My Bowel is Going Night Night

First, forgive me for the length between posts. I have been attempting to keep up with a post a week; but hte last few weeks, I was just so indecisive about what topic to tackle next. Don't get me wrong - there is plenty to talk about and rant on; but my IBS-Muse just wasn't attacking (so to speak).

I have talked a lot about the pain associated with IBS. And yes, that is a big part of this chronic illness (as well as many chronic illnesses). But this last week, I have been suffering from a different symptom that affects day to day life: fatigue.

For the last week there has just been this aura of constant dragginess and drowsiness. I have been sleeping just fine. Eating fine. Staying hydrated. Stress levels are normal-ish. But if you let me go home right now, to my bed, I could easily sleep the next 18 hours with no difficulty.

This is different than depression. For me, when I have fallen into a depression - the will to get up and face the day is gone. It is like a lead weight on your chest keeping your from moving and taking away your want to move.

The fatigue with IBS; I can get up and go through my day. There is no lead weight. It is a general sense of "tired". I feel like I have been pulling all-nighers for final exams multiple nights in a row and caffeine is the only thing keeping me human.

My eyes want to close. My muscles feel as though they have been put through the ringer. It is like the last few days of a really bad flu that knocks you on your ass; only all the time.

And I feel like these types of issues are what gets forgotten. When someone asks you how you are feeling and you reply with "exhausted" there is an expectation for the reason you are so exhausted. People assume you are over-working yourself, you hit the gym too hard, you couldn't sleep all night; but in reality....you are just tired. Your body is trying to catch up on healing (especially if it has been some time between flare-ups).

Now, I get through my work days in a daydream of pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals to cuddle. Because even as I type this, I feel as though I could take a nap on this keyboard.

Alas, reality doesn't allow that to happen. Bills have to be paid. Relationships have to be kept up. And when this symptom lingers along, the bed is just a dream. Time doesn't stop for IBS.

Comments

  1. CherizacJuly 12, 2017 at 7:55 PM

    My parents just visited for a week. Not even a week, Monday through Thursday. I feel like a steam roller pancaked me on the highway in 110 degree heat. I totally get the exhaustion. I hope it passes soon.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This is the Face of IBS

Image
This is the face of IBS. This is today. In a stall at work. A normal day, just like any other. Then it suddenly happens. A slight cramp of the stomach. A feeling of dread. Your mind racing to what you ate prior to this - did it have onion in it? Garlic? Another trigger that you missed? But you were so careful. This is the face of person hiding in her office bathroom. She is in a pain that you can't notice from a snapshot. Her body is seemingly failing her or punishing her for attempting to live a life. This is the Face of IBS. Here is what you don't see on the face. You don't see my hand putting pressure on my abdomen because I have talked myself into believing the pressure helps the pain. It doesn't, but habit has me do this anyway if for nothing else but the placebo effect. You can't see the wave of pure exhaustion that washed over my body. I started out the day with so much energy, ready to tackle the pile of projects that awaited me. However the cra...
Read more

The Career of IBS

So, let's talk about the workforce. A difficult thing to navigate even without a chronic illness. There are so many rules, regulations, and personalities when it comes to jobs. For a person with no health issues, it can still be a gauntlet of social graces, sales goals, and never-ending charm of customer service. For someone with a chronic illness, the gauntlet changes a bit into number of sick days, number of breaks throughout the day, and how to combat your own body/mind to get through a shift. Again, I only speak of this from my own experience with IBS. Other illnesses have a whole mess of their own challenges that I am not qualified to speak on. But with IBS, let me take you through the journey of jobs. I started noticing I had stomach issues back in middle school. At that time, it was just called a nervous stomach. The nerves you had going through the middle school routine could cause disruptions. I didn't think much of it, I just figured it was a phase. But when I had...
Read more

Excuse Me, Waiter.....There Appears to be ONIONS in my meal!

The whole social nicety of going out to eat turns into a battleground if you are an unlucky person with allergies or sensitivities. Let me pain the picture of a recent restaurant interaction..... I am sitting at a table across from my mother. Our conversation is going well and we are going to go to one of our favorite movie events after eating (Rifftrax Live for the win!). I order a Cobb Salad without tomatoes or onions. Now since I have IBS, my sensitivities differ from others. Some reading this may be thinking - I WISH that was all I had to ask for off of a salad. But I digress....either one of those items would mean that I don't get to last through the movie due to a flare-up. After ordering, we go back to our conversation. A few minutes pass by when the manager (not the server) comes up to our table and asks me, "The no tomatoes or onions thing? Is that an allergy or just a general you don't like it?" Now this gentleman didn't mean to irk me with his...
Read more