I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when I was 13 (I'm 24 currently).
I had been misdiagnosed a few times by a fraud of a GP (hemorrhoids for intense stomach pain and blood in stool, then stomach ulcers, acid reflux, then somehow adamant that nothing was wrong with me despite my symptoms and that no medications were working) before I had my visit to the ER.
It was very early in the morning and I had to use the bathroom extremely bad. Well I finished and noticed some blood in my stool (which was 'normal' for me at the time). I started to wash my hands but started to feel the need to use the bathroom again. I noticed I was getting very hot and decided to open the shared bathroom's door to my sister's room (she was away at college) to let some air in. As I was walking back to the toilet I passed out. When I woke up I noticed that there was blood everywhere. A lot of blood. My first thought was that I had cracked or cut my head either on the counter or on the tile. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized that all of this blood covered the entirety of the bathroom floor had come from my butt. I was really weak but was somehow able to stumble outside and down the stairs into the garage where my mother was ironing clothes before she went to work. I didn't know what had happened and all I could say or do was apologize for making a mess in the bathroom (it looked like a murder scene out of a movie). She asked several times what had happened and I couldn't really talk out of exhaustion and probably shock, so she went into the bathroom, panicked, and called 911. She laid me on my bed while we waited for the ambulance. 15 minutes later (we lived less than a 5 minute drive from where they were dispatched from) and they never arrived. My mother got me into her car and drove me to the ER herself.
They ran test upon test until they finally diagnosed me with Crohn's disease.
I had been on a lot of medications (and a near death experience with an allergic reaction to my 2nd treatment of Remicade) over the years until I had my bowel resection when I was 15.
I've been on the following:
Prednisone (the worst)
Entocort
Pentasa
Remicade
Flagyl
Protonix
Prevacid (from the misdiagnosis of acid reflux)
Protonix
Suppositories
Various anti-diarrheal medications
Various pain medications
A lot of other things that I can't remember
Antidepressants from the depression that ensued after all of this
I tried many of the above at different times and in different combinations and nothing seemed to have an effect on my Crohn's disease. So they decided that a bowel resection would be the best option for me.
I guess my gastroenterologist was right. I haven't really had any problems in nearly 10 years since they cut out 2.5 feet of my small intestine, other than chronic diarrhea and the need to poop almost immediately after eating. Occasionally I'll get a stomach pain here and there, but nothing like the immobilizing pain I experienced before.
The only medication I'm on currently is Imuran. If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to ask. Sorry if this is not legible, It's almost 8am and I haven't been to bed yet.
I had been misdiagnosed a few times by a fraud of a GP (hemorrhoids for intense stomach pain and blood in stool, then stomach ulcers, acid reflux, then somehow adamant that nothing was wrong with me despite my symptoms and that no medications were working) before I had my visit to the ER.
It was very early in the morning and I had to use the bathroom extremely bad. Well I finished and noticed some blood in my stool (which was 'normal' for me at the time). I started to wash my hands but started to feel the need to use the bathroom again. I noticed I was getting very hot and decided to open the shared bathroom's door to my sister's room (she was away at college) to let some air in. As I was walking back to the toilet I passed out. When I woke up I noticed that there was blood everywhere. A lot of blood. My first thought was that I had cracked or cut my head either on the counter or on the tile. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized that all of this blood covered the entirety of the bathroom floor had come from my butt. I was really weak but was somehow able to stumble outside and down the stairs into the garage where my mother was ironing clothes before she went to work. I didn't know what had happened and all I could say or do was apologize for making a mess in the bathroom (it looked like a murder scene out of a movie). She asked several times what had happened and I couldn't really talk out of exhaustion and probably shock, so she went into the bathroom, panicked, and called 911. She laid me on my bed while we waited for the ambulance. 15 minutes later (we lived less than a 5 minute drive from where they were dispatched from) and they never arrived. My mother got me into her car and drove me to the ER herself.
They ran test upon test until they finally diagnosed me with Crohn's disease.
I had been on a lot of medications (and a near death experience with an allergic reaction to my 2nd treatment of Remicade) over the years until I had my bowel resection when I was 15.
I've been on the following:
Prednisone (the worst)
Entocort
Pentasa
Remicade
Flagyl
Protonix
Prevacid (from the misdiagnosis of acid reflux)
Protonix
Suppositories
Various anti-diarrheal medications
Various pain medications
A lot of other things that I can't remember
Antidepressants from the depression that ensued after all of this
I tried many of the above at different times and in different combinations and nothing seemed to have an effect on my Crohn's disease. So they decided that a bowel resection would be the best option for me.
I guess my gastroenterologist was right. I haven't really had any problems in nearly 10 years since they cut out 2.5 feet of my small intestine, other than chronic diarrhea and the need to poop almost immediately after eating. Occasionally I'll get a stomach pain here and there, but nothing like the immobilizing pain I experienced before.
The only medication I'm on currently is Imuran. If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to ask. Sorry if this is not legible, It's almost 8am and I haven't been to bed yet.
