[Text ID: "Just In Case You Needed To Hear It, You Deserve To Be Treated By A Medical Professional Who

When a chronically ill or disabled person gets their lab tests back as “normal” or all clear, we aren’t sad because we WANT to be sick.

We’re sad because we *know* there’s something wrong with us, yet the scans still stay clear.

Before you kill the monster you gotta know its name.

PSA as we go into spooky season and people start using activated charcoal to make foods look spooky.

It’s IBS Awareness Month, and honestly, I want to talk about the most annoying and frustrating part of IBS. I lose about an hour each day to it. That’s right. An hour. Half an hour in the morning, and half an hour in the evening. Yep, I start and end my day on the toilet, and while I’m nervous sharing this, I want people to think about that. Imagine being sick for an hour each day, every day, and there’s nothing you can do about it, and you lose that time. You have to wake up earlier than average people to get ready for the day, you can’t start your day until you’ve been sick for half an hour, and you can’t end your day until you’ve been sick for half an hour.

I have other symptoms as well, and I know everyone's IBS is a bit different, but wow, it is such a time waster for me.

i have no words

source

anyway here's to disabled people who are not healing. disabled people who are not recovering, ever. people with disabilities that only get worse and worse over time. people who cannot access treatment for their disabilities or whose disabilities simply aren't treatable. people who know they'll only get more and more disabled as time goes on. people who know their disability will kill them sooner or later. you are seen, you are important, you are not dead weight, and you deserve support.

doctors offices are always like BE ON TIME IF YOU'RE MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES LATE WE'LL EXILE YOU TO MARS meanwhile you get there on time and wait a minimum of 20 minutes

Time to order your free Covid tests:

http://covidtests.gov

how to get rid of nausea (or at least reduce it)

ok y'all so it's almost 1 in the morning and i can't sleep so i figured i might as well make use of my time. these tips are from what have personally worked well for me as a person who's been dealing with ibs and gerd since basically birth. of course these might not work for everyone, this is just what has helped me the most :)

first, make sure you've taken your meds!

sip on some cold water. preferably with ice.

get some cool air. whether that's through a window or just a fan.

drip some cold water onto the veins of your wrist. i know this sounds kinda weird, but my dad said it's a trick he learned in the military to help nausea. it's worked pretty well for me, personally. though the effect is temporary.

sip on some cola or another fizzy pop. carbonation helps you burp, and you honestly might just have some trapped gas. you'd be shocked how just one good, trapped burp makes you feel like you need to projectile vomit. drink in small, frequent amounts, not large gulps(for the love of god don't take large gulps. please). this is honestly one of the best tricks for nausea for me, it helps within minutes or sometimes a bit longer.

sniff some rubbing alcohol. again, kinda weird, but it works pretty well for some reason.

drink some pepto bismol. a life saver honestly.

take some tums. i highly recommend the peppermint flavored ones. tums are usually for acid reflux/gerd, but the peppermint really helps the nausea part for me. that's why i usually get these bc i'm killing two birds w/ one stone lol

sleep at a high elevation. this helps stomach contents from coming back up. there's been many times where i've had to sleep at a 90° angle. get out your pillows and stuffed animals to make one giant mountain if you have to (that's what i do at least).

sleep on your left side. if you really want to sleep on your side, sleeping on the left keeps the stomach contents down the best.

distract yourself. either watching your favorite show, playing a game, or, hell, even working. this might be a bit tricky if the nausea is overwhelming, though.

avoid strong smells. rubbing alcohol is the exception here, but strong smelling things (esp food) has always made my nausea much worse.

avoid spicy/punch-to-the-face type food. eat simple foods like toast, saltine crackers, or applesauce. my personal favorite is dried seaweed (salted)!

sit upright; try not to slouch. sitting upright helps you digest food properly and gets rid of any trapped gas as well.

don't move around a ton. of course, some simple stretching is beneficial, but i'm just suggesting you don't go run for a few miles when you're feeling like shit <3