A little annoyed at some assumptions

Welcome to the world of informed, ignorant people. When people say that crap like that to me, I just ignore it. It isn't my fault they can't comprehend the disease and I don't want to work myself up and make my colon worse. :) Don't feel bad, we've all been in that position before. My dad tells me that its just dairy and nuts and stuff and that he had the same problems when he was my age and I'll grow out of it. Not quite dad...

Anthony--

Then you should ask her, as a loving member of your family, to cook your meals for you. Ha! Bet she won't think that any more.

Edward - one of the things I hate the most about having this disease is tring to explain to anyone who is interested what is going on with me.  Why can't I go out to eat - am I lactose intolerant - gluten sensitive?  Etc?

Have no good answers - I just try to not say any more than I have to because they don't really want to know.  ElaineNY

Arrrgghhhh! I know what you mean!! I was actually thinking of making a post exactly like this the other day.

My sister blames my drinking too much orange juice as a kid, my parents think it's my current diet that's making me sick, and it's always "you should eat this, you should not eat that, blah blah blah" and I just want to scream "Listen, I'm the one that's been dealing with this first hand for 10 years, I think I know what I can and can't eat"

The worst part is... My 15 year old cousin was just recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease. But it was a mild case and she's in remission and only on probiotics and vitamins. So after talking to my aunt about it, my mom comes home and tells me that my cousin's doctor told her that pizza is VERY bad for her because of something in the dough, and that she should NEVER eat chicken. So my mom's telling me now I need to take these vitamins and stop eating pizza and chicken completely, and that I'll get better.

I was so frustrated listening to her, especially when she was saying the doctor said IBS turns into UC which turns into Crohn's, and I tried to explain that UC and Crohn's are not the same, and it's different for every single person so just because she can't eat chicken doesn't mean I can't, and also IBS is a completely different thing and not even remotely related and that the doctor sounds like an idiot, but since my cousin is "all better", he MUST know what he's talking about. Grrr.

So I said screw it, went home and ate a chicken sandwich and went to bed. LOL.

As a mother of a 7 year old with UC, it's always fun when people look at me and say "Well what are you feeding her?"

Judilyn said...
That's my way, too. When people advise me if I'd just stop eating ______, I just tell them "I've stopped eating everything but water before, and still had bloody diarrhea."

Those two words - bloody diarrhea - always lead to a change of subject, and they never bother me about it again.

Exactly. I was like "Okay, then if it's all about food then why does EVERYTHING make me sick? Why am I still in pain when I eat bland foods and cut out all the 'bad' stuff?" They don't know the answer so I just say, well if everything I eat is going to make me hurt, then I might as well continue to eat the things I enjoy and not worry about it.

It only makes sense people who don't have UC to assume food causes problems..what goes in comes out....many on here do..and they have UC.



We don't know all about other diseases, but I would hope we ask the right questions as to not offend those who are in the know of what they have.

Educating people works better..raw to the point information may even have them lose their lunch...at least you can say..see..it's not the food.

q

Thanks for the input everyone. Now I know that I am not alone in this. Oh and I am not a violent person but sometimes, Ka-Pow!! LOL.

Someone here once mentioned that the next time you get someone who "knows" all the answers to tell that person to contact CCFA (or any other important medical foundation) because they haven't been able to find a cure so they would surely like to hear from the know-it-all!

I think, at least the people that I know, really don't have a clue of what really UC is.  I mean they are not any tv commericals for Asacol/or anything for UC.  Good luck. It has gotten better for me, through diet and the right amount of meds.

The best thing I ever did since I was diagnosed with UC was taking a job at a hospital. It is a teaching hospital so I can access the latest information on my condition and I am surrounded by people who understand. Since UC is so rare they seem interested in my condition. It is also the only hospital that was able to give me the proper diagnoses and treatment, I was misdiagnosed for years by others.

I've worked in the medical field since I was 15 and I agree, it's so great. They're always understanding and I never have an issue when I need to take a day off or run to the bathroom a lot. All I have to do is tell them I have UC and that's it.