Just need to vent

Katie - sorry to hear you're having trouble at work. Yes I agree public bathrooms are not ideal. I have a mind trick that seems to work for me, I close my eyes, take a deep breath and pretend I am at home, in my favorite bathroom. Does it work? Crazy as it sounds, it does - at least half the time. I also pretend my gut is not heaving and rolling and the bm's keep coming. I almost force myself to relax my gut area and concentrate on feeling better. Again, does it work - this one is hard to pull off. You can't stop the physical aspects of IBS with a mental attitude but it does seem to calm my nerves.

I've done this so many times.

And also as crazy as this sounds, I prefer a public bathroom with many stalls as opposed to an individual one that someone would be knocking on all the time. I have to take my time when I'm messed up and there's no way I can leave a stall until I'm done (for that bm session).

I know how sick of it all you must feel. And to be only 24! I'm old enough to be your mom, you lose some of your embarrassment when you're older (I'm 53). Even if I let a fart rip, I figure, heck, I'm an old fart (LOL), who cares? I would probably feel differently if I were younger.

But I will share one thing with you - we often perceive other people noticing we're not feeling well or hear sounds from our stall and imagine all sorts of reactions. Truth be told, they're usually so wrapped up in their own world they hardly notice me! I'm sure others come in and leave, and hardly pay any attention if you're still in a stall. And if they say anything to you - shame on them. Until your GI tract rules your life, you have no idea what this does to a regular routine!

Wishing you better days.....

I like to be anonymous too. I like that term!

The visualizing trick seems to work for me. Just picture your favorite bathroom at home or a favorite spot at home and put yourself there, mentally. In my case my Golden Retriever is usually at my feet too. She's my shadow. She even lets loose a sigh at the right time. Since I talk to her all the time (if you're not a pet owner you may not get this!), all I have to say is I'm feeling awful and she lets out a huge sigh. As if to say - I know, but I'm here to help.

So I also pretend I'm in this bathroom, with my faithful dog at my feet. She's such a comfort. If I need to lie down, we both climb into the water bed my husband has kept since his post-college days (I will never let him get rid of it!) and this dog climbs partially on top of me putting her head on my stomach. It's just the cutest thing.

These are all my visualizing tricks - my favorite bathroom with my dog nearby! Or that warm and cozy (and bu** ugly by now......it's 25 years old!) waterbed!

Hang in there.....