My IBS Team Sheet – a little bit of Acceptance

[MountainHare1]

ACCEPTANCE

After six years of living with IBS one would have thought that by now I should have accepted that I have IBS and that it is a long term condition!

Up until 3 weeks I would have told anyone and everyone that I still haven't accepted my diagnosis and to be truthful, perhaps I never will quite accept it but…

Three weeks I experienced sciatica for the first time and as I write this post I am still experiencing the numbness in my leg and also an ache, sometimes painful, lower back. Over the past fews I told my brain to accept the situation and get on with my life as normal as possible. The results have been amazing in that I hardly notice that I have the sciatica at all! I also feel as though the sciatica is getting better too.

Moving forward, I am going to apply acceptance to my IBS by getting on with my life as much as I can and to enjoy it! I am 100% confident that it will make a big difference.

Education:

If you have a friend or live with someone with IBS, one of the best things you can do for them is to accept they have a long term condition, which I know can be hard, especially as it is a 'hidden' illness. It is the human condition to have 'good days and bad', however someone who has IBS sometimes has more bad days than good and that their feelings and low mood may be a little bit more intense! May I also suggest you ask how they are feeling and encourage them to open up, and listen without judgement.

And finally…

Have you accepted that you will have IBS for the rest of your life? If you have, I guarantee your life will be so much better! Take care x

[Meleber]

I try to accept that it's 'just' a debilitating chronic functional bowel problem without currently known underlying cause I have. This is hard for me to do, to accept it and go on with my life. I've seen a lot of different medical doctors, specialist doctors for my health issues. But no MD has an idea what is really going on in my body, they weren't able to help me with their current knowledge of how our body works till now. So I might never find an answer and that part is gnawing at me, also because I felt somewhat better a couple of times, when on a course of systemic antibiotics. Still hoping against all odds that I'll find, with help of the medical doctors, the underlying biological cause for my particular health symptoms.