Eating the same 3 meals for days or weeks or months on end because you know they won’t make you sick
Being too exhausted to even think of trying new foods, even if they’re supposedly low-FODMAP, because you feel like they still might make you sick
Being unable to take pleasure in any food at all because it’s just a chore at this point
Becoming a recluse because all social gatherings involve either food or alcohol
“Does this have onions in it?”
Everything pre-made or prepackaged has garlic and onion in it. Fucking everything.
Being offered desserts and having to go through the, “I’m gluten intolerant. Oh no I can’t have dairy either. No I can’t really eat most fruit I’m sorry. Chocolate’s a no, too. Y’know what this all probably has too much sugar anyway, forget it.”
The utter dread of travel.
Packing both laxatives and anti-diarrheals because you never know which one it’s going to be this time
The constant, gnawing anxiety that somehow you’re going to fuck it up and die, either from dehydration or sepsis, and it’ll be the most embarrassing and ignominious death of all time
“Well what CAN you eat?!”
Constant abdominal pain and discomfort
Going through four rolls of toilet paper a week
Sore legs, hips, back, abs, arms, shoulders from endless hours on the toilet
Giving up on eating completely because it’s not worth it
Feeling utterly hopeless because there’s neither cure nor medication, and feeling like nobody’s working on making one because it’s not serious enough to matter
Feeling like nobody could ever love/be intimate with you because your body is broken and gross
Feeling like you can never do anything fun because your body is broken and gross
Feeling like you’re “not sick enough” to be part of the chronic illness community
Feeling alone and miserable because you can’t talk about your chronic illness with anyone, at all, because it’s gross
Feel free to add your own, and remember: there’s seventy million of us worldwide.
