I feel yucky! :(

[teach28]

Quick background: I'm 29, pretty sure I've had Crohn's since I was 12, but got diagnosed 4 years ago. I've had 1 bowel resection and have only really tried Asacol and Prednisone as far as medication.

I suffer from bouts of anxiefy and depression. I'm a teacher, which is stressful as u can imagine. This stress causes my flare ups and I don't have a good way to deal with that yet. Any suggestions??

Currently I'm waiting to get in to a new GI. I have diahrrea all day every day. I take Immodium 2-3 times a day right now. I'm nautious a LOT lately and I've lost a lot of my appetite (which never happens! Lol). Any ideaa what can help while I wait? I'm on a multivitamin, Prevacid, ginger root (for nausea), and immodium.

Any ideas/suggestions r very welcome! Dealing with my anxiety, depression, and especially the stress is really hard to deal with. It sux being by myself too.

 

[Sophia]

Hi darling,

Sorry to hear that you're not feeling too well. :/ As far as stress goes, I've found that this has helped me: 1) communicate with your boss about your illness, let him/her know that in certain periods you are not able to work as much as usual, and try to find a solution that can work out. Maybe not so easy when you are a teacher and the children depend on you, but it would be better to cut down on the amount of work for a while than to get really sick. 2) Accept that you can only do so much. Try to live by the 'one thing at a time'-rule. I sometimes say to myself when I've got too much to do: what's the worst that ca happe if I don't get it done? Usually I can live with it for most tasks, and I prioritise the tasks where the consequences are too big. 3) Mindfulness is a great thing. There are plenty of books, CDs, courses etc that help you live in the moment. See what's around you and to stress less. Definitely recommend it - it does wonders to mind and body. 4) Go for walks

I don't have any experience with anxiety, unfortunately, but maybe a few of the above would help you to feel better as well? I think as soon as we feel in control and feel able, it makes us happier beings.

I'm also feeling crap at the moment, with lots of bm's, fatigue rtc and I just wish there was a proper cure for this! seems like positivity won't fix it this time lol!

Hope you feel better, dear.

 

[Beach bum]

Sounds like you might benefit from some light yoga or pilates if you feel up to it, I find it helps me to totally wind down and switch off.

 

[teach28]

Thanks Sophia. I do tend to push myself too far or do too much. My boss doesn't really understand what I'm going through and has actually asked me to try and be healthier and miss less days. I had three small flares this school year and I only took 2 or 3 days off for each. Whenever I had a doctor's appointment, I tried to just take a 1/2 day. Apparently that's not good enough. I know I need to let things go, live in the moment and realize that I can only do what I can do. I have great friend at work who reminds me of that and it is helpful to be reminded sometimes! Thanks for the advice! I love going for walks and so do my dogs. I definitely need to do that more!
Thanks again Sophia and I hope you feel better soon!

Beach bum - I've never tried pilates, but I have tried yoga and enjoyed it when I did it. I would love to be more active and sometimes I think I just need a kick in the butt! lol. It's hard getting up and doing that stuff when I feel so crappy. I'm sure you understand! I just have to remember that, usually, I feel better when I do that stuff. At the moment, I feel like if I bend over I'll loose what little food I have eaten today!
Thank you! It helps to talk about it and I appreciate the advice!

 

[Beach bum]

Yes I know what you mean about the bending over :/

But I have problems with my lower back from time to time so I have a set of exercises which mostly involve sitting on the floor (or bed) and stretching my arms and legs, it seems to work well for me.
Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Z_Ghost]

I have done this at times when I am having a big problem with the Chron's.
At least it gives me some exercisers do that does not hurt my gut.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclien...pw.r_qf.&fp=fe6f8da2d5e72e38&biw=1280&bih=599

 

[teach28]

Well, after digging through my dvds I found a couple yoga dvds that I forgot I had. I just did one of them and I feel really good! It's got an option to just do a short one with some meditation at the end. I really enjoyed it. I'd like to try and do it every day! It's short enough that I could do it before work to...if I can get my butt out of bed early enough! lol.

Thanks for the advice to give it a go! ")

 

[Sophia]

That's great! Keep it up! The meditation is so good for relaxing/stress relief I should do it more often, too. Hope you feel better soon! Xx

 

[Ckt]

I just wanted to add my two cents about mindfulness..I studied with Buddhist teachers for several years. I then became sick and moved and lost touch with this practice but I have been practicing it lately during this time of feeling lousy. It's been really so helpful!
And I find I can do it anywhere and anytime. The only time I have real difficulties is when my pain level is beyond a certain point. I have heard you can do it even then but I'm just not that advanced!
A simple thing to do is to get comfy, close your eyes and just really be aware of your breathing.. I usually count my breaths to 3 and observe it in depth. Thoughts will come but I just let them come and go keeping my mind on counting.
I find audios of guided imagery very helpful too. Jon kabat zinn has great ones for mindfulness and some related to health.
Good luck! Remember you can do this for only a few minutes if you want. It's helped me really deal with fear around my health.. Like now when I feel that I'm getting sick again and when I have felt really bad!