My name is Nate, I'm 18 years old and I live in Oregon. I was first diagnosed with Crohn's in May after noticing a lot of weird things in the preceding months. I first starting noticing symptoms in November. The symptoms weren't that bad and even though I was worried, I didn't tell anyone what I was experiencing. I was training for track during the winter and I noticed that I was starting to feel worse and worse as the season approached but I still brushed it off.
My senior track season started and my symptoms began to get much worse. My stomach would hurt constantly during the day, during practice the pain would increase, and after practice I would speed home in my car to get to the bathroom. My times got way slower and I was running my freshman year times in the 1500 and the 3000. I started losing weight and by the end of the season I was down 20 pounds from 145 in November. I was constantly fatigued and I had to stop running the 3000 because it was just too hard. Before the season I was a lock for a spot on varsity but I dropped to JV after a couple of races. After an extremely difficult practice in April, I finally told me coaches and parents what was going on. I went to go see my pediatrician and she sent me to a GI.
The GI said that I would have to get a colonoscopy and even though I was worried, I'm a positive person and I used humor to calm myself down. I had my colonoscopy in May and two weeks later, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I was somewhat scared but a good friend of mine (who also went to prom with me in April) has Crohn's and she helped me learn a lot about the disease. Plus, my friends and family were very supportive during this tough time. I was put on Apriso (the first day I took it was my last day of high school) and I started improving. I felt great during June and July, I gained ten pounds and I thought that I would continue to get better. Then I went on a vacation to California at the end of July.
The second day I went to the beach after putting on a ton of sunscreen. The waves must've knocked the sunscreen off because I got majorly sunburned. I was in a lot of pain so my parents gave me ibuprofen. I took ibuprofen for three days then noticed my stomach was hurting and my symptoms were coming back. Because I was in pain, I took more ibuprofen, not realizing that it was causing my flareup. My flareup got worse and the drive home from LA to Portland (18 hours) was hellish.
When I got home I went to go see my GI and he told me to immediately stop taking ibuprofen and he put me on prednisone (40 mg per day). I was on it for about two weeks and while I would feel fine during the day, around 5-6 in the evening I'd start to feel bad and during the night I'd wake up 3-5 times to go to the bathroom. After two weeks they upped my dose to 60 mg per day but I still felt like crap.
The night of August 15, I began throwing up and going to the bathroom every hour. The next day my mom took me to the GI doctor and the nurse took one look at me and sent me to the emergency room. The people at the ER said that I was very dehydrated and malnourished and they decided to admit me to the hospital in order to get my flare under control. I was in the hospital from Friday to Wednesday and was discharged Wednesday morning. Wednesday night, all my symptoms came back. I was throwing up and going to the bathroom constantly and it was like the hospital stay never happened. I was admitted again to the hospital on Thursday and that night they gave me Remicade through my IV. I began to improve and I was discharged again on Monday the 26th. The 11 days I spent in the hospital were tough, but I had plenty of visitors and lots of support. Unfortunately, I got sick just as many friends were leaving for college so I had to say goodbye to some of my closest friends while I was in the hospital.
After I got out, I was on my couch for about a week, recovering and gaining weight. During the flareup, I had lost 20 pounds in 25 days and was down to 115 pounds. Two weeks after my first Remicade infusion I got my second Remicade infusion and I was feeling great. I was gaining weight and I was feeling well enough to take a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia (where I used to live for eight years) to go see the Oregon Ducks play the Virginia Cavaliers. I felt great that weekend for the first time in a while, saw many old friends, and had a great time (plus the Ducks won). I'll be attending the University of Oregon in the fall and I'm optimistic that the Remicade will continue working and that I'll be in remission for the rest of my life. I'm currently experiencing a strep throat infection and a mini flareup but I'm feeling better and hopefully I'll be completely healthy before school starts on the 26th. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope to learn more about this disease from reading the forum.
My senior track season started and my symptoms began to get much worse. My stomach would hurt constantly during the day, during practice the pain would increase, and after practice I would speed home in my car to get to the bathroom. My times got way slower and I was running my freshman year times in the 1500 and the 3000. I started losing weight and by the end of the season I was down 20 pounds from 145 in November. I was constantly fatigued and I had to stop running the 3000 because it was just too hard. Before the season I was a lock for a spot on varsity but I dropped to JV after a couple of races. After an extremely difficult practice in April, I finally told me coaches and parents what was going on. I went to go see my pediatrician and she sent me to a GI.
The GI said that I would have to get a colonoscopy and even though I was worried, I'm a positive person and I used humor to calm myself down. I had my colonoscopy in May and two weeks later, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I was somewhat scared but a good friend of mine (who also went to prom with me in April) has Crohn's and she helped me learn a lot about the disease. Plus, my friends and family were very supportive during this tough time. I was put on Apriso (the first day I took it was my last day of high school) and I started improving. I felt great during June and July, I gained ten pounds and I thought that I would continue to get better. Then I went on a vacation to California at the end of July.
The second day I went to the beach after putting on a ton of sunscreen. The waves must've knocked the sunscreen off because I got majorly sunburned. I was in a lot of pain so my parents gave me ibuprofen. I took ibuprofen for three days then noticed my stomach was hurting and my symptoms were coming back. Because I was in pain, I took more ibuprofen, not realizing that it was causing my flareup. My flareup got worse and the drive home from LA to Portland (18 hours) was hellish.
When I got home I went to go see my GI and he told me to immediately stop taking ibuprofen and he put me on prednisone (40 mg per day). I was on it for about two weeks and while I would feel fine during the day, around 5-6 in the evening I'd start to feel bad and during the night I'd wake up 3-5 times to go to the bathroom. After two weeks they upped my dose to 60 mg per day but I still felt like crap.
The night of August 15, I began throwing up and going to the bathroom every hour. The next day my mom took me to the GI doctor and the nurse took one look at me and sent me to the emergency room. The people at the ER said that I was very dehydrated and malnourished and they decided to admit me to the hospital in order to get my flare under control. I was in the hospital from Friday to Wednesday and was discharged Wednesday morning. Wednesday night, all my symptoms came back. I was throwing up and going to the bathroom constantly and it was like the hospital stay never happened. I was admitted again to the hospital on Thursday and that night they gave me Remicade through my IV. I began to improve and I was discharged again on Monday the 26th. The 11 days I spent in the hospital were tough, but I had plenty of visitors and lots of support. Unfortunately, I got sick just as many friends were leaving for college so I had to say goodbye to some of my closest friends while I was in the hospital.
After I got out, I was on my couch for about a week, recovering and gaining weight. During the flareup, I had lost 20 pounds in 25 days and was down to 115 pounds. Two weeks after my first Remicade infusion I got my second Remicade infusion and I was feeling great. I was gaining weight and I was feeling well enough to take a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia (where I used to live for eight years) to go see the Oregon Ducks play the Virginia Cavaliers. I felt great that weekend for the first time in a while, saw many old friends, and had a great time (plus the Ducks won). I'll be attending the University of Oregon in the fall and I'm optimistic that the Remicade will continue working and that I'll be in remission for the rest of my life. I'm currently experiencing a strep throat infection and a mini flareup but I'm feeling better and hopefully I'll be completely healthy before school starts on the 26th. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope to learn more about this disease from reading the forum.
I have a beautiful daughter, almost a year old, and a son due to be born next month.