Hi. My name is Sara, I am 31 yrs old and my life has been completely changed by Crohns.
My GI symptoms became so severe they nearly killed me in November of 2011. I was bed-ridden or on the toilet with the worst spastic diarrhea and vomiting for 3 weeks straight, not able to eat or drink anything other than chicken broth. And by week 2, I was scared to death to eat since it automatically put me in the bathroom. I went to my rheumatologist, since I trust him more than my internist, to see what could be done. He referred me to a gastroenterologist, who saw me the same day.
Looking back, I wish I had done some research, he was awful! He had me do a colonoscopy first, not taking into consideration what my body had been through over the last month....by the time I had to clear out to take pictures, I was unable to completely, since I was having trouble anyway. Same thing happened with the barium x-ray, I had to not eat for 4 days to prep so I would clear out completely! At least the x-ray could take a test picture to show if I was ready or not, instead of making me go through a colonoscopy that was pointless. Neither test was definitive, so the Dr wrote it off as nothing more to look into, and I never heard from him again.
My whole life I have had severe constipation. I never thought anything of it, in fact, that was my "normal"! They now believe it was the beginning stages of crohns disease and somehow the joint issues and fibromyalgia was my body's way of externalizing my disease.
6 years prior, I have been off and on meds for what we now realize were the additional Crohns symptoms. My rheumatologist could only treat my joint inflammation and pain, not able to find a diagnosis, he called it erythema nodosum and fibromyalgia. So all of the biologics used to treat crohns, I have taken at some point, and am familiar with. I have also been through the HELL of having insurance approve the cost of these drugs, and have been fortunate enough to have a rheumatologist that cares and has gone so far as to pay for my meds/ have his office supply my meds for a short time between jobs! Not many doctors like that these days...
He is now treating me for crohns disease, I am on Humira, once a week, along with zonisimide, savella, topirimate, prednisone, tramadol, and hydrocodone. The Humira definitely helps, but there are still days I can't be too far from a bathroom...I try to live life as close to normal as one can when living with crohns. One day at a time.
My GI symptoms became so severe they nearly killed me in November of 2011. I was bed-ridden or on the toilet with the worst spastic diarrhea and vomiting for 3 weeks straight, not able to eat or drink anything other than chicken broth. And by week 2, I was scared to death to eat since it automatically put me in the bathroom. I went to my rheumatologist, since I trust him more than my internist, to see what could be done. He referred me to a gastroenterologist, who saw me the same day.
Looking back, I wish I had done some research, he was awful! He had me do a colonoscopy first, not taking into consideration what my body had been through over the last month....by the time I had to clear out to take pictures, I was unable to completely, since I was having trouble anyway. Same thing happened with the barium x-ray, I had to not eat for 4 days to prep so I would clear out completely! At least the x-ray could take a test picture to show if I was ready or not, instead of making me go through a colonoscopy that was pointless. Neither test was definitive, so the Dr wrote it off as nothing more to look into, and I never heard from him again.
My whole life I have had severe constipation. I never thought anything of it, in fact, that was my "normal"! They now believe it was the beginning stages of crohns disease and somehow the joint issues and fibromyalgia was my body's way of externalizing my disease.
6 years prior, I have been off and on meds for what we now realize were the additional Crohns symptoms. My rheumatologist could only treat my joint inflammation and pain, not able to find a diagnosis, he called it erythema nodosum and fibromyalgia. So all of the biologics used to treat crohns, I have taken at some point, and am familiar with. I have also been through the HELL of having insurance approve the cost of these drugs, and have been fortunate enough to have a rheumatologist that cares and has gone so far as to pay for my meds/ have his office supply my meds for a short time between jobs! Not many doctors like that these days...
He is now treating me for crohns disease, I am on Humira, once a week, along with zonisimide, savella, topirimate, prednisone, tramadol, and hydrocodone. The Humira definitely helps, but there are still days I can't be too far from a bathroom...I try to live life as close to normal as one can when living with crohns. One day at a time.
