Please help I am sad scared and tired of living with this

Hi Kathy!  I'm sorry to hear your IBD has got you down.  The past year has been pretty bad for me too.  I'm very lucky in that I have an understanding boss, and I was able to work out a situation where I could work from home when I was so sick that I was basically stuck at home - which was for a period of about 2 months earlier this year... but it was also during a slow work time, so who knows what would have happened if it had gotten busy while I was still really sick!  I hope you can find a job where you can work something out - good luck!

I'm always here to empathize, or just "listen" to you vent, so feel free to contact me whenever you need to!

ali

Kathy,

You are not alone. I believe that at least at one time or another all IBDers go through something similar to what you describe. When my first big-time flare hit, it hit with a vengeance and I was pretty much in that flare for more than a year. I was a journalist at the time running to cover stories and my boss and I had to agree that I couldn't do it anymore in the physical state I was in. Thankfully, my husband was 1. employed; 2. helpful and understanding, and 3. extremely patient with me and my situation.

I tried everything and finally found a combo of things that really help me whether in a flare or not - I wrote a book about it all called Living with IBD & IBS: A Personal Story of Success. When in a flare I figured out I could only eat very basic things like rice, yogurt, baked chicken or white fish, scrambled eggs, toast, bananas, and weak Gatorade to help keep my electrolytes up. I also had to learn to listen to my body, and when it told me it needed I rest, I had to rest. Out of a flare, I still eat a restricted diet, which I figured out by doing an elimination diet and keeping a food journal, both helped me to identify foods that aggravated my gut (you can see my blogs on this site about doing both). I also learned about meditation, rhythmic breathing, yoga, and stress reduction techniques which are helpful for maintaining a sense of psychological calm.

Turn to an IBD support group if you can - go to the Crohn's and Colitis website and it should give you a list of support groups. It can be very helpful, in addition to sites like this, to actually BE with other people who GET what you are going through. I love my husband very much, and he has been more than patient and helpful and understanding in the past 11 years I've been dealing with all of this, but when it gets down to it he still can't REALLY understand what it's like to be in my body, to have to live with limitations, and to not ever really know when your gut is going to go off the deep end.

Other IBDers get all of this, and a good number of us have learned how to live a decent life despite it, even though we've gone through periods of terrible flares, having to put life on hold, and in some instances being hospitalized to get a grip on it.

You're not alone, keep letting us know how you're doing.

Cheers,

Elizabeth