gonna get better.
two years ago i went to the hospital after eating nothing but spam for a few days straight. i was diagnosed with crohn's: 25cm of diseased terminal illeum, two deep ulcers, and a probable fistula to my colon. (i have no idea how mild/severe this is...opinions appreciated.)
thinking back on it, i have had somewhat frequent diarrhea since high school that i mostly ignored (i am twenty-four now) and had been jokingly complaining "I THINK I HAVE ULCERS" for at least a year before my diagnosis. in a sense, it was nice to be somewhat vindicated that there was actually something wrong with me and it wasn't just my head playing tricks with my body.
i was put on pentasa (500mg 4x/day) and my mother, a physician, also advised me to start a regimen of probiotics. i kept that up for several months, though i developed (more like lapsed into) a poor relationship with my doctor. i slept through an appointment and the next available one wasn't for five months. that pissed me off, so i didn't make another appointment.
for the past year i just tried to ignore my crohn's. i have pains. i have constipation alternating with diarrhea. but doctors and tests and paperwork seemed like such a hassle. my mother refilled my pentasa prescription, but i basically stopped taking it because eating those eight huge blue pills every day was too much of a visceral reminder of my disease.
in june, my mother yelled at me enough that i went back on my pentasa and probiotics. but it seemed to make my symptoms worse. every couple of weeks i would become constipated for days with a painful abdominal bulge in my lower right quadrant. that would be followed by days and days of pooping and diarrhea and pooping. so i stopped taking the drugs and got a new doctor. (!! good job me!)
in the past few weeks i've had a contrast mri and a barium follow through and i have an upcoming colonoscopy. so soon i'll find out what my body has been up to the past year, and can figure out a course of action.
ever since resuming pentasa in june my lower right abdomen has been (to varying degrees) tender to the touch. enough so that it causes pain during sex. i don't know how to tell if my crohn's is active or in remission. i don't know what pains are due to body symptoms, and what pains are due to stress/paranoia/hypochondria. i can't tell between the foods make me hurt, and the foods i eat when i am in pain because they seem easy to digest. i smoke and i do drugs (though i have been doing well at cutting back).
i am all mixed up but i am trying to sort it all out.
two years ago i went to the hospital after eating nothing but spam for a few days straight. i was diagnosed with crohn's: 25cm of diseased terminal illeum, two deep ulcers, and a probable fistula to my colon. (i have no idea how mild/severe this is...opinions appreciated.)
thinking back on it, i have had somewhat frequent diarrhea since high school that i mostly ignored (i am twenty-four now) and had been jokingly complaining "I THINK I HAVE ULCERS" for at least a year before my diagnosis. in a sense, it was nice to be somewhat vindicated that there was actually something wrong with me and it wasn't just my head playing tricks with my body.
i was put on pentasa (500mg 4x/day) and my mother, a physician, also advised me to start a regimen of probiotics. i kept that up for several months, though i developed (more like lapsed into) a poor relationship with my doctor. i slept through an appointment and the next available one wasn't for five months. that pissed me off, so i didn't make another appointment.
for the past year i just tried to ignore my crohn's. i have pains. i have constipation alternating with diarrhea. but doctors and tests and paperwork seemed like such a hassle. my mother refilled my pentasa prescription, but i basically stopped taking it because eating those eight huge blue pills every day was too much of a visceral reminder of my disease.
in june, my mother yelled at me enough that i went back on my pentasa and probiotics. but it seemed to make my symptoms worse. every couple of weeks i would become constipated for days with a painful abdominal bulge in my lower right quadrant. that would be followed by days and days of pooping and diarrhea and pooping. so i stopped taking the drugs and got a new doctor. (!! good job me!)
in the past few weeks i've had a contrast mri and a barium follow through and i have an upcoming colonoscopy. so soon i'll find out what my body has been up to the past year, and can figure out a course of action.
ever since resuming pentasa in june my lower right abdomen has been (to varying degrees) tender to the touch. enough so that it causes pain during sex. i don't know how to tell if my crohn's is active or in remission. i don't know what pains are due to body symptoms, and what pains are due to stress/paranoia/hypochondria. i can't tell between the foods make me hurt, and the foods i eat when i am in pain because they seem easy to digest. i smoke and i do drugs (though i have been doing well at cutting back).
i am all mixed up but i am trying to sort it all out.
