Okay, I'm a bit of a rambler, so please bear with me.
Firstly my name is Rebecca and I'm 21 and I was diagnosed with Crohns at 14 and have had various levels of success with treatments over the years.
A brief overview is, I was diagnosed and spent a little time in hospital as I was underweight because anything I ate irritated my bowel and caused it to go right through me without absorbing any nutrients.
When that was figured out I was a lot better for a few years (although, I don't remember much of it, because I was busy off being a normal teenager) and everything was okay with a few little dips here and there until I was off to University. However, the stress of that caused a really bad flare up and I left, and came home and had another stay in the hospital to have some steroid injections and tests and a feeding tube.
I've been on and off steroids, other treatments etc. since then and everything seemed to be going okay until about October last year - and I was really scared so I didn't see any one and hid away from the world, which in hindsight was silly and caused a lot of weight loss/damage, and in January I was admitted to hospital again because I realised I was dangerously ill and I was in intensive care for a few nights because my heart rate was 140bpm and my weight was 29kg (and i'm 5'7".) Had a feeding tube in my arm this time and lots of steroids/vitamin drips until my health and BMI were much more healthy.
I left the hospital and early February and slowly i've been recovering through having steroids (which i'm now finally off, hooray!), and 40mg of Humira every week and now up to 50mg of azathioprine (I have to take it slowly as my body doesn't sometimes react well to it), also have iron transfusions as that is low. Oh, and also have high calorie drinks as well to boost intake.
My weight is now a (still not very healthy, but healthier) 43kgs, however, lately I've been getting stomach cramps when I eat too much food again, and feeling sick. And I'm just getting fed up of progress not going fast enough, my specialist is encouraging me to have a stoma fitted but at the minute I'm adamant I am slowly getting back to normal and want to fight on with medication for a little bit longer before I make a life-changing decision.
I've found three things make my Crohns flare up the most, stress, spicy foods and getting my period (this restarted only last month after stopping due to poor nutrition for over 3 years, and it was really heavy and full of clots and lasted for over 2 weeks).
I was hoping anyone had and advice on any tricks or tips they use to relax/help with their symptoms. I'm a little apprehensive of reaching out to people because I don't trust easily, so please be kind!
Firstly my name is Rebecca and I'm 21 and I was diagnosed with Crohns at 14 and have had various levels of success with treatments over the years.
A brief overview is, I was diagnosed and spent a little time in hospital as I was underweight because anything I ate irritated my bowel and caused it to go right through me without absorbing any nutrients.
When that was figured out I was a lot better for a few years (although, I don't remember much of it, because I was busy off being a normal teenager) and everything was okay with a few little dips here and there until I was off to University. However, the stress of that caused a really bad flare up and I left, and came home and had another stay in the hospital to have some steroid injections and tests and a feeding tube.
I've been on and off steroids, other treatments etc. since then and everything seemed to be going okay until about October last year - and I was really scared so I didn't see any one and hid away from the world, which in hindsight was silly and caused a lot of weight loss/damage, and in January I was admitted to hospital again because I realised I was dangerously ill and I was in intensive care for a few nights because my heart rate was 140bpm and my weight was 29kg (and i'm 5'7".) Had a feeding tube in my arm this time and lots of steroids/vitamin drips until my health and BMI were much more healthy.
I left the hospital and early February and slowly i've been recovering through having steroids (which i'm now finally off, hooray!), and 40mg of Humira every week and now up to 50mg of azathioprine (I have to take it slowly as my body doesn't sometimes react well to it), also have iron transfusions as that is low. Oh, and also have high calorie drinks as well to boost intake.
My weight is now a (still not very healthy, but healthier) 43kgs, however, lately I've been getting stomach cramps when I eat too much food again, and feeling sick. And I'm just getting fed up of progress not going fast enough, my specialist is encouraging me to have a stoma fitted but at the minute I'm adamant I am slowly getting back to normal and want to fight on with medication for a little bit longer before I make a life-changing decision.
I've found three things make my Crohns flare up the most, stress, spicy foods and getting my period (this restarted only last month after stopping due to poor nutrition for over 3 years, and it was really heavy and full of clots and lasted for over 2 weeks).
I was hoping anyone had and advice on any tricks or tips they use to relax/help with their symptoms. I'm a little apprehensive of reaching out to people because I don't trust easily, so please be kind!
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