Hello, my name is Nolan and I am an 18 year old who recently graduated this past year. I found out that I had IBS around the beginning of my senior year but I had been having symptoms months before my diagnosis. For a long time I was depressed and hopeless and nothing seemed the same anymore. I ended up missing a ton of school and eventually I was assigned a truancy officer and told if I didn't show up my parents would be fined (I was 17 at the time). Many of the days I missed school it was because I literally couldn't find the strength to fight through the nauseousness, and cramps to pick myself off of my bedroom floor. I thought maybe after graduation I would be less stressed out and my symptoms would calm down a bit.
Boy was I wrong... I mean sure at first being out of high school feels great but then it sets in that you have no real plan and you're just winging this amazingly complex reality we call life. Anyway lets get past all the doom and gloom because at this point in my life I'm trying to move past all that and find my peace. The key to living at least somewhat happily with IBS inherently starts with your diet. Once I started making better decisions about what I was putting in my body I actually started to see results. I stopped eating anything greasy or full of non beneficial fats or anything fried or covered in sugar. The biggest thing that helped me and continues to aid me daily is supplementing with prebiotics, fiber, and probiotics. Changing my diet and using these supplements both reduced my daily cramping and almost completely eradicated my daily issue of morning nausea. The nausea in the morning was defiantly the worst and most concerning symptom for me, because its very hard to get out of bed when you feel like your going to puke if you move.
Even with changing my diet and supplementing with different things I still get symptoms but not nearly to the extent that I used to. I am so glad that I have made it as far as i have and that might be sad to hear because i haven't even made it to my 19th birthday, but depression can take it's toll on anyone's soul young or old. There were points before I graduated that i really just wanted to end it, because I didn't see the point in living my entire life feeling like this every single day. Of course I would never commit such a selfish and irrational act but I know millions of people with my exact issues have thought the exact same things I have in the past.
Even though I haven't totally tackled depression in all of it's ugly glory I finally feel as if i can see the light at the end of this long dark tunnel. If you are struggling with similar issues or just depression, just know that no matter how lonely or secluded or distant you feel there is always someone who loves you. Even when it seems like the entire world is against you I promise there is at least one person who would be shattered to pieces if they lost you. I used to get stuck on the idea that nobody would care about me until after I died. Please don't buy into this type of self destructive thinking, because in the long run the only opinion that should really truly mean anything to you is your own.
Thank you for reading my little blog/rant about living with irritable bowel syndrome. Please feel free to leave your own experiences with depression and disease down below I would love to be here for all you guys. One last thing, if anyone out there is thinking about ending it just know that I love you, if you don't think its possible for you anyone to love you just know a total stranger sends his good vibes and love <3