- Joined
- Jan 15, 2009
- Messages
- 19
Hi everyone! My name is Stephanie and I was diagnosed with CD in 2004-2005. I can't remember exactly when because it took so long for them to actually disgnose me. I was in my sophmore year in high school at the time and started to get these really sharp pains that would stop me in my tracks. My high school was a technical high school so I had mutliple culinary arts classes in which I stood for a couple hours. My teacher understood that I was in pain but I started getting really behind in everything and would always need help. I also played sports for both my school and my town. At first I just thought it was a stomach virus or something but it was after I couldn't even stand up for a game and I fell trying to swing the bat for softball that I realized it was something else.
When we went to the doctors, they told me to find a Gastroenterologist. It took me months to find a place that would take me because of my age. I wound up going to a childrens gastro. At first they thought I had ulcerative colitis, but after my colonoscopy they decided on Crohn's. I can't recall the names of all the pills except prednisone but I was on 13 pills a day. I felt like an old woman and the swelling from the prednisone did not help my confidence in high school. I've always been skinny, but now from the prednisone, I permanently have stretch marks covering my inner thighs and hips.
The pills wound up doing absolutely nothing for me. So they started me on Remicade treatments at the hospital. Every other month or every few months I'd go to the hospital get an IV stuck in me and be there for 3-6 hours depending on how I reacted to the medicine. Sometimes it would make me feel dizzy and I'd have to stay longer. And of course the Benadryl would pretty much make me tired for the entire day.
After about a year or so of that they moved me to Humira, which is the shot you give yourself in the thigh. It hurt really bad but it seemed to work pretty well.
Nowadays, I'm 19, a part-time student, and working at a temp job so I have no health insurance. I had to stop the Humira because I couldn't afford to take it anymore without the insurance. I get a few bad pains every once in a while but I get through it. I really hope it doesn't get worse but there is absolutely no way I can afford the medicine. It's embarassing because I'm at my boyfriends house a lot and I'm always embarassed at how long I take in the bathroom sometimes. It's streesful but I've been able to get through it all so far.
I can't really talk to other people about this because they don't really understand, so I'm glad to join a forum with people who have the same problems as me.
anda:
When we went to the doctors, they told me to find a Gastroenterologist. It took me months to find a place that would take me because of my age. I wound up going to a childrens gastro. At first they thought I had ulcerative colitis, but after my colonoscopy they decided on Crohn's. I can't recall the names of all the pills except prednisone but I was on 13 pills a day. I felt like an old woman and the swelling from the prednisone did not help my confidence in high school. I've always been skinny, but now from the prednisone, I permanently have stretch marks covering my inner thighs and hips.
The pills wound up doing absolutely nothing for me. So they started me on Remicade treatments at the hospital. Every other month or every few months I'd go to the hospital get an IV stuck in me and be there for 3-6 hours depending on how I reacted to the medicine. Sometimes it would make me feel dizzy and I'd have to stay longer. And of course the Benadryl would pretty much make me tired for the entire day.
After about a year or so of that they moved me to Humira, which is the shot you give yourself in the thigh. It hurt really bad but it seemed to work pretty well.
Nowadays, I'm 19, a part-time student, and working at a temp job so I have no health insurance. I had to stop the Humira because I couldn't afford to take it anymore without the insurance. I get a few bad pains every once in a while but I get through it. I really hope it doesn't get worse but there is absolutely no way I can afford the medicine. It's embarassing because I'm at my boyfriends house a lot and I'm always embarassed at how long I take in the bathroom sometimes. It's streesful but I've been able to get through it all so far.
I can't really talk to other people about this because they don't really understand, so I'm glad to join a forum with people who have the same problems as me.
anda:
