- Joined
- Jul 16, 2014
- Messages
- 4
Hi everyone,
My name is Maureen and I'm 26. I've been experiencing GI problems for going on 2 years, starting in January of 2013. When it all began, I was noticing blood in my stool (which I knew, even without a medical degree, was a BAD SIGN). I went to campus urgent care, where they first thought I was having hemorrhoid problems. After attempting to treat that with no results, the doctor recommended me to a gastroenterologist. He in turn scheduled me for a colonoscopy, where they found evidence of ileitus and colitis. But apparently it wasn't enough to fully confirm a diagnosis of Crohn's (I wasn't displaying many of the typical symptoms...diarrhea, rapid weight loss, etc.) My doctor recommended I go on the SCD diet, eliminating grains, lactose, and sugar (booo). This seemed to help for a while, until I guess I got comfortable and started enjoying those not-so-healthy foods again. My pain and blood resurfaced in June or July of 2013, and I went in to see my primary care physician. He put me on 40mgs of Prednisone daily, until I could get in to see my GI doc. My GI doc seemed a bit upset that the primary care doc put me on such a high dosage, but he went with it and just planned a taper that lasted about 2 or 3 months (hard to remember now). And to be honest, I felt FABULOUS on the prednisone. I had more energy, my weight was stable (surprisingly), and I started to feel like myself again. Once the taper ended, I felt withdrawl-like symptoms, but then felt fine. I felt like maybe I was in the clear.
That was, until a few months ago. I'm a doctoral student, and during my stressful qualifying exam period, I ate horrendously. Naturally, I started feeling uncomfortable once again. But the exams ended, and I figured with more time on my hands my diet would get back under control. I know stress is said to have a lot to do with Crohn's symptoms, and after the exams I immediately began preparing for a big move (which was only completed a few weeks ago. The night before my move, I ended up in the ER and the docs put me on a 6 day taper of methlyprednisolone. It helped, for a little while. But now I'm back to feeling crummy and have an upcoming appointment with a new GI doc at the end of the month.
That said, I'm having a hard time now because this move was a big step for me. I moved in with my boyfriend of 4 years, and we've been long-distance our entire relationship. I feel like a terrible girlfriend because my pain is keeping me pretty much tied to the couch. We can't even enjoy the fact that we're finally in the same city, let along living together! Plus I'm not working yet, as I haven't had the energy to deal with the sickness plus apply for new jobs. So not only am I a lazy bum roommate, but I'm also a financial burden as he is stuck paying for all our rent and utilities. He's handling everything with grace and I feel incredibly fortunate, but at the same time I feel horrible for dropping this problem on him.
I'm looking forward to reading more of the posts on this forum to hopefully learn ways that I can help myself, but I definitely feel the need for some emotional support and this seems like a really fantastic place for that. I look forward to getting to know you!
My name is Maureen and I'm 26. I've been experiencing GI problems for going on 2 years, starting in January of 2013. When it all began, I was noticing blood in my stool (which I knew, even without a medical degree, was a BAD SIGN). I went to campus urgent care, where they first thought I was having hemorrhoid problems. After attempting to treat that with no results, the doctor recommended me to a gastroenterologist. He in turn scheduled me for a colonoscopy, where they found evidence of ileitus and colitis. But apparently it wasn't enough to fully confirm a diagnosis of Crohn's (I wasn't displaying many of the typical symptoms...diarrhea, rapid weight loss, etc.) My doctor recommended I go on the SCD diet, eliminating grains, lactose, and sugar (booo). This seemed to help for a while, until I guess I got comfortable and started enjoying those not-so-healthy foods again. My pain and blood resurfaced in June or July of 2013, and I went in to see my primary care physician. He put me on 40mgs of Prednisone daily, until I could get in to see my GI doc. My GI doc seemed a bit upset that the primary care doc put me on such a high dosage, but he went with it and just planned a taper that lasted about 2 or 3 months (hard to remember now). And to be honest, I felt FABULOUS on the prednisone. I had more energy, my weight was stable (surprisingly), and I started to feel like myself again. Once the taper ended, I felt withdrawl-like symptoms, but then felt fine. I felt like maybe I was in the clear.
That was, until a few months ago. I'm a doctoral student, and during my stressful qualifying exam period, I ate horrendously. Naturally, I started feeling uncomfortable once again. But the exams ended, and I figured with more time on my hands my diet would get back under control. I know stress is said to have a lot to do with Crohn's symptoms, and after the exams I immediately began preparing for a big move (which was only completed a few weeks ago. The night before my move, I ended up in the ER and the docs put me on a 6 day taper of methlyprednisolone. It helped, for a little while. But now I'm back to feeling crummy and have an upcoming appointment with a new GI doc at the end of the month.
That said, I'm having a hard time now because this move was a big step for me. I moved in with my boyfriend of 4 years, and we've been long-distance our entire relationship. I feel like a terrible girlfriend because my pain is keeping me pretty much tied to the couch. We can't even enjoy the fact that we're finally in the same city, let along living together! Plus I'm not working yet, as I haven't had the energy to deal with the sickness plus apply for new jobs. So not only am I a lazy bum roommate, but I'm also a financial burden as he is stuck paying for all our rent and utilities. He's handling everything with grace and I feel incredibly fortunate, but at the same time I feel horrible for dropping this problem on him.
I'm looking forward to reading more of the posts on this forum to hopefully learn ways that I can help myself, but I definitely feel the need for some emotional support and this seems like a really fantastic place for that. I look forward to getting to know you!
