EDIT *oops sorry all, i just realized i posted this in the wrong forum..should be in introductions.
hey everyone!
i'm new here. i'll do this introduction but as i'm sure you all know and can relate -> it's a looooong story lol ... ok so here we go:
- i'm a 29 year old female, living in Toronto, not married, no kids...work full-time at a college and i go to university part-time, almost finished my Bachelor of Education in Adult Education
- my doctor pointed out some changes in my blood work when i was 22 years old, it began with higher platelet count, low red blood count, higher white blood cell count and a few other lil changes (if i remember correctly something was off with my liver enzymes)...
at that time, i didn't notice any stand out symptoms, other than experiencing sciatica and some gas pain in the stomach at night...and waking up with a sore/tight/crampy stomach in the morning, which seemed to be from gas.
i believe i began getting blood in my stool around that age, not frequently though and being young... and embarrassed... i never mentioned the blood in my stool, i just assumed it was hemmoroids.
- so at the time, my doctor sent me to see a specialist about my blood work. the hematologist said that although my blood work was a bit off, this may be what's normal for me. and he advised my doctor to monitor my white blood cell count.
- cut to years later, age 25, i begin to experience sever joint pain... specifically in my ankles. started with a sore red bump in the area then BAM - lots of swelling, redness and severe pain!
went to the doctors, bloodwork was off again, especially my platelet count
-blood work continued to get strange platelets would usually range from mid 500 to mid 600, CPR was up and WBC were a bit elevated ... and i even had a false positive HEP C result! which freaked me out, but eventually a Gastro specialist (irony huh, went to him and who'd have known i actually had CD) he determined it was not HEP and eventually my bloodwork also should negative again. (apparently autoimmune diseases can cause false positives on HEP tests)
- after my research and frequent doctors visits and insisting i see a rheumotologist i was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease - Palendromic Rheumatism
- so as the pattern of PR usually is, i'd experience severe joint flare ups, usually 2-3 days and then they'd subside, usually for 6 months i'd be in remission.
- but by the time i reached age 28 my joint pain became more regular, yet less severe. i would constantly wake up with a sore right ankle, or a sore toe or a sore heel (caused by a lil lump on the bottom of my foot, i dunno what's up with that but it would come and go)
- i also over the past few years noticed that i would experience chest discomfort and stomach discomfort... and i'd ask my doctor about it and she thought maybe indigestion or gas... i'd had xrays on my chest, came back normal. ultrasound last year only showed cysts on my ovaries but that was it. eventually i was told that i was experiencing panic attacks... those went away soon enough.
- sometimes i'd get a sore nickel sized red lump on my chin and when it'd go away it's leave a darker spot (i'm brownskinned so it'd leave a bit of a dark brown mark) i was curious as to what it was but, had no clue.
- i also began to have problems with my gums. swelling, inflammation, friable tissue. once i had a lump like swelling under my tongue, my dentist said it was a blockage it went away.... but when my gum inflammation started happening, my dentist was confused and puzzled as to why... she referred me to a specialist...we all agreed it could be due to autoimmune complications...at this point i now continue to see the dentist and specialist every 3 months and there's been some improvement
- i also noticed changes in my eyes - more sensitive, tired, blurryness...also the skin around my eyes changed... more easy to become puffy... but the weirdest thing is when i suddenly became allergic to my favourite makeup! suddenly a liquid eyeliner i had used for YEARS, stopped agreeing with my skin... my eye lid would become itchy, red and slightly swollen. so i stopped using that brand of eyeliner
- anyway, things began to get really serious over the last year or two.... the stomach cramping after i ate was becoming unbearable and embarrassing... i felt sick all the time, exrtemely fatigued (e.g. sleeping for 14 hours and still feeling exhausted), i'd lost quite a bit of weight but i thought it was due to my efforts since i thought "hmmm... i feel terrible when i eat, maybe i should eat better and exercise" so yeah, the weight lost wasn't unexpected, i was happy for it cuz i had gained quite a bit of weight the year before... my bowel movements were regular (once or twice a day, rarely diarrhea but i did get bright red blood in my stool sometimes that would weird me out).... i also had a skin tag in my rectum which i was very embarrassed to talk to my doctor about, even though it had been there for years....
-i finally talked to my doctor about the skin tag and anal bleeding during bowel movements and she said it was a hemmoroid that turned into a skin tag.... she asked me if i get diarrhea and i said i hadn't gotten any... but i asked if i could go to a colon/rectal clinic to have it removed.... so i did. the skin tag removal went well, though on day 3 i had A LOT of bleeding during a bowel movement! made me a bit nervous but it's been about 2 months since i had it removed, and it's healed pretty good, still a small hint of a tag, but much better.
- anyway, my blood work continued to be off for a while.... last year my doctor became concerned when she couldn't figure out why my WBC was continuing to elevate.... it reached 18... and my platelet count continued to be around 645
i also had some urine tests that came out with red blood cells or a lil off, but eventually that went away.
- my doctor told me to get a couple more blood tests and if they continued to come out with high WBC she'd have to send me back to the Hematologist.
- i didn't feel like having anymore bloodwork, i was frustrated with getting no answers and just assumed it was an autoimmune thing and gave up on it.
cut to December 2008.... found out i have Crohn's Disease, but i found out the hard way - but i will make the thread in the General Discussion lounge to explain what recently happened because i have a question about it.... i will include the link to the second thread when i'm done
EDIT*** ok, here's part 2 of my story that explains the CD diagnosis: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=68206#post68206
btw anyone who took the time to read ALL OF THE ABOVE, bless your heart lol, i really didn't wanna write a novel, but whatever, maybe someone out there will be able to relate.
hey everyone!
i'm new here. i'll do this introduction but as i'm sure you all know and can relate -> it's a looooong story lol ... ok so here we go:
- i'm a 29 year old female, living in Toronto, not married, no kids...work full-time at a college and i go to university part-time, almost finished my Bachelor of Education in Adult Education
- my doctor pointed out some changes in my blood work when i was 22 years old, it began with higher platelet count, low red blood count, higher white blood cell count and a few other lil changes (if i remember correctly something was off with my liver enzymes)...
at that time, i didn't notice any stand out symptoms, other than experiencing sciatica and some gas pain in the stomach at night...and waking up with a sore/tight/crampy stomach in the morning, which seemed to be from gas.
i believe i began getting blood in my stool around that age, not frequently though and being young... and embarrassed... i never mentioned the blood in my stool, i just assumed it was hemmoroids.
- so at the time, my doctor sent me to see a specialist about my blood work. the hematologist said that although my blood work was a bit off, this may be what's normal for me. and he advised my doctor to monitor my white blood cell count.
- cut to years later, age 25, i begin to experience sever joint pain... specifically in my ankles. started with a sore red bump in the area then BAM - lots of swelling, redness and severe pain!
went to the doctors, bloodwork was off again, especially my platelet count
-blood work continued to get strange platelets would usually range from mid 500 to mid 600, CPR was up and WBC were a bit elevated ... and i even had a false positive HEP C result! which freaked me out, but eventually a Gastro specialist (irony huh, went to him and who'd have known i actually had CD) he determined it was not HEP and eventually my bloodwork also should negative again. (apparently autoimmune diseases can cause false positives on HEP tests)
- after my research and frequent doctors visits and insisting i see a rheumotologist i was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease - Palendromic Rheumatism
- so as the pattern of PR usually is, i'd experience severe joint flare ups, usually 2-3 days and then they'd subside, usually for 6 months i'd be in remission.
- but by the time i reached age 28 my joint pain became more regular, yet less severe. i would constantly wake up with a sore right ankle, or a sore toe or a sore heel (caused by a lil lump on the bottom of my foot, i dunno what's up with that but it would come and go)
- i also over the past few years noticed that i would experience chest discomfort and stomach discomfort... and i'd ask my doctor about it and she thought maybe indigestion or gas... i'd had xrays on my chest, came back normal. ultrasound last year only showed cysts on my ovaries but that was it. eventually i was told that i was experiencing panic attacks... those went away soon enough.
- sometimes i'd get a sore nickel sized red lump on my chin and when it'd go away it's leave a darker spot (i'm brownskinned so it'd leave a bit of a dark brown mark) i was curious as to what it was but, had no clue.
- i also began to have problems with my gums. swelling, inflammation, friable tissue. once i had a lump like swelling under my tongue, my dentist said it was a blockage it went away.... but when my gum inflammation started happening, my dentist was confused and puzzled as to why... she referred me to a specialist...we all agreed it could be due to autoimmune complications...at this point i now continue to see the dentist and specialist every 3 months and there's been some improvement
- i also noticed changes in my eyes - more sensitive, tired, blurryness...also the skin around my eyes changed... more easy to become puffy... but the weirdest thing is when i suddenly became allergic to my favourite makeup! suddenly a liquid eyeliner i had used for YEARS, stopped agreeing with my skin... my eye lid would become itchy, red and slightly swollen. so i stopped using that brand of eyeliner
- anyway, things began to get really serious over the last year or two.... the stomach cramping after i ate was becoming unbearable and embarrassing... i felt sick all the time, exrtemely fatigued (e.g. sleeping for 14 hours and still feeling exhausted), i'd lost quite a bit of weight but i thought it was due to my efforts since i thought "hmmm... i feel terrible when i eat, maybe i should eat better and exercise" so yeah, the weight lost wasn't unexpected, i was happy for it cuz i had gained quite a bit of weight the year before... my bowel movements were regular (once or twice a day, rarely diarrhea but i did get bright red blood in my stool sometimes that would weird me out).... i also had a skin tag in my rectum which i was very embarrassed to talk to my doctor about, even though it had been there for years....
-i finally talked to my doctor about the skin tag and anal bleeding during bowel movements and she said it was a hemmoroid that turned into a skin tag.... she asked me if i get diarrhea and i said i hadn't gotten any... but i asked if i could go to a colon/rectal clinic to have it removed.... so i did. the skin tag removal went well, though on day 3 i had A LOT of bleeding during a bowel movement! made me a bit nervous but it's been about 2 months since i had it removed, and it's healed pretty good, still a small hint of a tag, but much better.
- anyway, my blood work continued to be off for a while.... last year my doctor became concerned when she couldn't figure out why my WBC was continuing to elevate.... it reached 18... and my platelet count continued to be around 645
i also had some urine tests that came out with red blood cells or a lil off, but eventually that went away.
- my doctor told me to get a couple more blood tests and if they continued to come out with high WBC she'd have to send me back to the Hematologist.
- i didn't feel like having anymore bloodwork, i was frustrated with getting no answers and just assumed it was an autoimmune thing and gave up on it.
cut to December 2008.... found out i have Crohn's Disease, but i found out the hard way - but i will make the thread in the General Discussion lounge to explain what recently happened because i have a question about it.... i will include the link to the second thread when i'm done
EDIT*** ok, here's part 2 of my story that explains the CD diagnosis: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=68206#post68206
btw anyone who took the time to read ALL OF THE ABOVE, bless your heart lol, i really didn't wanna write a novel, but whatever, maybe someone out there will be able to relate.
Last edited:
