What are 7 misconceptions about living with chronic illnesses?
- Mar 25, 2019
- 2 min read
Fatigue, we can push through our tiredness (being called lazy)
One of the common misconceptions is that people with chronic illnesses are more lazy than other people, or that if we just tried harder or “think positive” we could could push through our tiredness. People don't realise our bodies are fighting against themselves, and the medication we take assists us but does not cure us. What we call tiredness is not just feeling a bit sleepy, for me I get antsy, shaky, and it's harder to meet my goals for the day. We know our own bodies through and through, we know what we can and can’t do, and when we need rest.
That we are faking
Because you cannot see our illness does not mean that it is not there, There are a wide range of symptoms of chronic illness. We may have the same chronic illness though we are different bodies and we can have very different symptoms.
We are being over dramatic
When we say we are sore, tired or breathless it’s true. Some people may not agree that we have to look after ourselves, therefore we need to rest, have a ‘rest day’ before we can think about others, (it’s not selfish to think of yourself first, remember you have a chronic illness!)
We are fussy eaters and doers
There are many foods that cause inflammation such as table sugar (sucrose) and high-fructose
eating refined carbs. A gluten-free diet is necessary for a number of people with celiac disease and or some other types of autoimmune disease .https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-foods-that-cause-inflammation
We also need to prioritise what we do in the day from the most important to the least, or sometime we have to just let some things go, which feels like the illness has defeated us.
Just because we have a ‘good’ day, the next day will be as good
When we get a sudden rush of energy, one day it may look to others who don’t understand that since we have loads of energy, we are well, but a ‘good day is’ limited, if we can/look/feel on top of the world.
We’d be healthy if we ate better and exercised.
Eating a health balanced diet and regular exercise helps, however it won’t cure us, and we still need to listen to our bodies, so if we are sore and tired we must rest our bodies, and yes there are foods that help manage symptoms such as being on a low lactose and gluten diet, our symptoms are managed, however, again we know our bodies, and we know what we need. Being on FODMAPs can help but it’s not a cure.
Because we look ‘healthy’ on the outside, we are fully healthy and our illness is miraculously gone.
Chronic illness may never be cured! Chronic means life!
The illness can go into remission, however, but usually can come back more aggressive.
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