Not once in my burgeoning literary career did I sit down and exclaim, "I cannot WAIT to write a tell-all blog about Irritable Bowel Syndrome! It will be at turns bust-your-gut funny and honest, offering sassy advice and a well-rounded account of what it's like for millions of young women out there dealing with the condition." (Ineffectual masking of mission statement but really, who wants that to be their calling card? Not I said the English Major/Creative Writer...and yet here I am attempting to do exactly that.)
To be perfectly frank, I never thought I'd even get a legitimate IBS diagnosis, let alone feel compelled to broadcast my condition online to complete strangers. I have struggled with my "sensitive stomach" since birth. I'm sure that's how it starts for lots of little girls who wake up one day, fully grown, and realize that something has got to give, that their sensitivities are more than that and if they can't cure it, they have to at least educate themselves and hope to control it. IBS can be a real bitch, that's for sure. It interferes with work lives, play lives, love lives, inner lives: it's just, well, shitty. But for those of us who are lucky enough to be formally diagnosed, IBS symptoms are manageable over time with proper attentiveness and willpower. (Example: it's about knowing your body and listening to the good angel that says "Skip the DQ, sweet cheeks" and ignoring the fallen angel that says "But you LOVE ice cream!") After all, practice makes nearly perfect and I'm certainly still practicing along with you.
IBS is a real mind-blow at first and that's where I come in. I'd like to share with the masses my experiences with flare-ups and set-backs and everything good in between and to provide a place of refuge where comments are welcome along with reader advice and questions. Think of me as your Patroness of the Gurgling Gut (thus the title of this blog: "Gurgle Guts Anonymous" or GGA.) I am certainly no medical expert so please consult your doctor or G.I. Specialist before practicing any of my dietary advice as gospel truths. Most importantly, know that every body is different! It's like your period: uniquely mysterious, uniquely...inconvenient, yes, but it's part of your natural rhythms and rather than bemoan my fate, I've put my brain to what I view as a a real mission in educating young women and spreading the word about this very real and variable condition. I hope that you will benefit from my misadventures as you struggle to find humor in living with chronic gurgle gut and every pleasant side effect that comes with it!
Onward, darlings, one day at a time!
GG
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Can't wait to read more!
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