Hi I'm 18 years old and I was recently diagnosed with crohn's. Basically about 2 months ago after stomach pains and diarrhea, doctor's diagnosed me with celiac disease-basically just can't have gluten (btw at the time I thought THAT of all things was bad...... I had no idea what I was in for). The doctors then had me do a colonoscopy to make sure everything looked ok but that's when they discovered the inflammation and realized that in addition to having celiac, I also had crohn's, which is obviously far worse.
I remember balling my eyes out that night just thinking my whole life was screwed, that I would never be able to make any friends when I go off to college because who wants to be around someone who is such a burden. Eventually, however, I began to accept the two diseases that I had and realized that I even though I hated my situation, I could still make the best of it and be strong. This worked for a little while, until my crohn's flared up and I was reminded just how awful it truly is. I couldn't go to school as I was constantly going in and out of the bathroom, in excruciating pain on the toilet at least 8 times a day. Each time I went could last anywhere from 10-30 minutes or so with my stomach constantly in pain as I'd try and push out anything I had left, which for the most part would be just blood. This in turn would leave me utterly exhausted and unable to do just about anything other than lay on my bed/couch.
Not only was this experience so awful and painful for me physically, but it had a major impact on me psychologically and emotionally when it came to socializing and doing activities outside of the house. I dreaded going anywhere even if it were somewhere fun with really good friends of mine because I knew that I'd have to constantly know where the closest bathroom is for when I inevitably have to go. Eventually doctor's put me on 40 mg of prednisone a day to get everything under control. Prednisone worked really well for me as I had virtually no symptoms from my crohn's and at times I even forgot I had it. The only downside to prednisone is that after about a month, I started noticing the awful side effects.... Weight gain, muscle deterioration, uncontrollable eating and cravings, EXCESSIVE sweating in my hands, feet, and armpits (I have never had sweaty armpits in my life), rapid hair growth on my face, chest, and stomach, acne, and really bad mood swings. I was getting so sick and tired of it because it was making me feel another type of physical and emotional pain of insecurity. Looking in the mirror at night, I was a shell of myself. I work out a lot, and prior to crohn's and prednisone I felt like I looked really great physically, but it's obvious when I look at myself now just how damaging the round of prednisone has been for me. I have been tapering off prednisone the past few weeks and I'm now down to 10 mg a day and am starting to see some of the side effects disappear, HOWEVER, my crohns' symptoms are starting to return as I lessen my daily dosage of prednisone. My doctors started me on Humira about 20 days ago but I guess that isn't exactly working since my symptoms are starting to return as I reduce the prednisone.
So, basically where I'm at today is I've only had crohn's for about 2 months, but it has been life-altering to say the least. I never really had any ambitious goals that I set for myself prior to the disease, although it is clear to me that having crohn's will surely limit whatever it is I want to do from this point on in my life. Every decision I make now seems to revolve around my health. I can't go out to eat at the majority of places with my friends like I used to because of my celiac disease, and even when I can find a place that caters to my gluten free needs, I'm constantly worrying about whether I'm going to have to make a mad dash for the nearest bathroom because of my crohns' symptoms. I want so badly just to have the healthy life I once had a mere 2 months ago, when I never had to worry about anything like this. I know that's not possible, but I can't help but think about what my life used to be and how different it's going to be moving forward.
I remember balling my eyes out that night just thinking my whole life was screwed, that I would never be able to make any friends when I go off to college because who wants to be around someone who is such a burden. Eventually, however, I began to accept the two diseases that I had and realized that I even though I hated my situation, I could still make the best of it and be strong. This worked for a little while, until my crohn's flared up and I was reminded just how awful it truly is. I couldn't go to school as I was constantly going in and out of the bathroom, in excruciating pain on the toilet at least 8 times a day. Each time I went could last anywhere from 10-30 minutes or so with my stomach constantly in pain as I'd try and push out anything I had left, which for the most part would be just blood. This in turn would leave me utterly exhausted and unable to do just about anything other than lay on my bed/couch.
Not only was this experience so awful and painful for me physically, but it had a major impact on me psychologically and emotionally when it came to socializing and doing activities outside of the house. I dreaded going anywhere even if it were somewhere fun with really good friends of mine because I knew that I'd have to constantly know where the closest bathroom is for when I inevitably have to go. Eventually doctor's put me on 40 mg of prednisone a day to get everything under control. Prednisone worked really well for me as I had virtually no symptoms from my crohn's and at times I even forgot I had it. The only downside to prednisone is that after about a month, I started noticing the awful side effects.... Weight gain, muscle deterioration, uncontrollable eating and cravings, EXCESSIVE sweating in my hands, feet, and armpits (I have never had sweaty armpits in my life), rapid hair growth on my face, chest, and stomach, acne, and really bad mood swings. I was getting so sick and tired of it because it was making me feel another type of physical and emotional pain of insecurity. Looking in the mirror at night, I was a shell of myself. I work out a lot, and prior to crohn's and prednisone I felt like I looked really great physically, but it's obvious when I look at myself now just how damaging the round of prednisone has been for me. I have been tapering off prednisone the past few weeks and I'm now down to 10 mg a day and am starting to see some of the side effects disappear, HOWEVER, my crohns' symptoms are starting to return as I lessen my daily dosage of prednisone. My doctors started me on Humira about 20 days ago but I guess that isn't exactly working since my symptoms are starting to return as I reduce the prednisone.
So, basically where I'm at today is I've only had crohn's for about 2 months, but it has been life-altering to say the least. I never really had any ambitious goals that I set for myself prior to the disease, although it is clear to me that having crohn's will surely limit whatever it is I want to do from this point on in my life. Every decision I make now seems to revolve around my health. I can't go out to eat at the majority of places with my friends like I used to because of my celiac disease, and even when I can find a place that caters to my gluten free needs, I'm constantly worrying about whether I'm going to have to make a mad dash for the nearest bathroom because of my crohns' symptoms. I want so badly just to have the healthy life I once had a mere 2 months ago, when I never had to worry about anything like this. I know that's not possible, but I can't help but think about what my life used to be and how different it's going to be moving forward.
