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Newly diagnosed with IBD - want to reach out to the community

Hi all,

I have just been diagnosed with left-sided colitis following a colonoscopy. This was then found to extend throughout the large intestine once biopsies were reviewed. As of now I am currently awaiting MRI in next couple of weeks in order to have a look at the small intestine. Since early October I have also had an endoscopy and ultrasounds done, as the pain I was experiencing and results of blood tests originally pointed towards pancreatitis (minus the rectal bleeding, which led the general consultant I saw to request a colonoscopy 'just to be safe').

It was only once my GP (who has a friend who suffers with Crohn's and has to be fair been amazing) recognised my symptoms and commissioned a faecal calprotectin test which came back very strongly positive that the colonoscopy was fast-tracked and I have hopefully caught this thing relatively early.

It's fair to say the last month and a half have been the toughest of my life. Prior to this I was a healthy 31 year old, moving on in my career having recently been promoted in work, but this illness has majorly knocked me back to the point I can't currently imagine going back to work and having a 'normal' life again.

I am currently on 2.4g Asacol and 30mg Prednisolone per day, have already noticed difficulty sleeping from the preds and hoping this isn't a precursor to some of the other side effects (seriously, the sheet that came with the meds listing potential side effects is literally longer than my arm!!)

The reason I joined this forum is that everyone I talk to seems to 'know someone who knows someone' who suffers from an IBD.

Sorry for the long post.
 
Hey funky bob! Good luck with everything. My advice, since I am on prednisone 30mg as well, is that it will help you sleep if you take 15mg in the morning (no later than 9:00 am) and 15mg no later than 13:30 in the afternoon. This is what my GI suggested and so far I did not have a problem with sleeping at all. At the worst case I go to bed about 45 minutes later than my normal time.
 
Yes this is what I did today (except I took 20mg at breakfast and 10mg after lunch). I had taken all 6 after lunch the last couple of days so hopefully this won't be such an intense steroid hit now!
 

dave13

Forum Monitor
Location
Maine
You may hear the term 'new normal' on the forum as you check things out.IBD is a challenge and we may have to alter our lives a bit as we fight this disease.It may not seem like it now,but you will be able to live your life.Granted,we are all affected differently.Like you said,coping with this news is tough.It can be overwhelming.I was diagnosed two years ago and feel I am just learning to live my new normal life.It takes some time.Has your GP recommended a GI(GE)?
 
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