A question for those that have been diagnosed with a chronic disease or illness - did you make an effort to let extended family and friends know?

Asked by rockfan (14627) January 15th, 2019 from iPhone

A few years ago I was diagnosed with PXE, a rare genetic disorder that negatively effects the blood vessels in the body, especially around the eyes, heart, and stomach, which can cause vision loss, bleeding, and heart disease.

Fortunately, I’ve been eating an extremely healthy diet the past year and a lot of my symptoms have been relatively mild. I’ve also avoided lifting heavy things which has helped the blood vessels around my eyes.

But, I still deal with chronic fatigue, brain fog, stomach issues etc, which has affected my social life a bit.

I want people to understand that it’s because of my genetic disease, but I also don’t want people to feel sorry for me or treat me differently. So I’m still unsure whether I should let people know.

For those that have been in this situation, what did you do?