going through, but like most people I speak to about it you can hear in there voice the relief that it is not them, or, that they wish it was them instead.
I also go to a support group every other month through the CCFA. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a little more support. My fiancé and I go together and it has been very helpful. It can be comical and it can also be sad, or even inspiring.
We don’t sit in a circle and complain talking about how many bathroom trips we take. (Though it is mentioned)! We talk about medicine we have tried, side effects, embarrassing moments, daily challenges, break downs, foods, symptoms, and anything else we have on our minds. It is helpful to see people going through the same challenges you are. We try to help each other out and also give awareness to our disease.
If you have a support system through your family, or support group, or both; it is important to have one. Keeping everything in makes it harder to cope with and stress is not good for people with IBD!
Who is your biggest supporter? Would you ever go to a support group?
justjennifer101 