Five things to ask someone with an autoimmune disease - and five things NOT to ask!
Having autoimmune disease doesn’t necessarily mean others know that you have an illness, and they may or may not be kind and understanding towards you. I most certainly have heard some ridiculous questions and some helpful questions
Here a five questions that are helpful
How is you energy levels? ( rest, take some time out, we can tell you how we are, rather than assuming
)
What do you need? (Sometimes we should stop and think about what we need, such as food, rest or process what is going on)
How can I help? (doing little tasks to help out, allow us to keep our energy for the important things
Are you certain you’re up for doing this task? ( is the task important to the person?)
What can/can’t you eat? (what we put into our mouths to fuel us is important, some foods can cause inflammation or make us feel sluggish and gross so we try to avoid certain foods)
Here are 5 questions that are not helpful
Can’t you just push through your feeling of being tired? ( we need to rest our bodies more than others, remember our own bodies are attacking itself, using up our energy)
You had a really ‘good day’ yesterday, why can’t you have the same kind of day today? (we need to store our spoons/energy for other times when we actually need the energy for something that is of importance)
Why do you always spend time in your room and not come out and socialise? (we have to prioritise of what is important for ourselves, sometimes we need to sacrifice being social so we can do what is of importance to us first)
Why are you fussy with what you eat? ( (what we put into our mouths to fuel us is important, some foods can cause inflammation or make us feel sluggish and gross so we try to avoid certain foods)
Why do you sit/walk funny? ( a symptom of illness can be pain in our muscles and joints, so it is painful walking, sitting and completing simple tasks)3
So let's make an effort to ask helpful questions/comments to those of us with autoimmune illness!