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Lonely dealing with crohns in korea :(

Hey fellow crohns sufferers, my name is Dianne im a new member and I've had giproblems since I was 18.....at first they thought it was ibs but low and behold it turned out to be crohns....I'm now 22 (23in one month) and I've been living in south Korea since February as my husband is an American soldier and we get moved wherever the army decides. When he got home from Iraq last summer we lived in fort hood, Texas and my symptoms were barely there! Of course I had bad sick days but I was doing so well physically; better than in my original home in new jersey. Since I've moved to Korea it seems like I've had a never ending flare up!!!!! I also got hiatal hernia repair surgery here and they screwed it up by stitching my esophagus too small so almost every time I eat or drink I regurgitate, which in turn dehydrates nd malnourishes me even more than usual to the point where I've passed out and hit my head on several occasions and ended up in these horrible Korean emergency rooms! I go for egds to stretch my esophagus but unlike in the states I'm fully awake and aware and its a scary experience for me. My husband works a lot and being halfway around the world where its day in America and night in Korea with a 14 hour time difference and being so far away from my family and friends I am so lonely which results in more depression/anxiety than I already have which seems to make the crohns symptoms worse....I'm on pentasa (was on remecade in the states) and prednisone 40 mg and am on and off oxycontin for the pain for both the crohns and surgeries/procedures ....right now I'm having a flare up so bad that my knees are swollen all my joints ache and the abdominal pain is excruciating....my gi gave me the option to up the prednisone to 60 mg but pred gives me such bad anxiety I don't want to. I am going to get more pain meds in a few days so hopefully that'll help me through this flare and I won't have to up the prednisone as it makes me so depressed/anxious. Its like a vicious cycle with the crohns, the botched surgery and not being able to eat or drink without reguritation, the depression, the anxiety, and homesickness. Not to mention I can't finish school or work right now since the surgeries/being in Asia, so I'm home alone all day. Sorry this was so long, I just really needed to vent. :(
 
Hi Dianne, welcome :)

Don't worry about venting, think we have all done that on here!

I'm sorry to hear that things aren't good right now and I can't imagine how hard it must be to be so far away from friends and family (especially as we are roughly the same age, i'm 24!) :-(

if the doc does want you to up the Pred dose, are they maybe able to prescribe something to counteract the anxiety?

x
 
Oh, Armywife, I definitely feel your pain. We are in Malaysia for my husband's work, and our four year old has recently tentatively been dxed with Crohn's. I say tentatively because, at least here in Malaysia, even the specialists haven't had much experience dealing with IBD, much less dealing with IBD in a little kid. It frustrating knowing more about the disease than the majority of doctors that we have encountered here.

My daughter also recently started showing symptoms of interstitial cystitis. Between the food that she is permitted for her fructose/sugar issues, the food that she is permitted for her IBD issues, the food that she is permitted for the IC, the food that she will actually EAT, and the food that I can get my hands on here in Kuala Lumpur, I think we are down to...chicken and blueberries.:facepalm:
 

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
Hi Dianne and welcome to the community! I'm so sorry to hear of everything you're going through. That's absolutely terrible and my heart goes out to you :(

*hugs*

We're here for you though! People are here 24/7 so anytime you need someone, we're here.

All my best to you!
 
armywife813, are you still in Korea? I am due to move to Seoul for my husband's work and also have Crohn's. My added complication is that I am currently 14 weeks pregnant and in the middle of a flare :( I'm looking at the prospect of being ill, pregnant and alone all day in Korea. If you're still out there then may we could meet? Or if you're not perhaps you could provide me with advice on how you overcame the loneliness and also your experience of the medical care/Korea gastroenterologists?
 
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