At present I’m taking a course of Neomycin. This is my first time on an antibiotic that isn’t Xifaxan, and I’m not liking what’s going on with my body. Lots of bloating, popping out of my clothes, abdominal pain and no appetite whatsoever.

The nicest thing anyone could ever say to me when I tell them how bloated and distended I am is “Wow, I see. I’m sorry.” Barring actually agreeing with me, just a simple “That sucks, I’m sorry you’re going through this” would suffice.

Things that aren’t so cool to hear:

No one can tell.

You feel it, but no one can see.

It probably feels worse than it is.

These are all well-meant as the person is trying to assist me in moving past the discomfort and getting on with my life. That’s great. But it just hurts my feelings. IF I’m complaining to you about my bloating and distention, we’re not just acquaintances – we know each other pretty well! so feel free to acknowledge that you sort of know what I look like! I mean, walking around with my gut hanging over my waistline is not really my normal thing; I tend to buy clothes that fit me. This thing takes over my body and blows me a little bit out of proportion. I don’t think I’m gaining the 6 inches each day that I used to before the diagnosis, but it still gets hard to breathe, hard to wear my clothes, and therefore hard to feel comfortable in my own skin. There’s nothing worse than walking around distended and thinking that even your friends think you always look this way. What’s the point of anything? I think I’ll just wear a potato sack to work! Although first I’ll need someone else to clear all these potatoes out of the way…