awaiting chrons diagnosis - need advice!
Hi there,
I'm not yet diagnosed but with a 5 month history of constant diarrhoea, 5kg weight loss, extreme fatigue, erythema nodosum on my lower legs, borderline anaemia and raised white cell and CRP, scleritis of my left eye, anal skin tag and boils, mucous and blood....I'm thinking it's a strong possibility! Have made it as far as my GP and am waiting for a specialists appt, no medical insurance so no choice but to wait for the public system.
Guess I'm just in limbo waiting for appts and diagnosis etc. I am a nurse and have looked after many, many Chrons patients and am well aware of whats in store, but as my GP pointed out I have only seen the sickest of the sick and that many people live semi normal lives with chron's...so I have a few questions for you seasoned chronies!
-how long did it take to be diagnosed and what were your symptoms? I feel my symptoms are strongly suggestive but even though I'm a nurse I've never been on this side of things and not sure of the process
-how long did you have symptoms for before you knew something was wrong? I had a good 2 1/2 years of extreme bloating and tiredness before the diarrhoea started
-how many of you have other auto-immune disorders? I also have asthma, excema, hayfever, endometriosis and just for good measure alopecia-I'm a baldie!!
-How long after you were diagnosed did you start feeling better? I feel so wiped out all of the time and just want to get some normality back into my life
Thats all I can think of now but I'm sure there'll be more questions! Thanks for listening and I'm looking forward to hearing from you all
Anna:sign0085:
Hi there,
I'm not yet diagnosed but with a 5 month history of constant diarrhoea, 5kg weight loss, extreme fatigue, erythema nodosum on my lower legs, borderline anaemia and raised white cell and CRP, scleritis of my left eye, anal skin tag and boils, mucous and blood....I'm thinking it's a strong possibility! Have made it as far as my GP and am waiting for a specialists appt, no medical insurance so no choice but to wait for the public system.
Guess I'm just in limbo waiting for appts and diagnosis etc. I am a nurse and have looked after many, many Chrons patients and am well aware of whats in store, but as my GP pointed out I have only seen the sickest of the sick and that many people live semi normal lives with chron's...so I have a few questions for you seasoned chronies!
-how long did it take to be diagnosed and what were your symptoms? I feel my symptoms are strongly suggestive but even though I'm a nurse I've never been on this side of things and not sure of the process
-how long did you have symptoms for before you knew something was wrong? I had a good 2 1/2 years of extreme bloating and tiredness before the diarrhoea started
-how many of you have other auto-immune disorders? I also have asthma, excema, hayfever, endometriosis and just for good measure alopecia-I'm a baldie!!
-How long after you were diagnosed did you start feeling better? I feel so wiped out all of the time and just want to get some normality back into my life
Thats all I can think of now but I'm sure there'll be more questions! Thanks for listening and I'm looking forward to hearing from you all
Anna:sign0085: