Geri, I hear what you are saying, I do. But I also spent years ignoring my IBS symptoms, then when I realized it wasn't going away, I spent a lot of time trying to get through my days the best I could, which got more and more difficult because it got worse. I tried to do things and pretend it wasn't there or it didn't bother me. None of that helped, and in fact only a few months ago I was feeling the sickest I ever had. That's when I decided it was time to listen to my body and take care of it. For the past 3 months or so I've been approaching it from every angle I can think of: doctors, special diets, learning everything I can about it, herbal supplements, anxiety management, hypnosis, exercise, and now therapy. I will say I am doing better and I've ruled out a lot of really horrible things, but my symptoms persist. I am debilitated some days. I fight with depression over my poor quality of life. I am isolated. I think there is hope that I will feel better, but feeling better is not going to happen by ignoring it. It takes active work on my part, which requires that I think about it a lot. I need to be in tune with my body to see what is working and what isn't. And I continue to tweek how I am treating it because I am still so symptomatic. The fact of the matter is, I can't get on with the rest of my life until I am feeling well enough on a consistent basis that I don't have to think about every single bite of food, every potential stressor, etc.
So I wonder in doing all that, am I making myself worse? A part of me thinks so. But it's difficult to manage it and not make it your primary focus. I feel sickly compared to the people around me, so I know I am defining myself in that way. But I also know I am much more than that. It's just hard to focus on that other stuff right now.
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Re: How do we seperate ourselves from our illness?
