A woman from England had shared her current struggle with a medical condition that was gradually destroying her life. Rachel Taylor, 32 years old, found herself using the toilet fifteen times before she leaves the house for work. Due to this, Taylor felt more and more exhausted, the Mirror reports.
Taylor was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and was treated accordingly. She was able to regain some of her health and energy back.
Taylor, who’s from Cheshire said, “Going to work was so hard during the worst times. I was going to the toilet around 15 times before I even left for work. I would then have to take up to 4-5 Imodium to get through my morning shift problem free. My condition meant I would arrive to work completely exhausted so I wasn’t able to perform to my best ability.”
When she was only 14 years old, Rachel started feeling the symptoms of IBS. However, she just thought that maybe she had eaten something bad. She didn’t give it much attention, until it started to increase in pain and bothered her. It took her 8 years before she was completely diagnosed with IBS.
She added, “The pain was so severe, and it would soon last far beyond my ‘time of the month’. It was always in the same place.”
Taylor was prescribed with pain relief such as Tramadol, which was considered really one of the strongest that can be given to any patient.
Taylor said, “They (the NHS) did the best they could at the time, and their support was really helpful, but knowing what I know now – there was a need to look at the bigger picture during my treatment. At no point was there a link made between the pain I was experiencing and my diet or nutrition.”
When she graduated from college and got her first job, she was embarrassed to tell her employers about her medical condition.
Taylor said, “On one particular day I arrived in work and just spend hours staring at the screen. I knew I had work to do, but I was so deprived of energy and nutrition I just couldn’t function.
"The thought of attending a meeting or driving with colleagues would make me feel sick with worry, I was very socially anxious, I would go extremely hot and find myself in a complete panic, what if mid-meeting I needed the toilet.”
Now that she’s working as a nutritionist and a reflexologist, she doesn’t really have to worry much about sudden episodes.
Taylor said, “People understand food allergies or intolerances like a nut allergy. If somebody can’t eat nuts without being ill, people can accept that. But people don’t realize that for some people, there are foods your body just doesn’t like. So, it’s about learning what foods they are and cutting them out.”
