Nathan Exposed » True Love Holds Its Nose

True Love Holds Its Nose

If we told our partners everything that’s wrong with us on the first date, I guess we’d all be single for life. There are some things you simply don’t sign up for when you commit to someone.

Let me start with some background on this story. I have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). When I was diagnosed with it 11 years ago, most people didn’t even know what IBS was. Thankfully the public has become much more educated about it now, and most people now realize it’s a legitimate health problem.

Basically my digestive system does not always function correctly. Aside from having to make unexpected runs to the nearest toilet, I also suffer from episodes of very sharp, intense pain in my stomach, breaking out into cold sweats, dizziness, and sometimes I can hardly stand up.

To keep these episodes to a minimum, I eat a very strict and boring diet. I can’t have any caffeine. Nothing with spices in it. No onions, very little garlic. Nothing ethnic. No red meat. Limited dairy. Limited fried foods. The list goes on…

If I follow doctor’s orders, I do pretty well. But sometimes, like tonight, IBS rears its ugly head and I get really sick.

When I get sick, I get scared. The dizziness and cold sweat makes me afraid I’ll pass out. I feel just miserable and have to sit in the bathroom, doing you know what. And I shake and hyperventilate with a wet rag on my forehead (which seems to calm me).

The sweet part is Rodney. He stands outside the door, just in case I need him. He’ll stand there and endure any embarrassing sounds or smells, just because he loves me and doesn’t want me to suffer alone.

I really appreciate it. I guess loving me isn’t very glamorous. But he’s special and he’s there when I need him.

I bet when we exchanged rings, he didn’t think he’d have to suffer through that the rest of his life, now did he?

One in five Americans suffer with IBS. That’s a whole lot of significant others holding their noses.

Tue, Aug 19, 2008 @ 1:55 am | Filed in Family | Permalink

6 Comments

That is beautiful, Nathan. That’s what love is all about. That’s what really matters.

Posted by sunshine on Tue, Aug 19, 2008 @ 5:16 am

OK, two comments in two days.

Nathan, I too have IBS. In my case, I can’t really determine what foods cause it. For example, eating lettuce one week causes no problems at all. The next week all hell might break loose when eating exactly the same meal. The pain is awful. I liken it to what a woman must feel when going through labor.

However, I stumbled across something that seems to help me, so you might want to give it a try. I sometimes have trouble getting to sleep at night, so I began taking melatonin. Someone had told me that it was a natural substance that helps you sleep. I starting taking one melatonin pill before going to bed. It worked like a charm, I’m happy to report, and I still take it to this day. However, after about a month of taking the melatonin I noticed that my bouts of IBS had been greatly reduced and my stool was much more firm (ok, I’m making myself write this even though it sounds like a dreadful thing to say). It was totally an unexpected benefit. The bouts still occur, but much less frequently. I asked my Doctor about it and he knew of nothing out there in the medical community about melatonin as an IBS treatment, but said that “perhaps it is helping to relax your digestive system”. I have no idea if a digestive system can be relaxed, but it has helped me noticeably. I even stopped taking it for a while and, yep, the sleep problem and IBS problems returned, just like before.

IBS is so fretful that what works for me may well not work for you, but it’s worth a try. I have read of no ill side effects of melatonin and it is very inexpensive in the drug store.

Posted by tennisbuf2 on Tue, Aug 19, 2008 @ 3:34 pm

That diet sounds pretty, ahh shall we say, boring. And, for the record, I’d stand outside the door any day.

Posted by Lewis on Tue, Aug 19, 2008 @ 3:58 pm

So sorry to hear about your IBS. I know you are very grateful to be able to work from home, when the IBS acts up…

And the Nathan and Rodney love story gets even sweeter!!!! Thanks for sharing…

Posted by irisgirl on Wed, Aug 20, 2008 @ 1:12 pm

Wow. What a great way of explaining the true love that exists between you guys. Endearing…

Posted by Fixator on Thu, Aug 21, 2008 @ 6:15 am

Ah, true love.

Posted by Riverwolf on Thu, Aug 21, 2008 @ 1:27 pm