Hi,
As per the title, I am relatively new to the reality of living with Crohns, and am petrified.
I really hope that putting my story out here will help me so here goes…
I have since about the age of 18 had violent bouts of diarrhoea , usually after drinking but never really thought much about it. My mom has ulcerative colitis and always figured I would know if it had progressed to that and just carried on as per usual without much further thought.
About 2 years ago while in Nepal I contracted Amoebic Dysentery which seemed to take a really long time to recover from, but ultimately the symptoms eventually went away after 3 different long courses of anti-biotics.
At the end of last year, I was enjoying a break in Amsterdam and had my 1st real run-in with Crohns (not that I knew it at the time). It was 2 weeks of pain, diarrhoea and generally feeling horrible. Unfortunately due to it being Christmas, doctors were scarce and I thought I had just eaten something bad so didn’t pursue it.
On getting back I went to the doctor who treated me for the dysentery, thinking another dose of anti-biotics were on the way.
Little did I know that a barrage of tests, horrible cleansing solutions and unfortunate scopes were ahead!
I was diagnosed with Crohns shortly after. They were not able to do a test whereby I swallow a camera which travels the length of the small intestine (damn insurance) but based on all the other findings, he decided it was crohns.
I was put on 4g of Pentasa a day along with Pentax for heartburn.
I paid very little attention and continued my life as usual. All was well.
Recently however I moved back to my home country and I now realise I have a disease. On the flight I started getting cramps and realised I was having an attack. I had nothing but the Pentasa (which I had not been taking regularly) and had to sit through a 12 hour flight…
I got back to a new job, had to leave after a couple of hours and go to my old GP, who has very little exposure to Crohns and gave me a big injection of cortisone and referred me to a gastro nearby.
Still I didn’t really pay attention, drinking with my old friends, eating what I wanted and just taking cortisone whenever I felt anything untoward in my bowls.
About 2 months ago I decided to begin the process of looking after myself. I got back into gym, went up the mountain every weekend, started taking CLA (I heard it helped Crohns) and thought I would beat this thing the natural way.
Unfortunately this all came to a grinding halt last week, and hence why I am scared. I thought living a healthy life would be the fix, but even living a really healthy life (apart from moderate alcohol and weed usage) seems not to have helped.
It was without a doubt the worst I have felt since having a burst appendix. I am now on Pentasa, 16mg of Medrol and meds for the heartburn.
I am an otherwise healthy 28 year old male, I am in a loving relationship, I don’t have any real money worries, apart from Crohns my life is as close to perfect as anyone could wish for. The problem is, I feel absolutely powerless. Also, I think this Medrol is making me go insane…
If you read through, thank you for using your precious time. Just writing this makes me realise how stupid I have been and need to make real changes in my life to help myself, but if you have even a word of encouragement, your words will be appreciated here.
As per the title, I am relatively new to the reality of living with Crohns, and am petrified.
I really hope that putting my story out here will help me so here goes…
I have since about the age of 18 had violent bouts of diarrhoea , usually after drinking but never really thought much about it. My mom has ulcerative colitis and always figured I would know if it had progressed to that and just carried on as per usual without much further thought.
About 2 years ago while in Nepal I contracted Amoebic Dysentery which seemed to take a really long time to recover from, but ultimately the symptoms eventually went away after 3 different long courses of anti-biotics.
At the end of last year, I was enjoying a break in Amsterdam and had my 1st real run-in with Crohns (not that I knew it at the time). It was 2 weeks of pain, diarrhoea and generally feeling horrible. Unfortunately due to it being Christmas, doctors were scarce and I thought I had just eaten something bad so didn’t pursue it.
On getting back I went to the doctor who treated me for the dysentery, thinking another dose of anti-biotics were on the way.
Little did I know that a barrage of tests, horrible cleansing solutions and unfortunate scopes were ahead!
I was diagnosed with Crohns shortly after. They were not able to do a test whereby I swallow a camera which travels the length of the small intestine (damn insurance) but based on all the other findings, he decided it was crohns.
I was put on 4g of Pentasa a day along with Pentax for heartburn.
I paid very little attention and continued my life as usual. All was well.
Recently however I moved back to my home country and I now realise I have a disease. On the flight I started getting cramps and realised I was having an attack. I had nothing but the Pentasa (which I had not been taking regularly) and had to sit through a 12 hour flight…
I got back to a new job, had to leave after a couple of hours and go to my old GP, who has very little exposure to Crohns and gave me a big injection of cortisone and referred me to a gastro nearby.
Still I didn’t really pay attention, drinking with my old friends, eating what I wanted and just taking cortisone whenever I felt anything untoward in my bowls.
About 2 months ago I decided to begin the process of looking after myself. I got back into gym, went up the mountain every weekend, started taking CLA (I heard it helped Crohns) and thought I would beat this thing the natural way.
Unfortunately this all came to a grinding halt last week, and hence why I am scared. I thought living a healthy life would be the fix, but even living a really healthy life (apart from moderate alcohol and weed usage) seems not to have helped.
It was without a doubt the worst I have felt since having a burst appendix. I am now on Pentasa, 16mg of Medrol and meds for the heartburn.
I am an otherwise healthy 28 year old male, I am in a loving relationship, I don’t have any real money worries, apart from Crohns my life is as close to perfect as anyone could wish for. The problem is, I feel absolutely powerless. Also, I think this Medrol is making me go insane…
If you read through, thank you for using your precious time. Just writing this makes me realise how stupid I have been and need to make real changes in my life to help myself, but if you have even a word of encouragement, your words will be appreciated here.