Hi all- I am new here but have been debating joining for a while. I've finally been able to be open with people lately in the last few months about what my health issues are and whilst they have been thoroughly supportive I do sometimes feel like they don't quite understand.
My issues started when I had just completed my final year at university and started having intense pain when going to the toilet. Now I'd always had stomach issues since being a child and was notorious for it, university had been hard as stress had often made me house bound for weeks at a time with flare ups but the Drs had always just said it was IBS and did nothing. But something was different in 2012 and soon it became clear I had an abssess. Back and forth I went to my GP and they just prescribed me more and more antibiotics to try and beat it but nothing would stop the intense pressure and pain, every day was horrendous to the stage where my parents drove me to the A&E because I was screaming whenever I attempted to go to the toilet. It was a perianal abscess at around 4 o'clock however with it being incredibly close to my actual anus no Dr would touch it. I remember pleading with the man in A&E to just cut it out but he wouldn't- again more antiobiotics and pain medication, at this stage I was taking nearly 30 pills a day, was bedridden and couldn't sit/stand/walk.
Finally something gave and it must've burst itself- as there then started to be discharge and pain but at least that horrific pressure ebbed a little. This was then what I had to deal with for almost a year, my abssess was open so would re-fill, the pressure would build and then it would ebb again until January 2013 when Drs finally pushed tests. I had a colonoscopy and blood tests and an MRI that they said showed that it was now a fistula and also confirmed the presence of Crohn's with inflammation. They operated and fitted the seton in place and then that was it- I got no medicatoon for this apparent crohns and for two years ive just tried to cope.
It's been hell. In that time I've trained to be a teacher and this September just gone secured my first job as a teacher- however with all the constant being on my feet and stress things have gotten worse for me since early December. I have to wear pads now on a daily basis as the leaking is so severe, Drs are sending me for more tests, colonoscopies, MRIs and a barium swallow? Test to work out how to proceed. Am I right in thinking of the original diagnosis of crohns is correct then they won't be able to operate on my fisutla?
I am really at my wits end, thankfully my school are so understanding but I've already had so much time off because of the intense pain, the leaking and the constant rushing to the loo. I'm 25, we just bought a house last year and my partner has just proposed but I can't see myself ever wearing white with how conscious I am of it and I'm terrified of being off work and not being able to keep up with mortgage repayments. I don't go out, I don't socialise, I must drive my fantastically patient fiancé crazy as I am hardly a joy to be around at the minute. I've just started out in a career that I love and was good at, but I'm constantly in tears because I just feel so low. Sorry- this is such an essay without any clear purpose but I am the lowest I have been and wonder if there is any chance of any light at the end of this tunnel.
Any responses will be greatly appreciated
Feeling very helpless and alone in this so it's fantastic to find somewhere like this.
My issues started when I had just completed my final year at university and started having intense pain when going to the toilet. Now I'd always had stomach issues since being a child and was notorious for it, university had been hard as stress had often made me house bound for weeks at a time with flare ups but the Drs had always just said it was IBS and did nothing. But something was different in 2012 and soon it became clear I had an abssess. Back and forth I went to my GP and they just prescribed me more and more antibiotics to try and beat it but nothing would stop the intense pressure and pain, every day was horrendous to the stage where my parents drove me to the A&E because I was screaming whenever I attempted to go to the toilet. It was a perianal abscess at around 4 o'clock however with it being incredibly close to my actual anus no Dr would touch it. I remember pleading with the man in A&E to just cut it out but he wouldn't- again more antiobiotics and pain medication, at this stage I was taking nearly 30 pills a day, was bedridden and couldn't sit/stand/walk.
Finally something gave and it must've burst itself- as there then started to be discharge and pain but at least that horrific pressure ebbed a little. This was then what I had to deal with for almost a year, my abssess was open so would re-fill, the pressure would build and then it would ebb again until January 2013 when Drs finally pushed tests. I had a colonoscopy and blood tests and an MRI that they said showed that it was now a fistula and also confirmed the presence of Crohn's with inflammation. They operated and fitted the seton in place and then that was it- I got no medicatoon for this apparent crohns and for two years ive just tried to cope.
It's been hell. In that time I've trained to be a teacher and this September just gone secured my first job as a teacher- however with all the constant being on my feet and stress things have gotten worse for me since early December. I have to wear pads now on a daily basis as the leaking is so severe, Drs are sending me for more tests, colonoscopies, MRIs and a barium swallow? Test to work out how to proceed. Am I right in thinking of the original diagnosis of crohns is correct then they won't be able to operate on my fisutla?
I am really at my wits end, thankfully my school are so understanding but I've already had so much time off because of the intense pain, the leaking and the constant rushing to the loo. I'm 25, we just bought a house last year and my partner has just proposed but I can't see myself ever wearing white with how conscious I am of it and I'm terrified of being off work and not being able to keep up with mortgage repayments. I don't go out, I don't socialise, I must drive my fantastically patient fiancé crazy as I am hardly a joy to be around at the minute. I've just started out in a career that I love and was good at, but I'm constantly in tears because I just feel so low. Sorry- this is such an essay without any clear purpose but I am the lowest I have been and wonder if there is any chance of any light at the end of this tunnel.
Any responses will be greatly appreciated
Feeling very helpless and alone in this so it's fantastic to find somewhere like this.
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