Hello! I am completely new to this site. I was diagnosed with Crohns disease in July and am still in a flare. I also started a new job in September and am in serious need of some advice!
My coworker mentioned to me that she was feeling judged in our office about her diet because my boss made a comment about her not eating enough vegetables. She said it "doesn't help" that I eat so healthy.
In an effort to make her feel less judged I decided to share with her the reason I keep such a specific diet. I told her to please not ever feel judged by me about what she is eating and that I would love to be eating certain things right along side her but I have Crohn's disease and can't eat those foods because it causes ulcers and a lot of pain for me. (I also told her our boss is a dick for feeling its his place to judge her!) However, my coworker has now decided that SHE also has Crohn's disease.
Literally, she said "I think I have that too! When I eat lettuce my eyes swell!" and now she WILL NOT STOP BRINGING UP OUR SHARED DISEASE! I have tried to explain that her eye situation doesn't really mean she has Crohn's disease but she just insists harder that it is. I'm a firm believer in not judging someone else's feelings about their body but I am struggling to take her seriously.
She is the first person outside of family or very very close friends that I have shared my disease with. It was a huge mistake! She offered me grapes yesterday and when I said "No thank you I can't eat grapes right now." She said "Really? Thats weird because I can eat grapes." In my head all I could think is "THATS BECAUSE YOU DONT HAVE CROHNS DISEASE YOU CRAZY PERSON!"
When she noticed I was shaking one day (ohhh prednisone) and asked me about it I told her I was on a powerful steroid in the hopes she would understand the seriousness of what I have and stop comparing the two of us. She had the NERVE to say "yeah I think my eyedrops make me actually feel even worse than how you're feeling because they go directly into my eye and aren't a pill." I literally just stared at her.
I am not one to enter a struggles contest, so I have just been letting her say these things, but she wont stop bringing it up. She has eveen implied that she is stronger than me because she has decided to stop taking her eyedrops and just "work through the pain." I dont even want to talk about it in the first place, I only told her so she wouldnt feel bad about her diet. Now I have created a monster! How do I explain to this person that assuming you have crohns/know what crohns is like is kind of.... obnoxious?
My coworker mentioned to me that she was feeling judged in our office about her diet because my boss made a comment about her not eating enough vegetables. She said it "doesn't help" that I eat so healthy.
In an effort to make her feel less judged I decided to share with her the reason I keep such a specific diet. I told her to please not ever feel judged by me about what she is eating and that I would love to be eating certain things right along side her but I have Crohn's disease and can't eat those foods because it causes ulcers and a lot of pain for me. (I also told her our boss is a dick for feeling its his place to judge her!) However, my coworker has now decided that SHE also has Crohn's disease.
Literally, she said "I think I have that too! When I eat lettuce my eyes swell!" and now she WILL NOT STOP BRINGING UP OUR SHARED DISEASE! I have tried to explain that her eye situation doesn't really mean she has Crohn's disease but she just insists harder that it is. I'm a firm believer in not judging someone else's feelings about their body but I am struggling to take her seriously.
She is the first person outside of family or very very close friends that I have shared my disease with. It was a huge mistake! She offered me grapes yesterday and when I said "No thank you I can't eat grapes right now." She said "Really? Thats weird because I can eat grapes." In my head all I could think is "THATS BECAUSE YOU DONT HAVE CROHNS DISEASE YOU CRAZY PERSON!"
When she noticed I was shaking one day (ohhh prednisone) and asked me about it I told her I was on a powerful steroid in the hopes she would understand the seriousness of what I have and stop comparing the two of us. She had the NERVE to say "yeah I think my eyedrops make me actually feel even worse than how you're feeling because they go directly into my eye and aren't a pill." I literally just stared at her.
I am not one to enter a struggles contest, so I have just been letting her say these things, but she wont stop bringing it up. She has eveen implied that she is stronger than me because she has decided to stop taking her eyedrops and just "work through the pain." I dont even want to talk about it in the first place, I only told her so she wouldnt feel bad about her diet. Now I have created a monster! How do I explain to this person that assuming you have crohns/know what crohns is like is kind of.... obnoxious?
) I would have said something by now. Flat out said you don't have crohn's and ask them if they even know what crohn's is and what it means to have it. Sounds like she's bordering hypochondriac status among other issues. 
