SarahBear
Moderator
- Location
- Charleston,
Hi, everyone! My name is Sarah, I'm 20 years old, and I have Crohn's disease.
I was diagnosed shortly before I turned seventeen, in my junior year of high school. I had been experiencing stomach pains for some time - probably since I was eight or so. My mother believed I faked it to get out of going to school, so I went undiagnosed for quite a while. When I was fifteen or so, the pains got much, much worse and she finally took me to the doctor, who referred me to a gastroenterologist. A few tests were done and nothing was discovered. Then, I began losing weight - I dropped from 98 lbs to 91 lbs, but since I'm so small, it was a huge concern for my doctor. She ordered a pill cam. After that, I had a diagnosis and was put on Prednisone and 6-MP. My symptoms intensified again. Combined with the side effects of the Prednisone, it made for a fairly miserable time (I'm sure you can relate). I stopped going to school and switched to Home Bound (a program in which you meet with your teachers once a week outside of school). After many, many nights of insomnia, I began hallucinating and was taken off the Prednisone more quickly. Because I can't swallow pills (so, so inconvenient to have that problem with a medical condition that requires you to take medications), I switched from the 6-MP to methotrexate, and gave myself an injection once a week. Things were good for a while.
After high school, I took a year off, mostly to prepare for college because I hadn't expected to graduate on time, and thus hadn't even taken the ACT's. I had been very behind, mostly due to my attendance problems. Up until this point, I had been on my father's insurance. Because I was no longer a student, he chose to drop my coverage. At the same time, the gastroenterologist I had been seeing left. My prescription for methotrexate ran out and I couldn't go to the doctor.
I've been going to school this year, and my dad finally put me back on his insurance. I'm currently waiting for an appointment with a doctor - they were supposed to call within two days of receiving new patient forms, but it's been at least a month now. I've called several times and all they say is that they should be calling me the next day. As soon as I get an appointment with them, I should be able to get a referral to a new gastroenterologist.
My symptoms have been fairly bad lately (which is what prompted me to google what foods are easier to digest during a Crohn's flare up, and thus lead me here) and I'm worried that when I do get to a gastroenterologist, I'll be put back on Prednisone. I had a really rough time with it before and I'm especially concerned about keeping my job and attending school - because if I'm not attending school, my dad might drop me from his insurance again.
But anyway, I'm glad to be here and meet you all! I haven't met anyone else with Crohn's disease and it's great to find people you can relate to.
I was diagnosed shortly before I turned seventeen, in my junior year of high school. I had been experiencing stomach pains for some time - probably since I was eight or so. My mother believed I faked it to get out of going to school, so I went undiagnosed for quite a while. When I was fifteen or so, the pains got much, much worse and she finally took me to the doctor, who referred me to a gastroenterologist. A few tests were done and nothing was discovered. Then, I began losing weight - I dropped from 98 lbs to 91 lbs, but since I'm so small, it was a huge concern for my doctor. She ordered a pill cam. After that, I had a diagnosis and was put on Prednisone and 6-MP. My symptoms intensified again. Combined with the side effects of the Prednisone, it made for a fairly miserable time (I'm sure you can relate). I stopped going to school and switched to Home Bound (a program in which you meet with your teachers once a week outside of school). After many, many nights of insomnia, I began hallucinating and was taken off the Prednisone more quickly. Because I can't swallow pills (so, so inconvenient to have that problem with a medical condition that requires you to take medications), I switched from the 6-MP to methotrexate, and gave myself an injection once a week. Things were good for a while.
After high school, I took a year off, mostly to prepare for college because I hadn't expected to graduate on time, and thus hadn't even taken the ACT's. I had been very behind, mostly due to my attendance problems. Up until this point, I had been on my father's insurance. Because I was no longer a student, he chose to drop my coverage. At the same time, the gastroenterologist I had been seeing left. My prescription for methotrexate ran out and I couldn't go to the doctor.
I've been going to school this year, and my dad finally put me back on his insurance. I'm currently waiting for an appointment with a doctor - they were supposed to call within two days of receiving new patient forms, but it's been at least a month now. I've called several times and all they say is that they should be calling me the next day. As soon as I get an appointment with them, I should be able to get a referral to a new gastroenterologist.
My symptoms have been fairly bad lately (which is what prompted me to google what foods are easier to digest during a Crohn's flare up, and thus lead me here) and I'm worried that when I do get to a gastroenterologist, I'll be put back on Prednisone. I had a really rough time with it before and I'm especially concerned about keeping my job and attending school - because if I'm not attending school, my dad might drop me from his insurance again.
But anyway, I'm glad to be here and meet you all! I haven't met anyone else with Crohn's disease and it's great to find people you can relate to.