Hi Everyone!
I'm new to this forum and wanted to share my journey.
I was 19 years old when I started feeling off. I would feel nauseous after eating. It would come and go. The doctor did blood work, but found nothing. As time went on, I started getting abdominal pain after eating, and eventually I starting vomiting. I went back to the doctor, and he kept sending me for tests; blood tests, MRIs, CT scans, X-rays, etc. They were all negative. this went on for almost a year. I went through anti-nausea meds and pain meds, but nothing helped. My doc finally sent me to a gastroenterologist. He sent me for a small bowel series and they finally found the Crohn's. I ended up in the ER from all the barium, and was admitted for a day.
I was put on high dose steroids and Pentasa. I started feeling better, so the doc eventually backed off the steroids. I was doing OK for a quite while, then I started having pain, worse than before, and lost a lot of weight. The doc put me back on steroids, but was unable to back me down. Every time he tried, I would feel awful. The dosage was so high that I felt like I had every side effect!
The doc finally sent me for another small bowel series, and found 2 obstructions. I went into surgery in August 1997. They resected my bowel in 2 places (I lost over 2 feet), had an ileocaecal resection, they found gall stones at that time and removed my gall bladder, and also removed my appendix. I was in the hospital for a week.
A few years ago I had to have a hysterectomy because there were abdominal adhesions. Since this surgery, I have been doing OK. My weight has fluctuated tremendously, and I am always fatigued. I usually have some minor flares during the summer when it is really hot. The funny thing about this is, I am from NY, but twice I went to Florida and felt GREAT both time I went there. I am still taking Pentasa, and as of the last colonoscopy, the Crohn's is still active. I have to be careful what I eat, and avoid what triggers the flares.
I decided to join this group because recently I have been finding it hard to relate about my disease with my boyfriend and my family. No matter how much I try to explain how I'm feeling, they do try to understand, but they just don't get it. For some reason, this has been really frustrating me lately. I felt it was time to talk to people who can relate.
I'm new to this forum and wanted to share my journey.
I was 19 years old when I started feeling off. I would feel nauseous after eating. It would come and go. The doctor did blood work, but found nothing. As time went on, I started getting abdominal pain after eating, and eventually I starting vomiting. I went back to the doctor, and he kept sending me for tests; blood tests, MRIs, CT scans, X-rays, etc. They were all negative. this went on for almost a year. I went through anti-nausea meds and pain meds, but nothing helped. My doc finally sent me to a gastroenterologist. He sent me for a small bowel series and they finally found the Crohn's. I ended up in the ER from all the barium, and was admitted for a day.
I was put on high dose steroids and Pentasa. I started feeling better, so the doc eventually backed off the steroids. I was doing OK for a quite while, then I started having pain, worse than before, and lost a lot of weight. The doc put me back on steroids, but was unable to back me down. Every time he tried, I would feel awful. The dosage was so high that I felt like I had every side effect!
The doc finally sent me for another small bowel series, and found 2 obstructions. I went into surgery in August 1997. They resected my bowel in 2 places (I lost over 2 feet), had an ileocaecal resection, they found gall stones at that time and removed my gall bladder, and also removed my appendix. I was in the hospital for a week.
A few years ago I had to have a hysterectomy because there were abdominal adhesions. Since this surgery, I have been doing OK. My weight has fluctuated tremendously, and I am always fatigued. I usually have some minor flares during the summer when it is really hot. The funny thing about this is, I am from NY, but twice I went to Florida and felt GREAT both time I went there. I am still taking Pentasa, and as of the last colonoscopy, the Crohn's is still active. I have to be careful what I eat, and avoid what triggers the flares.
I decided to join this group because recently I have been finding it hard to relate about my disease with my boyfriend and my family. No matter how much I try to explain how I'm feeling, they do try to understand, but they just don't get it. For some reason, this has been really frustrating me lately. I felt it was time to talk to people who can relate.
