No Im not pregnant, I have crohns disease

[bunnyceleste]

this isnt really a question just venting about an annoying recurrent question
often times when I am flaring or just a rough guts day and my abdomen gets super swollen and distended total strangers will ask when when my baby is due or if Im having a baby. seriously this has happened to me about 7 times in the past few years. so annoying and incredibly rude. I guess because Im fairly small everywhere else and when I flare my belly can get like a bowling ball but honestly, everybody knows its common decency to never ask a woman you dont know about her reproductive status. anybody else ever run in to this?

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

I'm afraid that I haven't had that question. But, I do have the oposite effect. Friends and family will ask me if I've been losing weight again and people I don't know will ask me questions on why I'm so thin. It's not fun no matter which way you look at it. I guess basically what I'm trying to say is that I understand.

 

[afidz]

i get asked on a daily basis if i am pregnat, I have a very sever hernia though and when I am bloated from crohn's its decended even worse. I know how you feel. its very frustrating.

 

[Christie]

i used to get asked if I was anorexic because i was so thin, even a doctor once told a nurse (before I was diagnosed) send her home there is nothing wrong she is anorexic!! I was only 17 at the time

 

[bunnyceleste]

i used to get asked if I was anorexic because i was so thin, even a doctor once told a nurse (before I was diagnosed) send her home there is nothing wrong she is anorexic!! I was only 17 at the time

(that is mind bowing that a doc would say "nothing wrong" about anorexia. a topic for a whole other forum I suppose but its my understanding anorexia is pretty serious mental illness reflected in the body..anyways)

I got the anorexic comments too when I was first diagnosed at 14. 5'3", 82 lbs, hair falling out, blacking out at school ect. so frusturating, I rememeber thinking after my first doc suggested anorexia- ID EAT IF I COULD AND FOOD DIDNT COME OUT AT BLOODY FIREWORKS!

needless to say living with crohns comes with alot of self image/ body dysmorphia issues. often times my sisters are on weight loss kicks while Im trying to put on weight, ect if Im having a healthy period I try to put on a little chub, I call it my insurance for when times get tough

 

[Naturelover]

I just had to give everyone hugs today. I can totally relate. I get so bloated sometimes that I go up one or two pants sizes. It's frustrating getting dressed in the morning. Never know what will fit and what won't. Sigh.... And then there's the times I loose so much weight cause I can't eat much.... Again, sigh....

 

[UnXmas]

I get told I'm anorexic all the time. I was wrongly diagonsed with anorexia in my teens when I started losing weight due to digestive problems. It led to a lot of discrimination from doctors - they seem to think anorexia is not an illness, but something girls do to waste doctors' time. Not every doctor is like this, but the number who treated me with resentment when they saw it listed on my medical record was unbelievable. In the end - after people started to realise there really was something wrong with my digestive system - I had to arrange with the manager of my GP practice to have it removed from my record.

Doctors who don't know me still ask though. After going through all my symptoms with a consultant - including lack of appetite, severe diarhoea, nausea, etc. - he then noted that I was underweight and went on to ask me if I had anorexia or if I deliberately make myself sick after meals. I would have thought all the symptoms I had just told him should be reason enough for me to be underweight, but apparantly he still thought I could have an eating disorder causing my weight loss as well!

I've even had someone yell "anorexic" at me in the street. A lot of people seem to think anorexia is a joke or an insult. People say "why are you so thin?" and seem to think that's ok, when you'd never say to someone "why are you so fat?"

The bloating too - practically every time I've had a doctor do an examination of my stomach, and when I've had dressings on my stomach changed after surgery, the doctor has asked if I'm always that bloated. Especially after surgery, because they're on the lookout for blocked intestines, which can cause bloating. I have to explain that no, actually being that bloated is normal for me.

 

[natatak227]

I get asked that all the time! I once even went to my yearly well visit with my OB/GYN and the nurse asked when I'd like to schedule my follow up. I said "next year" and she said "honey, you're pregnant, you can't wait 1 year for a follow up." UGH!!!!!

 

[Ya noy]

If they ask when your baby is due, respond, "Never, how about yours?"

If they ask when you are due, respond with either, "Due for what?" Or "Never. I'm not in any need of being returned."

if they ask whether you are pregnant, say " No, and thank you for commenting." If you are in a really bad mood, pat your tummy and say, "Oh, I'm not pregnant, I just finished eating my pet rabbit. "

If they ask when is the blessed event? Respond, "I'm an atheist."

Or my favorite, while looking them up and down, say, "I'm not pregnant, how long have you been homeless?"