#nofilter: Invisible Illness... The Mission to Feel How You Look

Looking at me on any given day, you’ll see me with a smile on my face, makeup done,  and a cute outfit. Maybe some days I look a little under the weather or tired. But, when I walk into a meeting or a party or an event, no one can guess by looking at me that I am suffering from an invisible illness, Crohn’s Disease.

It’s crazy how much can be happening inside while outside you look fine. Lifting the veil on the fact that you can still be sick while not looking it, is something I’ve felt strongly about since my diagnosis. If you have a physical injury or a visible illness, others have visual “proof” of what you are going through. When you have an invisible illness, life is full of people commenting “well you don’t look sick”. I try and take that as a complement but it’s a double edged sword. I don’t want people to think I look the way I feel but somehow it makes me feel less validated and frustrated. I feel like if people can’t see my struggle they don’t expect me to be struggling so I need to live up to that standard.

If I don’t look sick than my mission is to feel that way. My mission is to live my best life and accomplish as much as i can even though I have Crohn’s Disease. That means traveling, being active, having a family, and not letting my symptoms hold me back. Dehydration is something that impacts me regularly. When I am having a Crohn’s flare it is really easy for me to become super dehydrated and that can feel so miserable and be downright dangerous. I already have to slow down sometimes because of symptoms that are out of my control, and I am NOT going to let dehydration be one of them. Controlling what you can is key. I carry around DripDrop in my purse everyday that way I can proactively handle the signs of dehydration and if it gets to the point of dehydration I can start treating myself immediately instead of potentially having to take a trip to the ER.
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I was always scared of doing anything that would risk me becoming dehydrated because I knew my body’s situation was already fighting against me. It was hard to workout or go hiking because I would feel worse afterwards instead of better an energized. Even traveling became such an anxiety trigger for me because I knew dehydration would inevitably become and issue. DripDrop is like my little safety packet that I can have with me all the times for when I need it.

As the control freak I am, I want to make sure I am managing as many aspects of my illness that I can. There is only so much you can do to control your insides though. I can put on makeup and do my hair to make myself look outwardly “well”, but what is the solution for the inside? You can change what you are putting in your body, but with Crohn’s symptoms you are constantly fighting dehydration. Sometimes it feels like it doesn’t matter what you are putting into your body because you feel so miserable either way. I can’t control what foods my body is going to dislike on any given day, but I can control my hydration levels. Being able to have control over something so important for my body is a huge win.

I am thankful that there is a company out there that saw the importance of dehydration relief and committed to making a difference in people’s lives with their products. DripDrop is not only helping people, like me, with chronic illnesses. Their products are helping first responders, military personnel, and competitive athletes. These are all situations where they don’t have time to deal with dehydration. By giving them the power to take control of their dehydration relief, it gives them the power to focus on the missions they are working towards without skipping a beat or having their bodies hold them back. That is how I feel by using DripDrop. I can focus on my mission, instead of focusing on symptoms.

Everyone has a mission that they are working towards and I want to hear what yours is. For every social media post that you tag with #SticktoYourMission, DripDrop will donate one DripDrop stick to humanitarian aid. By sharing your mission you are helping DripDrop drive their mission of providing dehydration relief across the world.

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