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New member and feeling very alone

D My name is Amber and I am suffering with Crohn's. I have had abdominal pain on and off for the past 5 years that was originally diagnosed as an ovarian cyst. About 2years ago it started getting worse so my PCP referred me to an OB/GYN who said I had endometriosis. In the mean time, my pain went from only a couple of days a month to where I hurt every day, except maybe a couple of days.

In January 2013 I told my GYN that I figured out that I hurt when I eat. He proceeded to tell me that I have endometriosis on my colon and there was nothing they could do for me. They refused to help stop my pain, putting in my chart that I was just drug seeking, not caring that from January to March I lost 15 pounds. And I was severely underweight to begin with.

I finally got another appointment with my PCP to see if I can get any help. She tries to help my "endometriosis" and gets me a referral to a gastroenterologist because of my diarrhea and to see if I can get a colonoscopy to make sure nothing else is going on. I finally saw him on 7/31/13. After going through my issues and symptoms he said that he doesn't believe I have endometriosis but Crohn's or some type of IBD. He orders blood tests, a colonoscopy, an endoscopy and a CT scan with contrast. The only thing that showed up in all the testing was something in my blood work. He said it shows up almost exclusively with Crohn's.

Well, the colonoscopy and endoscopy showed mild erosive gastritis. He tells me he's 70% sure I have Crohn's but that I need to have a capsule endoscopy to confirm. Meanwhile, I can't eat without hurting, I went from 125 pounds in January 2013 to 102 in November. I am 5'7, so this is way too low. Even when I do eat, it just comes right back out. This doctor told me in October it would be about 2 weeks before I would get that test done, and I have yet to hear from them. By the way, I am on Medicaid, so it is hard to get things done.

My PCP put me on prednisone right before Thanksgiving for another issue, and it worked. I had 0 pain until I dropped below 30 mgs daily. When I followed up with her and told her, she put me on 30 mgs daily. This has been 3 weeks, but it hasn't worked since November. She is trying to help me, but I am feeling so alone and discouraged. I know it might take a different medication, but I just can't get away from the pain. At least the prednisone helped me gain about 10 pounds, but my pain is ridiculous.

I have a 4 year old son who will literally cry because it hurts him to see me in pain. I have many days where I can do nothing except lay in bed, practically crying because of how intense and cronic the pain is. I just feel like no doctor wants to help (except my PCP who can only do so much to begin with) and nobody I know understands what I am going through. I have people tell me I just need to eat, because I look bad with the weight loss, but they don't understand that when I do eat I literally feel like I have a knife shredding me spat inside. I also suffer from depression, so that doesn't help anything when trying to deal with all of this. I suppose I really just need to hear from or talk to people who actually know how this feels first-hand. I am sorry this was so long, but it has been a long ordeal with horrible doctors and misdiagnosis. Thank you for taking the time to read my sad story. :ybatty:
 
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Amberlynn,
You came to the right place. You will have support here as well as a place to vent your feelings. As far as your GI doc goes, you need to bug him until they get you scheduled for your tests. Also, other than pred, are you taking any other meds?
This disease takes patience on your part. Yet, you will find that people closest to you will have the hardest time understanding your illness.
Check out the other groups. You will find many people with common thoughts and symptoms. It helped me.
Mike58 :ghug:
 

afidz

Super Moderator
Sorry to hear you are going through so much. Its hard for someone who isn't sick to see what it takes to simply get out of bed in the morning. Try not to let the rude comments get to you, its only going to increase your stress level and makes things worse in the long run.
A lot of people find at least a little bit of relief with heating pads and hot baths. Its not much,but it is comforting. Stay away from any NSAID, it will only make you feel worse and it can do damage to your intestines.
If you do eat, try to stick to low residue foods. Consider the BRAT diet (bananas rice applesauce and toast). Stay away from raw veggies and fruits that are citrus or have a skin. Everyone is different with what foods can be handled, this is just a basic suggestion of things to avoid.
I hope the you find answers and some type of relief soon
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
Hi amberlynn and welcome to the forum! :D

I'm also on Medicaid (here in California its called Medi-Cal, and on the Central Coast of CA its called CenCal, makes a whole lot of nonsense :p), so I know how difficult it can be to get tests done. Medicaid wouldn't pay for my pill cam because, "it's used as a diagnostic tool and the patient is already diagnosed." So hopefully they will pay for it for you since you don't have a diagnosis yet. To check the status of your pill cam you can contact your GI office or their referral office (whoever is dealing with the insurance). Your GI can try to speed up the process by telling Medicaid that you need the test as soon as possible because of the amount of pain you're in etc yet you need to let your GI know about your current symptoms and inform them if things are getting worse (this could mean multiple phone calls). You could ask your GI if they will do other tests in the meantime like an MRI, MRE, small bowel follow through etc.

What sort of foods have you been eating? Do all the foods you eat seem to produce the same results (baked chicken breast with rice produces the same result as fried chicken with a salad)? If so then you could try a liquid diet to help reduce the pain. You could add supplement drinks like Ensure Clear, make your own soups and only drink the broth along with drinking plenty or water and other liquids to help keep you hydrated. Always inform your GI that you're doing this. Bowel/gut rest has shown to be beneficial when it comes to reducing inflammation and symptoms but you need to make sure you're getting enough nutrients so that's why you need your GI on board because they can help. Before going on all liquids though you could try the Low Residue diet as mentioned above and see how you do on that first.

If the pain gets worse and you start to vomit then be sure to go to the ER.

Hope you feel better soon, keep us posted. :)
 
Thank you all for your responses. It means a lot to know that I can have support from people that do know exactly what I am going through. As far as diet goes, pretty much everything makes me hurt. I have found, though, that a shake from mcdonalds doesn't bother me. But it can't be a true milkshake because I am lactose intolerant. So, since everything makes me hurt, I just eat whatever I want to. As far as my GI is concerned, I have tried calling their office many times, but I do not get anywhere with them. I have just decided to forget about them, like they've done to me, and just stick with my PCP. She knows what meds she can try me on to see if they'll work at all. And if the time comes that I end up needing a surgery, I will find a GI that actually cares and will try to fix me as best as they can. Thank you, again, for all of your support! I am so thankful I found this forum and am looking forward to meeting new people and getting different ideas and perspectives. :-D
 

afidz

Super Moderator
I highly recommend trying to find a new GI. There are good doctors out there, ones who care, you just have to look under the right rock. Have you checked our doctor review section to see if there is a good doctor in your area that someone on here as used? here is the link: http://www.crohnsforum.com/doctor/
Going with out the proper care can be very dangerous, and given that you are already feeling pretty horrible, there could be something very serious going on that needs to be addressed before it becomes an emergent situation. I know you are frustrated with doctors, I would be to, but try to think with reason, you are sick, a pcp isn't going to be able to prescribe the meds for you that could save your life. Just consider it please
 
You make a very good point, afidz. I guess I really didn't think of it that way. I have not checked out the doctor review section yet, but I definitely will now. Thank you so much. I am more thankful now that I joined here than I was before.
 
Hi amberlynne

I know exactly what you're going through. My crohns started the same way. I lost 40 pounds in 3 weeks.
My GI at the time put me on a strict liquid only diet. There was still pain but it wasn't constant
Pain killers like Percocet suck because they make u really drowsy and are addictive but they did help manage the pain for me.
Crohns is also one of the accepted diseases for medicinal marijuana use. That help me cope with the pain too!
I used my own system where I only had broth soup for a week and then added toast for a couple days and so on. It is unfortunate but it's trial and error since every person is different.
I wish u well and feel your pain...literally :s
Feel free to pm me anytime


Crohns Disease-Diagnosed 2007
 
Pick your self up! I myself have dealt with this from pre-k, you are far from alone.

No one in your circle of family/friends will ever understand and no one can understand what we all have gone through. This disease is a personal battle you can win!!!

The pain sucks, the weight loss sucks. BUT i promise you if you keep strong no matter how bad the pain gets you will come out the other side just fine.
 
Amberlynn,
You came to the right place. You will have support here as well as a place to vent your feelings. As far as your GI doc goes, you need to bug him until they get you scheduled for your tests. Also, other than pred, are you taking any other meds?
This disease takes patience on your part. Yet, you will find that people closest to you will have the hardest time understanding your illness.
Check out the other groups. You will find many people with common thoughts and symptoms. It helped me.
Mike58 :ghug:
You will have support here.

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