Irritable Bowel Syndrome - Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Shepherd has revealed that she suffers from
irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The star of Moonlighting and Taxi
Driver says that she has struggled with her symptoms for many years,
and is now hoping to raise awareness of IBS and encourage sufferers
to talk more openly with their doctors.
She says: “For years I have been battling recurring constipation,
abdominal pain and bloating. Go ahead and laugh. We laugh because
we're embarrassed. In order for us to get relief, we have to talk
about our symptoms and stop suffering in silence.
“I have tried nearly everything: changing my diet and watching what
I ate. I exercised regularly. I even tried taking fiber supplements
and over-the-counter laxatives, but nothing helped with all of my
symptoms.
“My doctor used to tell me it was all emotional and psychological.
So I got a new doctor. And a year and a half ago, I was diagnosed
with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. It was a huge
relief to find out that my IBS with constipation was not all in my
head and that it was a treatable medical condition. My doctor
prescribed Zelnorm and it has provided me with relief for all my
symptoms. In a lot of ways, I feel like my old self again.”
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And good for
her! I think that many IBS sufferers will identify with what
she says: from embarrassing, unmentionable symptoms to
doctors who insist that our bowel problems are really in our
heads.
We may identify less with her relief from one drug alone
(although the new drugs Zelnorm and Lotronex have had a good
success rate in America), but we could all benefit from
talking more openly with our doctors and looking for more
solutions rather than accepting that IBS will rule our
lives.
What Cybill Shepherd has done, though, is more than just
draw attention to the fact that IBS sufferers need more
help. Just by revealing that she is an IBS sufferer she has
shown that IBS can affect anyone. Here is a glamorous,
successful actress, someone who has kissed Bruce Willis and
won three Golden Globes, saying that she has trouble with
her bowels. |
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The power of
celebrity
In these celebrity-soaked times it can be easy to
forget that famous people sometimes achieve genuinely selfless and
compassionate things just by using their fame. The greatest power that
they have is the ability to shine the light of their stardom on an
issue which would otherwise have been ignored.
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And yes, the issue may sometimes be whatever
cause is most fashionable at the time - “Gay whales against
racism” as one satirist put it – or the one which helps the
star more than the people (or whales) who are suffering. But
sometimes there is no doubt that the celeb has really stuck
their neck out to help others who are dealing with an issue
that is considered untouchable.
And I can’t thing of a more untouchable issue than IBS,
something that no-one in the public eye would readily admit
to. Can you imagine Julia Roberts standing up and saying
“Diarrhea is the blight of my life and hemorrhoids have
driven me to drink”? No, of course not, because anything
remotely digestive is considered highly embarrassing and
distinctly unglamorous.
Cybill Shepherd’s admission, therefore, is to be applauded. |
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Dare not speak its name
Before Cybill Shepherd ‘came out’, the only famous person I
knew of who had IBS was Kelsey Grammar’s wife (Kelsey
Grammar used to play Frasier in the eponymous sitcom and
Cheers).
Whoever you are, whatever your gender or problems
or pain, it is vital that you find someone with whom you can
identify. If you watch TV and never see a reflection of
yourself, if you are a black man and only ever see white faces
on screen, then you will start to feel alienated – and the same
goes for people who are ill.
If you constantly hear about diabetes sufferers and asthma
sufferers but never hear a word about bowels then you begin to
learn that your illness is far less important than these other
worthy causes.
We need more people in the public eye standing up and saying “Me
too”, so that everyone can start to realise just how widespread
a problem this is.
Don’t suffer in silence
But it’s not just about how other people perceive us, and how we
perceive ourselves. It’s also about making sure that anyone who
has bowel symptoms seeks help, and at the moment that just
doesn’t happen.
There are still many people with bowel problems who are too
ashamed or embarrassed to go to the doctor, and just soldier on
through their lives when they could be receiving treatment. And
there’s always the risk, of course, that their symptoms could
actually be the result of something other than IBS that may get
progressively worse if it is left alone.
IBS often goes undiagnosed for years, and even when we pluck up
the courage to visit the doctor we can be so tongue-tied that we
don’t properly describe our symptoms. If we could leave our
embarrassment in the waiting room it would be so much better for
our health.
Cybill Shepherd says: “My goal is to urge all women to get over
their embarrassment, to stop suffering in silence the way I did,
and to talk to their doctors. Although it may be uncomfortable,
it is very important for you to be open and honest with your
doctor about all your symptoms”.
And things can change. Just think about breast cancer, which is
now regularly discussed on TV and radio, but 20 years ago was
stuck behind a wall of silence where breasts were not to be
mentioned, cancerous or not.
If we can just get a few more Cybill Shepherds to speak out for
IBS then the celebrities of this world might start wearing
ribbons for you and me, and leave the gay whales to fight for
themselves.
Sophie Lee has had IBS for 15 years and runs the
Irritable Bowel Syndrome Treatment website at
http://www.irritable-bowel-syndrome.ws where you can read
about all kinds of different IBS treatments.
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