IBS Unfiltered

I’ll never forget the time IBS completely humiliated me at a work conference. I had been preparing for weeks for this big presentation—slides polished, outfit picked out, coffee carefully rationed. Everything was perfect… until my stomach decided it wasn’t.

It started with the usual warning signs: a subtle gurgle here, a mild cramp there. I tried to ignore it, thinking I could “tough it out.” Bad idea. By the time I walked into the packed conference room, my stomach was staging a full-blown rebellion.

Halfway through my presentation, I felt the unmistakable “oh no” moment. I shifted my weight, hoping no one would notice the urgency. Spoiler: they did. There’s no graceful way to handle IBS when you’re standing in front of 200 people and suddenly every slide feels like it’s mocking you.

I made it to the bathroom—thankfully—just in time. But the aftermath? Let’s just say I spent the rest of the day in a shameful cycle of bathroom trips, ginger tea, and apologizing for disappearing mid-session.

The worst part? I realized later that most people were too absorbed in their own presentations (or snacks) to notice anything at all. Still, the memory of that day has stuck with me—not as a “humiliation story,” but as a reminder that IBS is unpredictable, relentless, and sometimes hilariously inconvenient.

The good news? It also taught me to plan ahead, pack emergency supplies, and—most importantly—have a sense of humor about the chaos my digestive system sometimes creates.