Feeding the ridiculous

Saturday 19 April 2014 | Andreia Nogueira at 22:26 |

One of the few certainties in life is that for a life to be well-lived we must overcome our fears. Maybe that's why we always attract them.

The unique disease that I wouldn't like to have to explain is the one with diarrhea and flatulence. If at least I could drink to forget, but alcohol was one of the worst causes of symptoms.

When I told someone I was attracted to my medical condition, he was kind, but a few minutes before the action begins he gave up. My health problem was impossible to dispose, he said. Perhaps maybe because IBS is one of the least attractive diseases, many people aren't brave enough to talk about this with a doctor.

Credits: Graur Codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Beyond the actual ridiculous, there is the imagery one, which doesn't want to drop the charge and that is validated by information spread on the Internet, e.g., in the United States IBS is the second largest cause of absence from work or some patients want that IBS get a status of disability. Although some information comfort us because we know that there is someone who truly understands us, in fact what we really need is the lack of excuses.

The fear of diarrhea led me to spend hours without eating (which sometimes even worsened other symptoms) at work, avoid travel by public transport without an easy way to escape in emergency times, such as the metropolitan, and decide never eat before taking a bus that travel in highway, even though it left at 7pm. Even going to the cinema was anything but a relax moment.


If I had an appointment at 9pm, I would spend half an hour in the bathroom, but not for makeup. I would vainly try to escape the worst aspect ever because even when I would to seven times to the bathroom before going out, the likelihood of feeling ill on the way wasn't smaller. It was just to convince myself otherwise.

From my point of view, all people who suffer from IBS will subscribe these two ideas:

- Even though we are proud of always following the true, there would be a moment when a lie about why we are canceling a meeting would seem harmless.

- Even before we know where we are and where we want to go, we already know where is the nearest bathroom, how many bathrooms are on the way and where is the 2nd easier to achieve.

This medical condition controlled me and even kept me from trying to pursue my dream of being a journalist. The films we build in our mind are repeated over and over and the one I “watched” more was me losing a press conference with Prime Minister and being assaulted by an IBS crisis because I could never ask: "Hey Mr., I know you are on live to radios and televisions, but if you could take a five-minutes break to give me time to go to the toilet, I will appreciate it”.

The more I tried to escape from the ridiculous, the more ridiculous I was. ¿How ridiculously ironic is this for you?