Life with an autoimmune disease

I woke up one day in 2014 and my body had changed. No longer could I describe myself as a "healthy" twenty five year old. My body decided it was time to start attacking itself in the form of an autoimmune disease. Crohn's. 

At first I had no idea what I had, I just knew I was using the bathroom a lot and loosing weight. My days are still a lot like this, but now I'm using the bathroom while two toddlers dig through my make up bag as I beg them to put my Naked pallet down. 

Life with an autoimmune disease is hard. I'm not going to sugar coat it and make it sound like it's not a tough life. Because it is. In more ways than people realize. 

You are tired. ALL. THE. TIME. 

When stuff is coming out of your body as fast as it goes in energy depletes, quickly. Add in being a wife, mother and any other hats you wear. A sloth is literally my spirit animal at this point.  The fatigue is real, yall. 

Weird stuff happens to your body. 

One day you are fine and the next you have a fistula connecting your bladder to your bowels. You have things coming out of places they shouldn't be, and your just praying the Dr is going to fix you. 

People don't understand. Including doctors. 

Everyone thinks they know what's best for you. They read an article and now are qualified to diagnose and hand out treatment advice. It gets really annoying to listen to people tell you what you need to do to feel better. As if you hadn't tried already. Doctors pass you around, afraid to touch you. It is extremely frustrating when you go to the Doctor as your safe haven or ally but they nicely shoot you down. A doctor literally told me to my face "Crohns  is worse than having Cancer". 

You are constantly learning about body. 

What to eat, what not to eat. How much stress you can handle before throwing yourself into a flare. How long after you eat until you'll need a bathroom. The learning curve never ends. 

Coping with no cure.

Have you ever had to live with the thoughts that you are sick and never will get better? That is a rough pill to swallow. Knowing that no matter what you do your disease will never be cured, only managed. Trying to cope with that is pretty depressing some days. 

Lots of procedures and medicines. 

Sometimes I feel like a medical science project. Since there is no cure for my disease I am constantly trying new medicines, having multiple procedures done, surgeries, doctor visits. I should just take up residence in the hospital to save money gas. 

I have a long line of family autoimmunities. My father and sister has psoriasis. My mother possibly has Lupus. I have Crohn's. While each one is different on its own, each one of these conditions take a toll on a persons mental and physical health. If you have a friend or family member who has an autoimmune disease, try to remember to be cautious with your words, too many times have I heard women say "I wish I had your problem" as I dwindled down in weight. Be helpful when you can. I promise were not just being lazy laying on the couch, sometimes we really don't have the energy to get up and get the glass of water we asked for. As much as you think you are helpful and good hearted-  a lot of the time we don't appreciate unsolicited advice about diets, medicines, sales gimmicks or what your cousins brother did to cure his disease.