College Student Getting By

[EthanPSU]

Hello, My name is Ethan and I am a 20 year old college student at Penn State. I was diagnosed with Crohns about 4 years ago and have taken Asocal, Pregnisone, and I am now just starting Remicade because the Asocal alone does not seem to be working.

My struggle is more then just Crohns...I hide my Crohns from my friends very well because I hate getting sympaty for anything. I know I can do anything just as good or better then anyone and would not want people to put me and crohns together.

At college I have only had a few flare ups but I deal with them very well by contacting my doctor and getting it put back into remission.

So my whole story is being able to overcome Crohns without technically "overcoming" it. I dont let it affect my life at all and if it does I try my hardest to put it back in its place.

That is my brief story. I hope to answer/ask questions about my crohns or others within these forums.

 

[Crohns08]

Hi Ethan, welcome to the forum!

I can relate to your story in the fact that I'm around your age, but I don't like to share my story of crohn's with my peers. I don't want to be identified by my disease or let it get in the way of anything that I want to do or to study so I tend to hide it from them. I've had success in putting my flares into remission also, so it makes hiding it a bit easier as well.

I'm going to be going off to college in a year so if you have any helpful advice on that, feel free to share! That's definitely going to be a challenge to adjust to in itself, not to mention handling the stress and all of that. But anyways, welcome to the forum!

 

[EthanPSU]

The main challenge with college is the hideing it because you might go to the bathroom more or whatever. And since you have roomates they can tell. It does get easyer to hide it though.

Also stress I have found does cause flareups sometimes (Esspecially around finals) but again just doing your normal remission process with fix that.

 

[DustyKat]

Hi Ethan and welcome,

Good to see you here. I noticed on another post that you are doing politics, My daughter is also at university and doing Psychology/Politics which she absolutely loves. You have a great attitude and Roo is very similar to you in that aspect as well. So welcome aboard and I look forward to seeing you around.

Take care,
Dusty

 

[Dexky]

Hey Nitt, is Joe ever gonna retire? You sound like you've got a great attitude to deal with this disease. Hope all remains manageable for you. Good luck and welcome!!!

 

[Crohn's 35]

Welcome Ethan, good that you have a positive attitude, that really helps. Just don't make the mistake I did and I put it on the back burner and thought I beat it, huge mistake. You don't have to live it everyday but since there is no cure, it can pop up anytime anywhere. Talkking about it does help. Seeing as you are a guy , most guys don't talk about it much. We have many guys here and they have opened up remarkably and it has helped them alot.

:hang: and glad you found us!

 

[Astra]

Hi Ethan
and welcome

I was like you once, hid it, didn't talk about it, was in denial, no-one in work knew, and I became complacent, stopped my meds and ended up in hospital, I know this won't happen to you cos you're so positive, but if things get too much, do yourself a favour, and confide, it's not about sympathy, I hate that too, it's about understanding but more importantly, awareness.
For example, what if you were really taken ill one night, or collapsed? who would know?
We all struggle and fight with it, just don't hide it!
glad you found us and we'll see you around
lotsa luv
Joan xxx

 

[Sophia]

Hi Ethan,

Welcome to the forum - this is such a great place to learn and share! I'm with you on the getting sympathy, it is NOT cool to be treated differently just because we have Crohn's. But I must say I agree with both Jettalady and Joan on the fact that telling people you have it will raise awareness and help other people understand more about it. I have found that if I'm open about it, people understand more and they don't talk behind my back, but actually come to me if they want to know something. Which I find is much better!

I hope you find that you can share anything and everything in here though, and seeing as we are all in the same situation in here we definitely won't judge you if you wanna vent and get some sympathy every now and then!

All the best,

 

[EthanPSU]

Thanks everyone. And yeah I know letting people know might be better but for now..for me...Keeping it to myself I think is best

 

[ameslouise]

Hi Ethan - Welcome!

Glad you have been able to keep things under control thus far -I hope the Remi works for you and gets things into remission for you!

Good luck at school - even though, as a Pitt wife, I am a devoted Penn State Hater!

- Amy