This is part three of a multi-part series addressing misunderstandings and stigma around people who deal with consistent pain.
This post is all about:
Stomach Pain
I think it is fairly safe to say that most of us have experienced or will have experience with stomach pain/stomach upset. I am not referring, necessarily, to the kind of stomach pain that arises from indigestion, or from being too full. I am, instead, talking about stomach pain that comes on with sharp, intense pain, and lasts for hours or days. Maybe it's a flu bug. Perhaps it is severe constipation. Maybe you have developed a stomach ulcer and have experienced some level of inflammation. Or even food poisoning.
Think about the last time you had something like this. I mean, with a cold you can often ignore it and still manage to get into work (despite being encouraged to stay home rather than infect the entire office). Stomach pain, though, especially if it is accompanied by fairly frequent vomiting, or the all-embarrassing diarrhea, is usually distracting enough to force us to stay at home. We already feel exhausted, even before we start vomiting, and our bodies are sore - everywhere - for hours before the real symptoms appear.
When you feel nauseated, when you know you are going to vomit within the next few hours, what is your focus like? Can you concentrate on much of anything? Or do you power through it like a rockstar... can you get all of your work done in between vomiting fits, then wipe your brow, wash your hands, and get right back to work? Add in some stomach cramps and problems trying to fall asleep and it feels like a full-blown assault to your system.
I would venture to guess that if an individual is dealing with, let's say, just the stomach cramping and diarrhea every 3 hours, that that person would probably want to stay home. They may not be able to, but they would be tempted to do so. If that person is attempting to finish certain tasks, their concentration and productivity is markedly reduced.
If that person does not have diarrhea, but has vomited several times already and no longer has an appetite, their concentration might be reduced even more so.
Did you know that people describe inflammation in the bowels as like having a flu that never goes away?
People who are diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease are essentially expected to live with flu-like symptoms for the rest of their lives. Every day: nausea, diarrhea, bloating, vomiting, cramping, exhaustion, pain while eating, and changes in appetite. Scared to eat. Scared to sleep. People say they get 'used to it' but that's not always the case. These cramping fits can drop a person to their knees. Sometimes they'll even involuntarily hold their breath and sit absolutely still until the cramp has passed. Their eyes dart around any room they enter looking for 1. The nearest washroom and 2. The nearest bucket to puke in if need be. Many of these individuals will adopt a more hunched posture from the pain, and they will learn how to hide their symptoms due to embarrassment or fear of criticism.
Plus, we all know that hearing someone complain about the same thing over and over again is super annoying.
Someone with all of these symptoms, on a regular basis, is never going to be able to function at 100%. Ever. In anything. Each symptom has its own level of distraction and requires its own coping mechanism. It's like having someone screaming in your ear while you are trying to have a conversation with someone else. Or someone inserting a nail into your abdomen while you try to finish a transaction - all with a straight face. Your brain, however sophisticated, cannot address that level of organ dysfunction along with every other task or responsibility each day.
The problem is that this reduction in function is not visible. We cannot see the screaming inside the person's ear. We cannot see the lacerations and the blood gushing out of a person's internal organs. There is no appearance of dramatic changes, internal cramping, or building nausea.
All we see is someone wince, or slow down, or walk swiftly into the washroom. What it looks like is a bad attitude, or something similar to a stubbed toe or a regular headache. If we could actually see what these organs are doing, it would be much more difficult to ignore or dismiss.
Imagine your worst experience with a flu bug. Now imagine that level of discomfort occurring every two weeks, lasting a week, for three months. Then for six months. Then a year. Then five years.
That is two weeks out of every month for five years feeling so unwell you can barely stand up straight. Could you imagine feeling that way for 2-5 years before ever finding out what was wrong? Could you imagine being told that the cramping and daily vomiting is 'all in your head'?
50% of your entire life. Spent in or around the washroom, but deemed not a measurable physical problem.
That is what Inflammatory Bowel Diseases feel like, although it is not always 50% of the time. It might be more. It might be less. It might be severely distracting, it might be mildly distracting. Either way, it is a daily, constant, flu-bug that sticks around. Makes a home in your system but manages to hide just enough from physicians to be dismissed as stress, or some hypochondriac's idea of a fun time.
Invisible diseases are assholes.
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