9 years ago
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Living With Invisible Illness
For patients with chronic diseases masked by a healthy-looking exterior, diagnoses can be elusive, or unhelpful. In the absence of definitive medical tests for some invisible illnesses, patients fight to be taken at their word.
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http://www.theatlantic.com
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yeah, a lot of things that are wrong can't be seen. I have a friend with seizures and you would never know it, as an example.
As /u/Treasurer says, it's best to be kind, since you can never tell. I wish your friend well. Seizures must be difficult to deal with. You take care yourself, too! :)
The cliche quote "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." is very important thing to remember.
The most common example I see is Lyme disease, that's something that is often misdiagnosed. The pain can be debilitating and last for life, but it's not something you can easily see just how hard it was for that person just to get out of bed each day.
That's the perfect quote. It may be cliche, but it's good advice.
There seem to be a lot of health problems that fall into the "invisible illness" category, and Lyme is certainly one of them. Lyme is endemic where I live, and I've had it myself. It's a terrible disease. I read that they are seeking to increase funding for Lyme research in the US, so maybe that will help. I know "chronic Lyme" is a contentious issue, but perhaps more research will clarify things.
My mom has a very unfortunate invisible illness that very little is known about. She's going to go through a treatment regiment soon that has about a 70% success rate, so we're hopeful for that. It is very hard to go through though, especially when certain family members don't believe you.
I'm very sorry to hear that. I hope the treatment helps. It's important to keep trying things, even though it can be difficult. It's awful when people don't believe you. That adds a whole other level of suffering. I wish you and your mom the best! I'm sure your sticking by her through this means the world to her.
Thanks for the good wishes! We are trying things. Always trying. She goes to Stanford for treatments a couple times a year, so she has good people on our side, at least.
I have inflammatory bowel disease. I've been told it just makes you poop. When it's actually so much more than that.
People can be so misinformed about chronic illnesses. Especially invisible ones. It gets old.