Anonymous Personal Story: Coping with IBS-C After Injuries
I am a female 18 year old with IBS-C.
After the cheerleading season ended I started to notice many different things going on around my body. I started out with my coccyx hurting. Every time I sat down I felt pain, needles and numbness all around the tailbone area. Day by day the pain worsen and it moved up above my pelvic area onto my stomach. I literally couldn’t fit into my uniform, zip it and button it up. My entire body changed within a week. I felt bloated every single day and it took months before I could get an appointment. I didn’t understand why this was happening to me or how it started. I have always been a healthy person. It turns out that because of all of the trauma and injury that cheerleading had on me caused my tailbone to get slanted, which in effect stretched out the muscles onto my stomach that in the end, caused IBS. The saddest part I would say is that I didn’t fully know what I had for around a year, and when I went to the gastroenterologist he told me that it was normal for a females stomach to hurt because we’re female…. I asked for another appointment with a different doctor and I was finally told that I had IBS. I felt relief and happy that I finally knew what I had however my dream was crushed. I was hoping to find the answer to the problem. But the problem does not have an answer. During the pandemic I was able to work on myself and find treatments that would help me deal with this because honestly I am super tired. My three year anniversary with IBS will be on December. I actually do not remember the last time that I was happy, or the time I ate McDonalds, or soda or even candy. It makes me super nostalgic when I recall my life pre-IBS, I never had to worry about my anxiety, stress or the things I ate. I miss my old body, but things happen. I am just praying to god to heal me and for one day to find the cure to this 🙂