IBS and Imodium Addiction

So far on this blog, I seem to have concentrated mainly on mental health issues. I have much more to say on the subject of mental health, but today's post is going to be about one of the physical health problems from which I have suffered for several years now: IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

I don't think that I particularly need to explain what IBS means as such. Most people have a general idea and, in any case, the information is readily available, online and in books.

It is hard to explain to people how disabling IBS can become, especially as many people with mild IBS do "get on with it" and manage to lead full lives, but for me, and many others, it becomes very restrictive.  

It drastically affects my ability to get out, and to stay out for long when I do. I also suffer from other problems, including dyspraxia, agoraphobia, social phobia, reactive OCD, and depression, which combine to make it that much more difficult to get out, and to cope once I am out, and it is impossible to put each different illness into a box and treat it entirely separately, without reference to the others. 

However, often for me, at the moment, the deciding factor in whether or not I can get out will be the IBS.

As I have PCOS and endometriosis, and these conditions also make my periods worse - and the pills that I use to help with my heavy periods have the unfortunate side-effect of making my IBS symptoms that much worse - I rarely leave my flat at all during my period. 

Until recent years, I did go out during my period, but I have become more disabled by this now. My periods are even heavier than before and I have developed the endometriosis, which I did not suffer from before.

I currently take peppermint oil capsules before meals and approximately four or five Imodium tablets per day. Taking so much Imodium does have some negative side-effects, but I could not get through without it. 

The doctors, although they prescribe the medication and got me into using it initially, want me to reduce the dosage, with a view to coming off the tablet altogether, and are unsympathetic about how difficult this is for me. They reduced my prescription to three tablets per day on the week that I moved, just over a year ago now, and moving is so stressful anyway, as most people realise. Since then, the issue has not really been resolved. 

I was buying my own tablets to "top up" those prescribed, but it is becoming harder to get hold of Imodium from the stores to which I can physically get. My husband and remote carer has had to buy them for me on many occasions, which causes a great deal of conflict and stress. 

I do want to reduce my Imodium intake, as I don't even like being on medications in general, having had so many bad experiences with prescription drugs. However, I feel that I need to do this at my own pace, so that it doesn't set me back further, and potentially make me entirely housebound.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and, if you do suffer from IBS, I wish you well. You are not alone.

Getting out and about

I had been hoping to write a post on why I find it so difficult to get out and about, which is due to various factors, involving long-term physical and mental health problems. I actually attempted to put these into some sort of logical order in my mind, by creating a mind map.

However, I begin to wonder how personal I want my explanations to be. I do have a tendency to be very open, which is generally positive, but I sometimes feel that I can be a little too open. This can leave me feeling vulnerable and exposed. Also, it does offend people on occasions, and although I can't, and won't, let this stop me from being who I am, I really don't like to feel that I have upset people, and I do fear losing friends. As well as these considerations, I don't particularly want to write blog posts that sound more like answers on a DLA form, or whatever they call those forms nowadays. (I can't always keep up with the constantly changing terminology, I'm afraid.)

Anyway, I may or may not write the blog post that I originally planned to write, but for now, I would just like to mention that, although I do struggle to get out, I am trying to overcome this, with some success. I don't get out every day, but my ideal would be to do so, and I get out as many days as I can, although usually only for a short local walk. I have recently managed to get the the hairdressers on one occasion, and to a local furniture store and cafe on another. These were significant achievements for me.

I did go for a short local walk this afternoon, but to be honest, I haven't achieved much else today. This is largely because I have felt depressed and withdrawn. Writing this blog post now means that I at least have something to show for the day.

Love and blessings to all of you, and I hope that I will have more productive days to tell you about in the near future.