Hi. I'm Steve, 31, and I'm new here. I look forward to sharing in the community. I'm very interested in meeting others in similar circumstances, learning more about how to improve my diet/lifestyle, and learning about the proper medical treatment. Thanks for reading.
About me:
I've had Crohn's disease symptoms for around 6 years and was diagnosed 2 years ago. On Oct 1, I move to Chicago to start a new job. The stress of this process so far has really exacerbated the problems and I'm not sure how to best manage it.
I've tried to continue my adventurous lifestyle and I traveled through South America for 2 months this year before I was too exhausted to continue. I had diarrhea and severe GI problems for much of trip, but it was worth it. A week after I returned to Michigan, I went to the ER for a severe cutaneous Crohn's flareup in my groin - high fever, lesions, abscesses, swelling, severe pain. My groin area is basically red all the time now and these flareups seem to occur about 2x a year and keep getting worse. It is scary and depressing.
I take klonopin and prozac for anxiety and depression. I use medical marijuana daily with it's pros/cons. I am supposed to take Pentasa 4x a day, but it is difficult for me to remember more than 2x a day. I also take a probiotic and have tried to improve my diet/lifestyle.
I purchased insurance, but it says I can't use it for 5 more months because Crohn's is a pre-existing condition. At that point, the doctor said I need another colonoscopy and likely to be put on Humira. I'm not sure what to do until then.
I'd like to be able to succeed at my job and experience a meaningful long-term relationship, but the disease has made this hard. I used to enjoy going out with friends for beers, but can't even do that any more with paying for it severely. This is a very difficult disease and I'm not sure what to do to improve the situation.
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Nice to meet you all.
About me:
I've had Crohn's disease symptoms for around 6 years and was diagnosed 2 years ago. On Oct 1, I move to Chicago to start a new job. The stress of this process so far has really exacerbated the problems and I'm not sure how to best manage it.
I've tried to continue my adventurous lifestyle and I traveled through South America for 2 months this year before I was too exhausted to continue. I had diarrhea and severe GI problems for much of trip, but it was worth it. A week after I returned to Michigan, I went to the ER for a severe cutaneous Crohn's flareup in my groin - high fever, lesions, abscesses, swelling, severe pain. My groin area is basically red all the time now and these flareups seem to occur about 2x a year and keep getting worse. It is scary and depressing.
I take klonopin and prozac for anxiety and depression. I use medical marijuana daily with it's pros/cons. I am supposed to take Pentasa 4x a day, but it is difficult for me to remember more than 2x a day. I also take a probiotic and have tried to improve my diet/lifestyle.
I purchased insurance, but it says I can't use it for 5 more months because Crohn's is a pre-existing condition. At that point, the doctor said I need another colonoscopy and likely to be put on Humira. I'm not sure what to do until then.
I'd like to be able to succeed at my job and experience a meaningful long-term relationship, but the disease has made this hard. I used to enjoy going out with friends for beers, but can't even do that any more with paying for it severely. This is a very difficult disease and I'm not sure what to do to improve the situation.
---
Nice to meet you all.