How do you push through every day?

[Novice]

Im currently taking the minimum college required hours (12) and I am finding ir so hard to stay awake and motivated to study. I am motivated to finish college its already taken me twice as long as my friends but I enjoy most/some lol of my classes.

I went through a tough time this summer with my crohns. My doctor has put me on remicade (this is my second time on remicade) ive had 2 infusions.
Not only feeling tired I have joint stiffness pain with eating bloating and today I noticed part of my stool is black. But not all of it was black.

So I know theres still something active! I asked for a blood test n the dr said it looked okay n just to keep my appt on the 30th.
I know I need to give the remicade longer but im worried about allowing the disease to take hold as I found out this summer all the meds I am on havent been controlling it and I now have narrowing in the small bowel!

Im just so exhausted I want to ask the dr to run whatever tests to find out what the cause is but my parents just dismiss the idea that anything else such as low b12 or thyroid could be causing it!

 

[PsychoJane]

Hi Novice,
How long as it been since you you had some diagnostic exams done (colono/ pill cam/ gastroscopy, etc)? Maybe it could be pertaining to evaluate the extent of your disease. Black stool sometime suggest upper digestive tract bleeding.

As far as tiredness go, do you notice that the tiredness is worst since the beginning of Remicade? I know that Humira was making me relatively tired all the time. I managed doing my 12 hours class but I did struggle to find the energy and motivation through the process. The medication as well as the nutritive impairment caused by the condition of my bowel and what I actually could eat were nothing to help me with when it came to having energy, then, consequently a diminution of my motivation.

B12 and thyroid would worth being at the least tested, you have nothing to lose by verifying them and they could be the culprit.

Is the joint pain a new symptom you are experiencing?

 

[Honey]

Hi there,
Crohns does make you feel tired so do not worry. It takes several Remicade infusions before the benefits are felt. After 3 infusions, my inflammatory levels in my bloods showed a marked improvement! I have been doing well on this treatment. We are all individuals in our response to Meds, so give it time. I hope you start to feel better soon and more like yourself. Let me know how you are. Best wishes.:
rosette1::bigwave::rosette1:

 

[Novice]

Thank you both.
jane I had an mri a couple of months back because I was suffering bad constipation and nothing had shown up on an xray but the mri is what told us my crohns had been active enough to cause narrowing in the small bowel... but its been a year since my last colonoscopy.

as for all my conplaints I had them before going on the remicade (joint pain tiredness stomach pain etc) I think it feels worse because im off the steroids now I dont believe its severe enough to be a remicade reaction..

I think my nutrition could play a role ive been on a pretty restricted diet and fruits and veg still scare me so my intake is minimal at the moment but I do eat home cooked meals every day n if not I have soup lol n take multivitamins.

Honey thanks I think im holding out that 3rd times a charm! This stuffs way to expensive to hold out forever though... and cimzia is my only option after this so I really would prefer the remicade work!!

I just wish I could do more last term I was taking 16 hours and working and I managed just fine (but that could have been what wore me down lol) and now I come home after 4 classes and sleep and then take a day to recover and do it over again so im really not getting any studying done in between and its frustrating cos even when I try im literally too tired to be productive and remember anything I hope remicade does a miracle on the next infusion!!