The Alternative Cult and well meaning know-it-all's

I think most people living with a chronic condition has come across at least one person who belongs to the Alternative Cult, and by all means, that person might mean well, but for someone living with a chronic condition, especially genetic one, it can be utterly painful to get alternative methods shoved down our throats more violently than a paramedic putting a breathing tube into an unresponsive person who's stopped breathing. Anyone living with a chronic condition know his or her case of the condition better than anyone else does, it's his or her body and he or she know it best. Don't criticize our way of dealing with our condition!
If you have the same diagnose or a similar diagnose, by all means, share if you've found a way that helps for you and think it may benefit others, but don't start preaching it like some kind of new religion, it's bad enough we have to dodge The Gluten Free Church of Low Carb High Fat on a regular basis. While yes, altering our diets might make minor difference in our general well being, probably mostly through placebo, it does not cure our condition and unless you have a medical reason to entirely cut out gluten and/or carbohydrates, you might actually do more harm than good to yourself when looking long term. There's even been cases of stroke in Sweden that can be more or less directly blamed on LCHF diet so it's not as healthy as the LCHF followers says it is. Many living with connective tissue disorders also have bowel issues so altering a diet might send the person to a day at the loo, and we might have days of many loo visits anyways, even on a diet that our bowels does agree with.

If you do live with a condition yourself, don't criticize others for how they manage their condition! Even within the same condition people are affected differently and may handle things differently. If someone is taking heavy duty painkillers and you're not, that doesn't mean one of you is wrong, it means both are doing what's right for the individual, and due to idiots using heavy duty painkillers for recreational use, those medicines aren't taken lightly and not the first choice when needing a prescription painkiller. If someone is taking heavy duty painkillers as pain management, he or she takes that medicine for a damn good reason, so don't you dare telling that person it's wrong!
It's hard enough to accept that you need strong prescription medicines without being attacked by someone about it, and the same goes with using aid items such as bracing or mobility aid. It's hard enough to mentally accept those things without being personally attacked about it! People are not using bracing, crutches, canes or wheelchairs for fun or attention, it's used to get around better or even be the difference between being stuck at home or able to go outside.

Living with a chronic condition is tough both on body and mind, every day is a struggle both physically and emotionally and even doing the simplest of things healthy people take for granted can take an extreme toll physically on someone with a chronic condition. If the condition or disability becomes symptomatic or is acquired in adulthood, mentally accepting the new limits can be hard, and some might have to physically re-learn how to do things to not suffer as badly afterwards. The last thing we need is to have someone attacking us with alternative treatments as the only right way of treating our condition, or being told to see a psychologist or exercise more or whatever other comments we might hear far too often.

I know people who's been brought to tears by members of the Alternative Cult when the cult members are giving all sorts of advice that wasn't asked for or criticizing the person for how he or she is living his or her life with a chronic condition.
While it might be well meaning, it can feel like a personal attack, and it hurts, hurts a lot!

What you can do? Just be there, be supportive, but mainly just be there and don't push advice down anyone's throat. The person you know with a condition will ask if wanting advice and if asking, most usually turn to someone living with the same diagnoses to get some personal experience in the answers.

The absolutely worst thing anyone can do against someone with a chronic condition is to walk away or try to come up with all sorts of wonder cures. Unless you find a way to fix broken DNA, just shut up unless asked for advice, but do feel free to share something you think might be helpful, without shoving it down someone's throat, and let it be up to the individual to decide whether to try it or not.

There's no right or wrong in how you manage a chronic condition, there's only individual choices based on personal experience and symptoms of the individual.

Someone living with a chronic condition doesn't want pity, he or she only wants understanding and respect!