Symptoms since about 12, diagnosed @ 24, now 39. Was in a genuinely bad way when diagnosed, but at the time literally had no idea that the rest of the human race *didn't* live mostly in the bathroom in chronic, debilitating pain.
2 major and 1 minor bowel sections
2 fistulas excised
Spent a lot of time exploring alternative medicines, including homopathy, divining, even living in a tibetan monastery. The fact that I thought it was all BS (but was pretty desperate anyway) probably supressed the placebo effect. Anyway I can report back to those of you on the fence in these matters - I've checked it out for you and it's not worth your time. However I did meet a lot of extraordinarily kind and interesting people, including a bhuddist abbot, mystic and retired MD (all one person) who I swear was the living embodiment of Yoda (except pink)
Previously taken prednislone, aziothiaprine, 6MP. Currently take only mesalazine. Prenisolone was in such high doses and for so long that now have chronic liver scarring as an exciting counterpoint to that whole "chronic auto immune disease" thing.
Also take colestyramine and alendronic acid for side effects of bowel sections and AZP use respectively.
(also omega 6, q10, vitamins, extra calcium, extra b12, extra iron supplements to help combat nutritional shortfall/low energy)
General symptoms: cramps, arthritis, fatigue, frequent practitioner of the high energy sport of "extreme bowel movements"
IBD claim to fame: caught short, I have crapped on a national monument.
Since the epidural fell out during my last disemboweling and recalibrated my concept of pain, whenever a medical practitioner asks me "how much does it hurt on a scale of 1 to 10?" everything in the universe short of amputation now scores 1.
Find generally the best and only way to deal with the pain is to get sufficiently engrossed in something that I stop noticing (but it also means that I sometimes forget other stuff, like eating)
Oh and for some reason Asian mushrooms screw me up something big time, but everything else is fine.
2 major and 1 minor bowel sections
2 fistulas excised
Spent a lot of time exploring alternative medicines, including homopathy, divining, even living in a tibetan monastery. The fact that I thought it was all BS (but was pretty desperate anyway) probably supressed the placebo effect. Anyway I can report back to those of you on the fence in these matters - I've checked it out for you and it's not worth your time. However I did meet a lot of extraordinarily kind and interesting people, including a bhuddist abbot, mystic and retired MD (all one person) who I swear was the living embodiment of Yoda (except pink)
Previously taken prednislone, aziothiaprine, 6MP. Currently take only mesalazine. Prenisolone was in such high doses and for so long that now have chronic liver scarring as an exciting counterpoint to that whole "chronic auto immune disease" thing.
Also take colestyramine and alendronic acid for side effects of bowel sections and AZP use respectively.
(also omega 6, q10, vitamins, extra calcium, extra b12, extra iron supplements to help combat nutritional shortfall/low energy)
General symptoms: cramps, arthritis, fatigue, frequent practitioner of the high energy sport of "extreme bowel movements"
IBD claim to fame: caught short, I have crapped on a national monument.
Since the epidural fell out during my last disemboweling and recalibrated my concept of pain, whenever a medical practitioner asks me "how much does it hurt on a scale of 1 to 10?" everything in the universe short of amputation now scores 1.
Find generally the best and only way to deal with the pain is to get sufficiently engrossed in something that I stop noticing (but it also means that I sometimes forget other stuff, like eating)
Oh and for some reason Asian mushrooms screw me up something big time, but everything else is fine.
