Yup!  My first RD said I had one of those "no sympathy" diseases....now I
know what he means.  I look, talk, and act perfectly normal when I'm not in
extreme flares, so people don't understand why I'm permanently disabled.
If they could see the x-rays of my lungs, joints and stuff, they'd probably
blanch, but who has the time and patience to stop and explain all that to
strangers?

My biggest pet peeve has become the "handicapped" stall in the public
ladies restrooms.  It's so important that I use it because I can't get up
and down without something to hang onto, such as the rails they provide,
otherwise I tear something in my knees or ankles.  But then I walk into or
out of the stall like any normal, healthy woman, so I have to put up with
the sneering stares from other women who think I'm abusing a privilege.
One of these days one of them is gonna say something snide, and I'll whip
out the emergency medical info sheet I have to carry and let them read it.

Then again, that's all such wasted energy, who can be bothered with dealing
with ignorant and/or insensitive people?  So I try to let it slide off me
as much as possible, because I have better things in life to do that I need
that energy for, you betcha!  Heh, but sometimes ..... I'm just soooooo
tempted to whap a few of those gals upside the head! <wry grin>

--
LadyKitt

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention
of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body,
but rather to slide in broadside, thoroughly used up,
totally worn out, and proclaiming: WOW...WHAT A RIDE!!!"