Began having problems in July 2008
Went to doctor and was put on antibiotics for a few months.
Symptoms improved but never went away. I then saw my doctor and was referred to a GI in November/December 2008.
January 2009-Was diagnosed with UC at age 23 after colonoscopy.
Was put on Asacol.
Two weeks later ended up in the hospital after flareup for 3 days and was all good. GI doctor then put me on Lialda and along with Asacol.
May 2009-Hospitalized again after flare up for 5 days and took over two weeks for bowel movements to return to normal. Had endoscopy to check for inflammation in upper GI
GI doctor continued me on Lialda and swapped Asacol with 6mp.
August 2009- I then started seeing another GI doctor for second opinion.
October 2009- Ended up in Hospital for a week. Discovered fistula + infection and was officially diagnosed with Crohn's Disease upon colonoscopy. Discontinued Lialda and started taking Sulfasalazine with 6mp
Up until February 2011, I had been in remission. Am currently dealing with a flareup that I will post in another thread to seek advice with.
The IBD news was a shock to me considering I rarely would get sick or have bouts of diarrhea and along with my family, I've continued to learn more about the disease and finding a plan that works best in coping with this disease.
I've been trying to keep up with the latest news regarding medical discoveries dealing with Crohn's disease and am optimistic. I ultimately would like to steer away from conventional medicine and move towards a naturopathic route.
I'm currently on my 4th tapering circuit of prednisone in the past two years after not taking it in all of 2010. Reading about the potential long term side effects of the current medication I'm taking (Mercaptopurine/6mp and Sulfasalazine) is discouraging and hope not to face those risks down the road. If I can avoid surgery then I will be very fortunate.
I've been reading the various threads in the forum and I look forward to hearing from many of you and being able to offer my two cents in any way I can. Its great to know that there's so many people out there with CD and unfortunately have been dealing with much worse issues of CD.
Went to doctor and was put on antibiotics for a few months.
Symptoms improved but never went away. I then saw my doctor and was referred to a GI in November/December 2008.
January 2009-Was diagnosed with UC at age 23 after colonoscopy.
Was put on Asacol.
Two weeks later ended up in the hospital after flareup for 3 days and was all good. GI doctor then put me on Lialda and along with Asacol.
May 2009-Hospitalized again after flare up for 5 days and took over two weeks for bowel movements to return to normal. Had endoscopy to check for inflammation in upper GI
GI doctor continued me on Lialda and swapped Asacol with 6mp.
August 2009- I then started seeing another GI doctor for second opinion.
October 2009- Ended up in Hospital for a week. Discovered fistula + infection and was officially diagnosed with Crohn's Disease upon colonoscopy. Discontinued Lialda and started taking Sulfasalazine with 6mp
Up until February 2011, I had been in remission. Am currently dealing with a flareup that I will post in another thread to seek advice with.
The IBD news was a shock to me considering I rarely would get sick or have bouts of diarrhea and along with my family, I've continued to learn more about the disease and finding a plan that works best in coping with this disease.
I've been trying to keep up with the latest news regarding medical discoveries dealing with Crohn's disease and am optimistic. I ultimately would like to steer away from conventional medicine and move towards a naturopathic route.
I'm currently on my 4th tapering circuit of prednisone in the past two years after not taking it in all of 2010. Reading about the potential long term side effects of the current medication I'm taking (Mercaptopurine/6mp and Sulfasalazine) is discouraging and hope not to face those risks down the road. If I can avoid surgery then I will be very fortunate.
I've been reading the various threads in the forum and I look forward to hearing from many of you and being able to offer my two cents in any way I can. Its great to know that there's so many people out there with CD and unfortunately have been dealing with much worse issues of CD.
