11) So-and-so (insert name/relation) started doing these exercises and got better so you should do them and get better too. (uhhh... thanks)

You have forgotten the one women hear the most... "you just have to lose some weight" Well, if I felt like I could drag my pain filled body somewhere other than from the couch to the bathroom, I might consider it!

The most bizzare suggestion I ever got was that I ought to eat raw dog meat and that would definitely cure my Cystic Fibrosis. Ew! And I'm a vegetarian too!

No, the MOST common one: If you would just get more excersise you would feel SO much better!! Why don't you join my gym? I have a great personal trainer....

no no no my personal favorite is..... if you just wouldnt let it run your live you would feel better you know pushing your self.. youll just make it worse if you contiue sitting there...

I get... maybe you should eat different. Ya know when you put bad things in your body bad things happen to your body.
Or
Try to concentrate on not vomiting maybe that will make you not vomit.

(I have gastroparesis and rumination syndrome. all i do is vomit)

Maybe it's your blood sugar, just eat smaller meals more often and you'll be fine.

All you need is some fresh air (yeah, because standing out in 90 degree weather makes me feel so much better)

hahaha...I got a kick outta these because I hear all of these almost daily...well except for the dog one that is just gross...the one I hear the most is you need to get out and get some excercise and are you eatting enough veggies?(uhh I would love to just get up and run around for a hour or so everyday and most thing I eat is veggies cause anything heavy makes me nausious)

I rested two days before we went out to lunch. I knew it would wipe me out for another two days afterward. But..."Isn't this nice?" she asked. "See, all you need is a reason to get up and out!"

I laughed so hard at the hypnosis comment that I was crying. I always heard the comments about stress and working through the pain.

I have heard just about all of them (except for the dog food one). That person that suggested that should have to eat the dog food! I have FMS, CFS, UCTD, (I could go on, but won't), and my parents aren't in the best of health, we live together to make it easier on all of us, and I was told that I needed to move out so that I would have less stress!! The best part that "great advice" was by a Doctor!!

Hee Hee, I thought I was the only one who got similar comments. but the worst one I ever got was from a bully of a teacher, lets call her Mrs Rolyat, and when ever I collapsed and went cyanotic ( blue) ( I have EDS, chiari and POTS, to name a few) she would shake me and say to stop wasting her time!, thankfully the PE teacher saw her and stopped her, then he performed CPR. I still have nightmares about her. By the way the comment on the hypnosis one really made me laugh :).

When I was dx with depression as a child: "Think happy thoughts!"

When I was dx with Schizophrenia: "It's all in your head, your dr doesn't know what he's talking about."

I get the exercising one all the time. It's like, yeah, sure buddy, I can go out for a run... I can barely walk because of sciatic and back pain, and often I don't have the energy to cook let alone go outside, but gee thanks for your helpful comment.

This stuff is too funny. I can totally relate. I get the exercise and eatting better ones all the time. What I love is that the "healthy" people giving all this "great" advice usually have worse live styles then myself.

I have CFS and i am getting so sick of when i explain to people what i have saying "well do you take vitamins" (ummmmm only about handful a day but i could always add more for good measure!)

I get the it's your diet (I am not a big fan of fruit or veggies - I think it is the texture) you need to eat better, or more fruit and Veggies etc. (Yeah sure this will miraculously repair my genes and make me completely healthy again... Thanx) (I have EDS - Genetic and more)...

My favorite? "Be sure you drink a lot of water!"
If only I had thought of that! I'm not sick - I've just been sooooooooo thirsty for 2 years. Wait'll I tell my Doctor! They're gonna feel pretty dumb when I reveal your genious plot to drown my illness! (golly shucks thanks pal!)

I have one! When I told my mother that I was diagnosed with RA 3 years ago, her response was, "well, that's what happens when you get old." umm...by the way, I'm 40.

I get the "eat better and exercise, lose weight" everyday from my mother. If these people only had a clue. I try to laugh at their ignorance and this article has helped me do so, ty! (SLE, CFS, Gastroparesis, APS, CPS and more)

Forgot the other one from friends...the "I'd kill myself if I were you!" one. It always makes me feel better lol

My favorite one was from a doctor...I had just spent 6 months being wrung through the mill on every test they had (well over $100,000 in med bills), he come's into the room and says..."Ithink it's all in your head, if you would stop thinking you are sick you'll get better."

MY favorite, from my husband of 17 years, who I thought understood the problems that I have..."Everybody has pain and is tired...you JUST HAVE TO PUSH YOURSELF AND WORK THROUGH IT!" I was diagnosed with FMS and CFS 35 years ago.

"Do you not just feel like throwing yourself out the window?!" (Umm seeing as I live in a bungalow... it just seems a bit pointless?)

And from my doctor: "You just need some exercise. Are you SURE you're not just depressed?" (I have ME/CFS ... if I could do exercise then there wouldn't be a problem!!)

go for a walk that will cure your bipolar..wow i didnt realise it was that simple.

you need more exercise. go for a run...if i ran on my hypermobile joints i would collapse from exhaustion and be bedridden with pain for 3 days.

jesus will heal you...actually im happy being blind. i dont want to be healed thank you.

aloe vera juice...co this will completly replace the missing link in my collagen, reformat the electrical signals in my brain causein my bipolar as well as fixing the faulty gene, and make my eyes pop out and working ones will just grow right in their place.

Thank you so much!! This really made my laugh!!!! I hear these ALLLLLL the time and want to strangle people. Knowing you hear it and hearing some new ones was refreshing!!!

That is so funny! I love the one from the husband about "everyone has pain"...I have people say that to me all the time. "It can't be that bad" is my favorite. How would you know? B/C I am overweight I always get "You need to loose weight and excercise." Great Idea! I never thought of that before! Maybe the fact that I can't walk without excruciating pain has something to do with why I can't exercise! Let me go put on my walking shoes...

(FMS, CFS, RA, Deg. bone disease)

my dad once told me"I just have to want to do things". so THAT'S where i've gone wrong, i've lost contact with friends, had to stop doing hobbies and lost my social life because I don't WANT to do the things I enjoyed! I sure as hell don't want to drag myself into work (had to reduce to parttime although couldn't afford to)and collapse exhausted each day to bring some money in so I miss out cuz I have no energy left to do anything else but I do that.

Thanks so much everyone. Reading all of your comments helps me to know I'm not alone.

And then there's the wel-meaning, "Have you prayed about it?"

Don't get me wrong, God and prayer are the only thing keeping me going sometimes, but hello, like I'm not gonna pray about it when I get diagnosed with a chronic illness. God never promised life would be rosey.

This is from my neuro...
"If you would stop taking your pain meds you wouldn't be in pain so much!"

(He blames my pain on rebound headaches from pain meds.)I say, "If i wasn't in pain I wouldn't have taken pain meds to begin with! And how does that explain the pain I have when I haven't taken pain meds in days?"

I was also told I was schizophrenic and put on seriously bad meds that made me want to commit suicide. A year later docs found out I wasn't schizo, I was having seizures!

And to my headaches,"It's all in your head." Yes, that is the problem... the pain is in my head!

I hear the lose weight and excercise and eat right stuff all the time too and I'm 115 pounds, a perfect weight for me. I cook everything fresh to avoid MSG. Of course, no one believes you when you tell them you already do those things.

And if God answered everyone's prayers to be healed, no one would be sick.

"Have you tried the blood type diet? My mum tried it for her arthritis and it's made her feel so much better." According to the blood type diet book, my blood group shouldn't get sarcoidosis, but somehow that's what I've got! Doesn't really make me want to try the diet. Besides, I'm too tired to cook separate meals for myself & my husband because we're 2 different blood types with 2 different chronic diseases.

My personal favorite...the first doctor I went to wrote on a note pad the entire time I expressed my symptoms, when I finished talking he handed me a script for xanex, patted me on the head and said, "humor me, try this for three months, everyone exhibits these symptoms during the winter"! Note to self...find another doctor!

This is hilarious! I hear all of these all the time including from my mother who has the same problems (OA, FMS, Degen. Disk Disease). What I really love are those people who try to tell me that my migraine is "just a headache". Sure....and childbirth is just menstrual cramps!

Thank you. This post and some of the comments made me laugh out loud because I could relate to so many of them. It's nice to know I'm not alone even though it doesn't solve any of the problems.

OMG... You all are toooooo funny!!! To say that I have heard them all is redundant, but soooo true!!!

Here's mine: On a required visit to my Rheumy, I get ready to leave and he asks me... "Tell me, why do you WANT something to be wrong with you?" (HUH??? Oh, yeah, because it's the IN thing to be sick... Right, ya quack?!!! I have FM, CMP, DDD and Spinal & Cervical Stenosis)

My favorite one is "I think you need to stop questioning the doctors and start doing what they tell you. (Ok never mind that I have been told by a half a dozen doctors the pain swelling and bathroom trips are all in my head!!!) --- RedHairAngel

Can relate to all of this, ever since I have been diagnosed with lupus. I like it when people compare their nonsensical diseases or complaints to lupus - "oh, I know what that's like" or the really brave soul who loves to remind us of "karma - you know what goes around, comes around". I just pity them.

"Well if you didn't sleep all day you'd feel better!"

"You need to move around more, that's all"

"You're taking too many medicines. They're causing all your problems. Stop taking your medicines and you'll be fine"

"Well, my friend's cousin has (insert completely unrelated illness here), and she does this and it really helps so if you wanted to get better you'd try this too."

"It's because you're fat, just lose some weight by exercising more and you'll be fine" - I actually got this one from a DOCTOR before I was diagnosed with MG, ignoring the fact that I'd had symptoms since I was a skinny little seven year old.

"Just ignore it and it'll go away" (Twelve years and counting, nothing yet..)

"Forget about the whole disease thing, just go live your life" - I think that one might be the best yet - and from another doctor no less!

After almost 20 years of dealing with Lyme Encephalitis and its leftover effects - I too, have heard them all; go for a walk - you just need to get out - you just need to rest - you need to lose weight.etc etc. The best one was when I went into Clinical depression - you just need shock treatments - so and so had them 30 years ago and she's been fine since then!

Thanks so much for the laughs - I def. think laughter is (one of) the best medicines Mine is not uncommon " you should get out more". and you are taking me when?

That made me laugh which isn't the greatest thing right now! But still, it's funny:) I love it when people say:
Are you eating enough?
You should gain weight, you would feel better.
You would feel better if you got out more.

I get: "I don't know how you keep going. I couldn't."

What keeps me going is the memory of the the day I tried to pull the blankets over my head and stay in bed forever. But eventually I had to get up and pee...

I keep going because time keeps going.

This isn't really a "suggestion", just an example of a stupid comment I get:

"Oh yeah, I have that too. I had a cold last week and I'm still really tired."

(CFS, years of undiagnosed balance/headache/respiratory problems)

Too true... Someone could write a book about this one.

I have found that laughing until tears roll down my cheeks and saying something like " you are so bleaping stupid" cuts down on the thoughtless remarks.

Last time my doctor told me to go for walks I asked if that wouldn't just cause my joints to break down faster & cause more pain. ( I have fibro, osteoarthritis and Ostoeporosis). I have to give him credit, he admitted that weightbearing exercise probably wouldn't help me. Ya think?

This was truly a laugh! Like others, I've heard them so many times. The one about "just lose some weight" seems to be a real cure-all. My own former doc kept trying to put me on anti-depressants until I pointed out that I really doubt they would cause my brain fog to lift, my eyebrows to grow back in and to help me get unconstipated! It was an uphill fight for months to get the right tests and medication.

I admit tho that I have been guilty of passing along medical articles - I hope no one takes offenses at that. You never know when there will be a tidbit of new info in one!

Now, if I could only find a dentist who doesn't think my toothache is due to my weight...and an ear dr who doesn't think the tinnitus is due to my weight... and perhaps even a OBGYN who thinks my fibroids and cysts deserve treatment, just like thinner people... I haven't found any of that yet, but surely do hope to before the lack of proper treatments do me in!

"The most bizzare suggestion I ever got was that I ought to eat raw dog meat and that would definitely cure my Cystic Fibrosis. Ew! And I'm a vegetarian too!"

Oh yeah --and I once got suggested to eat pigeon meat when I was trying to conceive, that it'd help, and vegetarian here too!!

..and I got told to lose weight too, and I did lost 130 pounds, but some still say that to me, not realizing its only skin on bones...

I have M.E/C.F.S. People at work are always saying to me 'I'm so tired I think I've got that thing you've got' Yeah right!

I get the "you spend too much time sleeping thats your problem"...hmm i sleep like 8 hours a night if that how long do you sleep??? and "its your medication if you would just stop taking it you would be fine"...oh yea because doing nothing really worked for me before...oh wait thats why i went to the doctor!

I understand your frustration; people are forever saying stupid things. I'm trying with all my might to recover from an eating disorder, and I can't tell you how many times in a day people say things like:

"Wow, you look great. Have you lost weight?"

"I wish I could lose weight like you."

"You're so lucky to be naturally thin."

"What diet are you on?"

And so on. It makes me terribly sad, but I just do my best not to show it and move on. I can't hold it against people who don't know, or who don't know better.

The thing that really gets my goat is when people who DO know say things like:

"Stop being so stubborn. Just eat! It's not hard."

"You know, you're killing yourself."

"Aren't you a little old for this kind of attention-seeking behavior?"

Anyway, I love reading your blog; I found it googling Crohne's disease a while ago (Really, DON'T google your illness). Love and encouragement to everyone who's struggling. Like the song says, "I gotta get through this, I gotta get through this. I'm gonna make it, gonna make it through."

A friend refered me to this site, and I think it's just wonderful. Especially the spoon theory. I've gotten just about all of these from the people in my life, in particular my mother.

I did want to ssay, however, that for those of you who brush off other people's comments about their symptoms and illnesses,you shouldn't. Remember how you felt when you first started explaining your symtpoms to those around you. What if they too have an invisible illness? I belong to an online "support" group for persons with disabilites. Recently, there has been a bit of conflict over who is "really" sick and who is just faking. Remember, you don't know what they're going through.

I've been treated this way by a "friend" who has fibromyalgia (I think). She told me I couldn't possibly be feeling what she was feeling, that I couldn't be as tired as she was. Turns out I've got my own diagnoses. So, don't necessarily assume that they don't know what you're feeling.

But, anyways, I just wanted to say that. Love this site. ^.^

My wife has had a severe chronic headache for 4 years... The best comment we have ever heard was from a friend we hadn't seen in a while. She clearly 'gets' it because when we updated her, she got this look of deep concern with the glit of a smile in her eyes and said "wow! have you tried Tylenol?!" and then broke into laughter!

We've both (i've got FM and some other stuff) heard so many of these and received so many newspaper clipping in the mail that it was really refreshing to have someone joke around with us about it...

Christina

After telling my specialist my lovely list of dx he looked at me and said, "your mother should have sent you right back after you were born." Chuckled and continued on with the exam.
What!?

I enjoy the 'you're just getting older!' comment, yeah sure I am! I was diagnosed with fibro at 9, I'm now 16!

How about the boss asking if I was doing a 10km run - when I told her I couldn't go grocery shopping with out an asthma attack - she said - well maybe you could walk it.... this was 1 week post MAJOR asthma attacked caused by doing 30 minutes of walking... DOH!!

And don't forget - all you need in a little sunshine - that will make you feel SOOO much better...

Sooo true! and so funny! It's like when I'm having a bad fibro day and my husband (who has a very physically demanding job and is 14 years my senior) comes in and says how much pain he's in. I feel like saying, at least you earned your pain. Mine's here for no apparent reason!
Kudos to Stuch21 for trying to overcome her eating disorder. I hope you're on the road to health! Keep on fighting.

My favorite is when people (and doctors) say; "well, you just have to learn to live with it" Like I have a choice..