Star, yes, what you said is true. I still have this illness inside of me, even though it's currently dormant, and I don't know for sure what it is and I do know that it can come back at any time. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try fighting it! You could go on this way forever, being ill and trying to get diagnosed, but you can also try meds to get some relief from the battle for awhile. There's no shame in that, you're not giving up (in fact you're fighting it harder in my opinion because you're finally throwing some real firepower at it!). Pred can be a scary idea, but if it helps it is SO worth it. Believe me, I am speaking from experience here! You said you don't think you can live with the thought that your illness could come back at any time - believe me, it's MUCH harder living with active illness than with the ever-looming threat of possible illness. That's just a "what-if" as far as I'm concerned. I'll never be totally normal or well, I am well aware of that. But so far I've been in remission for about a year now and it's been a great year, I wouldn't do a thing differently (except maybe I'd avoid my trigger foods better!). If my illness comes back tomorrow, I won't regret having gone this route - it was the best choice for me, especially considering I had limited testing options left. And if my illness comes back in a year or a few years, then I'll have more testing options as it'll have been awhile since I had the scopes & scans, etc. Anyway, I'm rambling a bit, but honestly - try to look at the positive side of this, I promise there is a big upside to trying pred and Aza too! Allie and I have both had good experiences trying pred, it turned everything around for both of us! Allie got a tentative diagnosis, and I got remission. Both are good things! And yes, neither of us have a full diagnosis yet, but things are better for me now than they were before, by a lot (I don't want to speak for Allie but I'm guessing she'll say the same thing). Seriously, it'll work out for the best, I truly believe that this will be a great thing for you. And if nothing else, it'll rule out IBS!!
Hang in there, I know you're still not too happy about all this, but try to chin up! You're still fighting the battle, you're just using a weapon now instead of your bare fists.
Allie, that does sound like a very hectic week! House repairs plus car repairs at the same time, no fun! And a flare on top of that just sounds awful.
I'm guessing your hubby might have already tried talking you out of doing the musical so that you could rest up instead, so I'll just say break a leg but don't overdo it.
Do you have the MRI scheduled yet? Good luck with it, hopefully it can get a good picture of what is inflamed. And I can't wait to see more puppy pictures!! I hope Sunday comes quickly for you! Do you have a name picked out for the puppy yet? There is this fluffy pemmie corgi I've seen on the internet, his name is Pudge - that's such a cute name! Lily came with her name so I couldn't change it (it's on her AKC paperwork and everything - her full name is actually Callalily Star, she had to have a longer silly name since she was going to be a dog show dog). I would be tempted to give a slightly silly name such as Pudge if it were me naming a corgi pup. They're such silly dogs, a name like Lily is sometimes far too serious!
Ha ha. Whatever name you pick, I'm sure it'll be adorable on the little fella.
Nathan, it sounds like you're in a flare? Fatigue is a very common symptom. If you do have IBD (or anything autoimmune really), just think about it - your own immune system is attacking healthy tissue. So that's taking some of your energy for your body to attack itself. And then, the soft tissue has to try to heal and repair itself, so that's also taking energy. It's like when you have the flu, your body spends all its energy fighting the virus and you feel so wiped out. Well, this is like double that because your body is fighting itself AND trying to heal itself all at the same time! So it's certainly understandable that you're so fatigued. Get to the doctor if you can, see if they can run more tests, even blood tests to check your vitamin levels (like how Allie mentioned with B12, have them check your D and iron too). And hang in there, hopefully the flare won't last much longer!
And speaking of B12, I just took mine.
My B12 has always been in the normal range, but seeing as how I do seem to have some form of IBD, I want to keep my B12 normal so I take a tablet every day. I do the sublingual lozenges, you just stick one under your tongue and let it dissolve. Apparently by taking it that way, a bit of the B12 absorbs directly into the bloodstream (don't ask me how, I read it in another thread ages ago on here!). That or liquid B12 are supposed to be very good methods of taking it, better than just swallowing a capsule. So if you look into B12 supplements, I'd personally suggest the sublingual losenges. I've been taking them for something like 2 years now and my B12 hasn't dropped out of the normal range yet!
