Hi there!
So I felt like I needed to make an account on this site because I honestly don't know anyone with Crohn's, and it's nice to know someone could understand the pain I go through sometimes.
I was just recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease (July 2013) so I feel a bit lonely knowing that no one in my family nor relatives have Crohn's. But for these past two months, I've been used to the fact. I'm thirteen, incase you were wondering, and I'm surprised I actually got diagnosed with it since I heard that usually it happens between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five.
Anyways, back to how I found out about it.
It began back in April of 2013, when I noticed how I started losing my appetite. I would never want to consume anything, therefore I would get tired easily and never want to exercise. My parents started to notice how I would serve myself very little at dinnertime, and "dead" I seemed.
Then there came the worst part-the abdominal pains. During school (since I am still in middle school) I would feel these terrible stomach pains that would make me bend over, and I wouldn't eat my lunch at all, maybe a nibble if it wasn't that bad. At first I had assumed that it was part of my menstrual cycle, you know with the cramps and all, but I never experienced such pain before, so I knew something was wrong.
I was losing weight by the minute. During the time span of one month, I lost about ten pounds, and so I went from 105 pounds to 95 pounds. I was terrified of what was happening-I had no idea what was happening in my body, and I never told anyone during the time. I just kept telling myself that they were just cramps, though I knew that wasn't it.
Eventually, my parents started to notice. I would hardly serve anything on my plate and I wouldn't eat most of what I served anyways. One time during dinner, my dad just blurted out, "You need to stop starving yourself, you're going to end up being anorexic." I took that really harshly, being quite self-conscious about myself and just started crying and telling both my parents about the pain I've been feeling. They didn't really believe me at first, but the next few weeks made it quite clear when I started throwing up anything I ate, constantly used the bathroom, and started to look pale and bony.
My dad eventually had enough of seeing me suffer, and so they took me to the emergency room, where they gave me a CT Scan and took blood samples. The doctors weren't able to identify what it was, but they continued giving me antibiotics, steroids and whatnot to keep the inflammation down. I stayed in the hospital for about a week, literally one or two weeks before the school year ended (I was in seventh grade at the time, a few days from becoming an eighth grader).
The doctors had sent me home with Apriso, Prednisone, and I believe Prevacid to take every morning. It definitely helped, and I was glad I was able to eat without experiencing pain. Yet, I had a diet where I wasn't able to consume anything with tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine-basically anything that would inflame my colon.
Sadly, I had a relapse of the inflammation in July. It was this day where I just felt really bad-my sides ached, I wasn't able to walk. Around midnight, I tried to get up but I suddenly had problems breathing because my sides ached so much. I barely cried since it only made it worse, and my parents were scared, mostly my mom, and she drove me to the ER where they tended me over night, where I got fever and continuous abdominal pains.
At first the doctors assumed that it had something to do with my appendix, so they thought I had appendicitis. They then told me they were going to surgically remove my appendix. Know that it was three in the morning when they declared this, and I was four hours away from having that surgery when the doctors realized it wasn't the appendix, but the colon. They then diagnosed me with Crohn's Disease after running tests, x-rays, and observations while I was in the Intensive Care Unit. I left the hospital around August 23, and I've been better since then. The only things I have to avoid eating are small seeds, raw vegetables, and corn, so that's good.
Now, I take doses of Apriso, Prednisone, and Prevacid. Fortunately, they're bringing down the dosage of Prednisone every two weeks since it's giving me a "moon face", or making my cheeks appear chubby. I'm glad about that because many friends and teachers have noticed how big my cheeks have gotten due to the Prednisone, and like I said, I'm very self-conscious about my appearance.
So I guess that's my story, I probably would've described it more but I have other things to tend to, like homework. Haha, but before I do end this, I have a question or two about Crohn's:
-Does Crohn's Disease make you gain weight? I've gained fat in my cheeks because of the Prednisone, but I mean stomach-wise, if you get what I'm trying to imply.
-Does it cease your growing? I've noticed that I haven't grown much since the pain started;I'm 5'1 and weigh 113 pounds. Either my friends have been hitting puberty fast or I just stopped growing.
If you read this, thanks! If I knew you personally I'd give you a hug, so take this virtual one instead! :hug:
Deuces! xx
utahere:
So I felt like I needed to make an account on this site because I honestly don't know anyone with Crohn's, and it's nice to know someone could understand the pain I go through sometimes.
I was just recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease (July 2013) so I feel a bit lonely knowing that no one in my family nor relatives have Crohn's. But for these past two months, I've been used to the fact. I'm thirteen, incase you were wondering, and I'm surprised I actually got diagnosed with it since I heard that usually it happens between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five.
Anyways, back to how I found out about it.
It began back in April of 2013, when I noticed how I started losing my appetite. I would never want to consume anything, therefore I would get tired easily and never want to exercise. My parents started to notice how I would serve myself very little at dinnertime, and "dead" I seemed.
Then there came the worst part-the abdominal pains. During school (since I am still in middle school) I would feel these terrible stomach pains that would make me bend over, and I wouldn't eat my lunch at all, maybe a nibble if it wasn't that bad. At first I had assumed that it was part of my menstrual cycle, you know with the cramps and all, but I never experienced such pain before, so I knew something was wrong.
I was losing weight by the minute. During the time span of one month, I lost about ten pounds, and so I went from 105 pounds to 95 pounds. I was terrified of what was happening-I had no idea what was happening in my body, and I never told anyone during the time. I just kept telling myself that they were just cramps, though I knew that wasn't it.
Eventually, my parents started to notice. I would hardly serve anything on my plate and I wouldn't eat most of what I served anyways. One time during dinner, my dad just blurted out, "You need to stop starving yourself, you're going to end up being anorexic." I took that really harshly, being quite self-conscious about myself and just started crying and telling both my parents about the pain I've been feeling. They didn't really believe me at first, but the next few weeks made it quite clear when I started throwing up anything I ate, constantly used the bathroom, and started to look pale and bony.
My dad eventually had enough of seeing me suffer, and so they took me to the emergency room, where they gave me a CT Scan and took blood samples. The doctors weren't able to identify what it was, but they continued giving me antibiotics, steroids and whatnot to keep the inflammation down. I stayed in the hospital for about a week, literally one or two weeks before the school year ended (I was in seventh grade at the time, a few days from becoming an eighth grader).
The doctors had sent me home with Apriso, Prednisone, and I believe Prevacid to take every morning. It definitely helped, and I was glad I was able to eat without experiencing pain. Yet, I had a diet where I wasn't able to consume anything with tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine-basically anything that would inflame my colon.
Sadly, I had a relapse of the inflammation in July. It was this day where I just felt really bad-my sides ached, I wasn't able to walk. Around midnight, I tried to get up but I suddenly had problems breathing because my sides ached so much. I barely cried since it only made it worse, and my parents were scared, mostly my mom, and she drove me to the ER where they tended me over night, where I got fever and continuous abdominal pains.
At first the doctors assumed that it had something to do with my appendix, so they thought I had appendicitis. They then told me they were going to surgically remove my appendix. Know that it was three in the morning when they declared this, and I was four hours away from having that surgery when the doctors realized it wasn't the appendix, but the colon. They then diagnosed me with Crohn's Disease after running tests, x-rays, and observations while I was in the Intensive Care Unit. I left the hospital around August 23, and I've been better since then. The only things I have to avoid eating are small seeds, raw vegetables, and corn, so that's good.
Now, I take doses of Apriso, Prednisone, and Prevacid. Fortunately, they're bringing down the dosage of Prednisone every two weeks since it's giving me a "moon face", or making my cheeks appear chubby. I'm glad about that because many friends and teachers have noticed how big my cheeks have gotten due to the Prednisone, and like I said, I'm very self-conscious about my appearance.
So I guess that's my story, I probably would've described it more but I have other things to tend to, like homework. Haha, but before I do end this, I have a question or two about Crohn's:
-Does Crohn's Disease make you gain weight? I've gained fat in my cheeks because of the Prednisone, but I mean stomach-wise, if you get what I'm trying to imply.
-Does it cease your growing? I've noticed that I haven't grown much since the pain started;I'm 5'1 and weigh 113 pounds. Either my friends have been hitting puberty fast or I just stopped growing.
If you read this, thanks! If I knew you personally I'd give you a hug, so take this virtual one instead! :hug:
Deuces! xx
utahere:
