It’s 2012 Christmas and I am stuck on the couch accompanied by the shakes and every symptom that comes along with the flu. It’s become a tradition at this point; the flu and I meet up once a year, always Christmas time, and tango for about a week. This year, it was different somehow.

My stomach was hurting more than usual, I couldn’t keep any food down, and let’s just say I was frequenting the restroom quite often. And after all of my flu symptoms had subsided, I was left with unbearable stomach pain and taking up a residence in my downstairs bathroom. Unable to shake these symptoms for weeks, it was time for a proper diagnosis.

It took months for my doctors to figure out what was happening to me. I was losing a considerable amount of weight—mainly because food and my stomach couldn’t stand each other. My fatigue was smothering and made going to work, doing homework, or anything other than laying down difficult because I wasn’t receiving any nutrients.

My anxiety is what took the biggest hit of all—there was no possible way for me to be more than 100 feet from a bathroom at all times and if I was automatic panic. Going to school was a nightmare as I struggled to sit in class with nothing in my stomach and the bathroom far away. I couldn’t go out to parties, I was afraid to go to my friends’ houses in fear of not making it to the bathroom, and eating food—forget about it.

After months of visiting the allergist, gastroenterologist, and my pediatrician, trying different diets and different medications, I was finally able to go through my first colonoscopy and endoscopy. The results were seemingly meek compared to the excruciating experience my body was enduring for months.

“It looks as if you have IBS with an intolerance to lactose,” my gastroenterologist exclaimed as I came to after my operation. IBS? That’s it? All of my pain and suffering was because my bowels were just inflamed. And before you jump down my throat to say you could have it worse—I know.

In fact, my immediate reaction was relief; relief there was a name for what was happening, relief that it wasn’t ulcers, IBD, or Crohn’s Disease, and relief that maybe this could all be over soon. The unfortunate part is that IBS is chronic, meaning I will forever and always have IBS.

Years have passed since my diagnosis of IBS, and boy has it been a whirlwind that I will spare telling you about. IBS is extremely common in America and different for every single person who has it. However, there are a lot of similarities, regardless of the severity of your IBS. Stomach pains, restrictive food diets and drinking habits, and everyday uncertainty of what the day was ahead. But dealing with my IBS has taught me a lot about myself and my body.

Your diet is important!

While it can be extremely sucky to restrict your diet, you’ll be thankful when you’re not sitting in the bathroom for hours on end. This goes for alcohol, foods, and sugary drinks!

Keep the stress to a minimum.

I know that sounds as easy as breathing underwater, but taking necessary steps to keeping your daily stressors to a minimum will help your gut in the long run. For me, this is where a lot of my IBS triggers stem from and I continuously practice breathing techniques in order to maintain a healthy stomach.

Take a probiotic.

This is my holy grail and the reason my stomach feels practically normal. Taking a natural probiotic to rebalance your stomach and give your gut its missing enzymes will help to regulate your insides and out.

Living with IBS hasn't been easy, but it has taught me that I am stronger than this.

I won't let it define my life.