I discovered this forum completely by accident, but I was compelled to join and I thought I would introduce myself.
My name is Josh. I’m currently a senior in high school, and I graduate in three weeks.
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease 2-3 months ago.
I’m a gymnast, and outside of my high school season I use strongman and bodyweight training 3 days a week. About two years ago, I noticed a small change in my diet. I was eating less, but I was already eating a lot and so it was insignificant enough that it went unnoticed. However, over the next year and a half it escalated to the point where I couldn’t eat more than half a sandwich in one sitting. It happened gradually enough that I didn’t notice in the heat of the moment, but because of the high number of calories I was needing to take in because of my training, I began to lose weight. I was at around 8-10% bodyfat and so most of what I was losing was muscle, and by the time I was halfway through my senior year gymnastics season I had cut 15 pounds.
In January I saw a gastroneurologist for the first time, had a barium test and ended up going in for an endoscopy. They discovered several severe (some bleeding) ulcers, took some biopsies, and put me on Prilosec. After a second scope and my diagnosis 1-2 months later, I was put on Prednisone (steroid) and Pentasa. The Pentasa is a maintenance medication that is basically preventing my immune system from attacking itself, and the Prednisone has drastically decreased the swelling around the ulcers (resulting in the return of my appetite and almost 20 pounds).
Right now there are two things that are still unknown; why I initially contracted Crohn’s, and why I wasn't experiencing any pain or discomfort while I was losing my appetite and cutting weight…when I was diagnosed, my gastroneurologist said my case was “unique” because according to the doctors, I should have been in constant pain due to the severity of the ulcers. It’s a mystery to me.
I had spent the duration of my high school career training for the military; my intention was to go to college, enter a DEP when I arrived on campus freshman year, and take my sophomore year off to go into the Marine Corps. However, Crohn’s Disease is an automatic DQ from any branch of service. I have heard of a few people managing to get a waiver by somehow proving that their disease will not impact their military career (with Crohn’s, MEPS is worried about you having a flare-up out in the field), but for the most part it’s pretty cut-and-dry that I’m now disqualified.
Medication and diet changes actually haven’t been too difficult for me, but dealing with the fact that something I have been intensely preparing myself for (for years) is now inaccessible, has been the hardest part. I guess everyone has their one issue that they struggle with the most about their condition, and that one is mine.
That’s me in a nutshell. I’m very happy that I stumbled across this forum, there seem to be a lot of great people here with a lot of knowledge.
Pleased to meet you all!
Josh
My name is Josh. I’m currently a senior in high school, and I graduate in three weeks.
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease 2-3 months ago.
I’m a gymnast, and outside of my high school season I use strongman and bodyweight training 3 days a week. About two years ago, I noticed a small change in my diet. I was eating less, but I was already eating a lot and so it was insignificant enough that it went unnoticed. However, over the next year and a half it escalated to the point where I couldn’t eat more than half a sandwich in one sitting. It happened gradually enough that I didn’t notice in the heat of the moment, but because of the high number of calories I was needing to take in because of my training, I began to lose weight. I was at around 8-10% bodyfat and so most of what I was losing was muscle, and by the time I was halfway through my senior year gymnastics season I had cut 15 pounds.
In January I saw a gastroneurologist for the first time, had a barium test and ended up going in for an endoscopy. They discovered several severe (some bleeding) ulcers, took some biopsies, and put me on Prilosec. After a second scope and my diagnosis 1-2 months later, I was put on Prednisone (steroid) and Pentasa. The Pentasa is a maintenance medication that is basically preventing my immune system from attacking itself, and the Prednisone has drastically decreased the swelling around the ulcers (resulting in the return of my appetite and almost 20 pounds).
Right now there are two things that are still unknown; why I initially contracted Crohn’s, and why I wasn't experiencing any pain or discomfort while I was losing my appetite and cutting weight…when I was diagnosed, my gastroneurologist said my case was “unique” because according to the doctors, I should have been in constant pain due to the severity of the ulcers. It’s a mystery to me.
I had spent the duration of my high school career training for the military; my intention was to go to college, enter a DEP when I arrived on campus freshman year, and take my sophomore year off to go into the Marine Corps. However, Crohn’s Disease is an automatic DQ from any branch of service. I have heard of a few people managing to get a waiver by somehow proving that their disease will not impact their military career (with Crohn’s, MEPS is worried about you having a flare-up out in the field), but for the most part it’s pretty cut-and-dry that I’m now disqualified.
Medication and diet changes actually haven’t been too difficult for me, but dealing with the fact that something I have been intensely preparing myself for (for years) is now inaccessible, has been the hardest part. I guess everyone has their one issue that they struggle with the most about their condition, and that one is mine.
That’s me in a nutshell. I’m very happy that I stumbled across this forum, there seem to be a lot of great people here with a lot of knowledge.
Pleased to meet you all!
Josh
