How can I support my bestie with UC?

Hello, , thanks so much for reaching out! First of all, I just want to say what a great friend you are for wanting to be able to support your bestie who is living with UC. I hope some of our community members living with UC (or another inflammatory bowel disease) can chime in on your forum here with how they like to be supported. And, in the meantime, I'm going to link an article here from our health leader, Sahara, who wrote about ways to support someone living with an IBD, https://inflammatoryboweldisease.net/living/how-to-support. That being said, if your friend feels up for it, don't be afraid to ask her directly the ways that you can support her because what feels like support can look different for different people. (Of course, she might also be overwhelmed and exhausted so if she isn't quite sure how you can best support her yet, you can try to be understanding of that as well.)

It sounds like, with your IBS, you might be able to relate to some of the symptoms she experiences, which seems like that could be helpful as well (although, as you know, IBS and UC are not exactly the same thing). And, I wanted to make sure that you are also getting support, should you want it. We have a community for those living with (or impacted by) IBS, if you're interested at, https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/. They offer the same support and great information for IBS that we do here for IBD.

I hope that you can get a starting point from the article, and, really, kudos to you and your friendship that you're seeking out ways to support your bestie! How lucky the two of you are to have each other. Please don't hesitate to reach out here any time.

-- Warmly, Christine (Team Member)