hello
My name's Fraser, i'm 17 and from New Zealand
. About a year ago I started having stomach problems, diarrhea, pains and anxiety. We all thought it was just due to stress at the time because my grandfather had just died and i had my end of year school exams coming up and so I blamed that. I went to the doctor and he swore that I had Giardia or an infection and so gave me antibiotics. It didn't help and I went back, this time he told me I was just stressed and this was all natural. I can tell you that pooping blood and wanting to throw up every day was not normal. He then blamed IBS and prescribed muscle relaxants. guess what, didnt work. I went to the emergancy room several times due to the huge amount of pain and they blamed gas. I was hopeless and so was everyone else. Throughout the rest of the year everything went up and down, i missed alot of school and ALOT of weight. I went from 69Kg to just 57Kg in the span of a few months. Nothing seemed to be working. I had diarrhea for months at a time and the blood came and went. I finally got in to the local surgeon and he started to take it seriously. I had a colonoscpoy, endoscopy, pillcam and many many scans. He then diagnosed me with crohns and put me on 8 Pentasa a day as well as prednisone and foam enemas. I was 17 and had already been through more than anyone in my school. I was the only one to have a colonoscopy in my school and the only one of my age with this problem in my town. My friends thought it was just a stomach problem and would go away but i knew otherwise.
The pentasa seemed to be working, i was getting better and gaining ABIT of weight. But then one day i woke up and couldnt move, it was like there was this pressure in my chest and when i moved i would through up straight green bile and blood. I wanted to die. I got taken to hospital and finally admitted. At this time it was 4 days before christmas. They had no idea what was going on and didnt help at all. I wanted to stop the pentasa but they wouldnt let me. I was released on boxing day and as soon as i got home I got rid of all the Pentasa, i couldnt do it anymore. A few days latter i felt great. Then the GI called and said that my fecal calprotectin result had come back and it was well over 600, indicating something serious. But i felt great, how could that be? He put me on asacol and swore it wouldnt hurt me, but it did. Vomiting, blood and pain and more diarrhea than to fill a pool. I stopped that by myself and since then only taking pro biotics and multi vitamins. But i cant gain weight and i cant get over the anxiety and depression that this has caused me.
My girlfriend is the only one that helps and takes me seriously. I have lost the bonds i shared with my friends and they all think I'm just weak and a "pussy", they dont take it seriously and think i'll just get better like that. recently i was away from school for 3 weeks and when i got back no one even said much, they acted like it wasnt a big deal, asking if i was coming out this weekend and getting on it and saying i need to get out of the house. I wanted to scream, how can they know what it's like? Every waking minute i am thinking about this, how it affects me and what will happen after school. I am having counselling but i need to talk to people who know what it's like. What can I do? I feel like i have lost my friends and no one takes me seriously. Please give me advice.
Fraser
My name's Fraser, i'm 17 and from New Zealand
. About a year ago I started having stomach problems, diarrhea, pains and anxiety. We all thought it was just due to stress at the time because my grandfather had just died and i had my end of year school exams coming up and so I blamed that. I went to the doctor and he swore that I had Giardia or an infection and so gave me antibiotics. It didn't help and I went back, this time he told me I was just stressed and this was all natural. I can tell you that pooping blood and wanting to throw up every day was not normal. He then blamed IBS and prescribed muscle relaxants. guess what, didnt work. I went to the emergancy room several times due to the huge amount of pain and they blamed gas. I was hopeless and so was everyone else. Throughout the rest of the year everything went up and down, i missed alot of school and ALOT of weight. I went from 69Kg to just 57Kg in the span of a few months. Nothing seemed to be working. I had diarrhea for months at a time and the blood came and went. I finally got in to the local surgeon and he started to take it seriously. I had a colonoscpoy, endoscopy, pillcam and many many scans. He then diagnosed me with crohns and put me on 8 Pentasa a day as well as prednisone and foam enemas. I was 17 and had already been through more than anyone in my school. I was the only one to have a colonoscopy in my school and the only one of my age with this problem in my town. My friends thought it was just a stomach problem and would go away but i knew otherwise.The pentasa seemed to be working, i was getting better and gaining ABIT of weight. But then one day i woke up and couldnt move, it was like there was this pressure in my chest and when i moved i would through up straight green bile and blood. I wanted to die. I got taken to hospital and finally admitted. At this time it was 4 days before christmas. They had no idea what was going on and didnt help at all. I wanted to stop the pentasa but they wouldnt let me. I was released on boxing day and as soon as i got home I got rid of all the Pentasa, i couldnt do it anymore. A few days latter i felt great. Then the GI called and said that my fecal calprotectin result had come back and it was well over 600, indicating something serious. But i felt great, how could that be? He put me on asacol and swore it wouldnt hurt me, but it did. Vomiting, blood and pain and more diarrhea than to fill a pool. I stopped that by myself and since then only taking pro biotics and multi vitamins. But i cant gain weight and i cant get over the anxiety and depression that this has caused me.
My girlfriend is the only one that helps and takes me seriously. I have lost the bonds i shared with my friends and they all think I'm just weak and a "pussy", they dont take it seriously and think i'll just get better like that. recently i was away from school for 3 weeks and when i got back no one even said much, they acted like it wasnt a big deal, asking if i was coming out this weekend and getting on it and saying i need to get out of the house. I wanted to scream, how can they know what it's like? Every waking minute i am thinking about this, how it affects me and what will happen after school. I am having counselling but i need to talk to people who know what it's like. What can I do? I feel like i have lost my friends and no one takes me seriously. Please give me advice.
Fraser
