Hello everyone. I am a 27 year old male and a filmmaker and artist. I'm a very private person and as a result I've greatly kept most things to myself in my life, including my health concerns. But I've chosen now to reach out, basically out of grave concern for my health. I have had the unfortunate combination of crohn's disease, irritable bowl syndrome, and severe bulimia for almost a decade now. I've struggled intensely with my ailments, and my main problem is that because of my bulimia, I am unable to take proper care of my crohn's, often relapsing out of depression (it's a vicious cycle which constantly perpetuates itself), gaining and losing 50+ pounds back and forth repeatedly, terribly inflaming my condition, up until the point I am at now, with very gravely worrying symptoms which I will explain in a moment.
Additionally, to complicate matters, I live in the US and due to my preexisting conditions am denied all standard insurance, and was denied disability as well because crohn's is not considered a "sufficient disability". So I currently do not have any health insurance, and have not had any since 2010/2011 at which point I (SO FOOLISHLY it makes me so furious with myself) released my health insurance plan because I believed I was in remission and was struggling to afford the $200 a month. The last time I had a colonoscopy and blood work done was in 2010/2011 (when my bulimia was much less severe as well) and at that time, everything came back clear, thankfully.
But in the year 2013 my bulimia has been the worst it's ever been (constant binges entailing unhealthy food, and inability/lack of exercise), and so my crohn's is giving me symptoms I've never felt before in my life. My current symptoms which are worrying me so much, as of 7/31/2013:
- My colon pretty much feels chronically inflamed 50%+ of the day, most days. The pain ranges from mild to intense. The location also varies, from the right of my genital area (right side of the intestine) where I have two confirmed ulcers (which were in remission in 2010/2011), to the left of my genital area (left side of the intestine) occasionally, which is more of a stinging feeling there, all the way towards the bottom of the colon, I guess which would be the rectal area, I often feel a throbbing, aching, stinging, and sometimes light "burning" sensation.
- At the bottom of my colon in the rectal area, I sometimes feel a "pressure" to pass a stool, even if I recently have (though if I have, the feeling is significantly lessened though sometimes still present). This "pressure" is usually accompanied by a throbbing pain which can be mild, but still able to be felt. Occasionally, the pain is sometimes higher, and is felt in the very bottom of the lower back region, above the rectal area.
- I occasionally (3 times a week or so) have a throbbing pain in my testicles AND the shaft of my penis. My bladder is also tends to feel somewhat "inflamed" a few times a week when I wake up in the morning and the bladder has been filled overnight with natural fluids. Also recently, if I intentionally push down on my genital area, to the right of my penis, I feel an almost severe throbbing pain. I'm not sure if that's the bladder or my intestine causing it, but I will say that it is very near to where my two ulcers are confirmed to be, though I do not feel this pain unless I intentionally push down on it. My prostate seems to be ok as I was sexually active up until 9 months ago.
- A week ago I felt a sudden stinging pain in my colon which radiated to my left leg before disappearing. It hasn't recurred and never happened before then but still was scary and new so I thought I would include it here.
- I am possibly experiencing fatigue (cat-napping 2-3 times a day) but I'm not sure if it's just from the culmination of all my conditions put together plus the burdens of life. I figured I would mention it but not sure it's anything out of the ordinary.
Negatives symptoms I do NOT have YET:
- No blood in or on stool.
- Stools still look essentially "normal". They are somewhat smaller than they used to be, but nothing like "pencil-thin", or something I haven't seen before. As of now, not very alarmed by the stools themselves as I do believe they look normal.
- No weight loss experienced (in fact I've gained 50 pounds due to my bulimia).
With the way things are in America, I'm currently trying to wait until January 2014, only 4 months away, when Healthcare Reform is present and I will finally be able to purchase health insurance again regardless of my preexisting condition. But what I'm worried about is that I could possibly be in stage 2 or even 3 of colon cancer with these symptoms I'm exhibiting and that waiting 4 months would put my life in peril. From your observations and experience, could these symptoms just be from a combination of Crohns, IBS, Bulimia, and lack of proper nutrition and exercise? Or do they really indicate I have something more severe? Just looking for feedback at this point. ANY and all help would be GREATLY appreciated from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much for reading.
Additionally, to complicate matters, I live in the US and due to my preexisting conditions am denied all standard insurance, and was denied disability as well because crohn's is not considered a "sufficient disability". So I currently do not have any health insurance, and have not had any since 2010/2011 at which point I (SO FOOLISHLY it makes me so furious with myself) released my health insurance plan because I believed I was in remission and was struggling to afford the $200 a month. The last time I had a colonoscopy and blood work done was in 2010/2011 (when my bulimia was much less severe as well) and at that time, everything came back clear, thankfully.
But in the year 2013 my bulimia has been the worst it's ever been (constant binges entailing unhealthy food, and inability/lack of exercise), and so my crohn's is giving me symptoms I've never felt before in my life. My current symptoms which are worrying me so much, as of 7/31/2013:
- My colon pretty much feels chronically inflamed 50%+ of the day, most days. The pain ranges from mild to intense. The location also varies, from the right of my genital area (right side of the intestine) where I have two confirmed ulcers (which were in remission in 2010/2011), to the left of my genital area (left side of the intestine) occasionally, which is more of a stinging feeling there, all the way towards the bottom of the colon, I guess which would be the rectal area, I often feel a throbbing, aching, stinging, and sometimes light "burning" sensation.
- At the bottom of my colon in the rectal area, I sometimes feel a "pressure" to pass a stool, even if I recently have (though if I have, the feeling is significantly lessened though sometimes still present). This "pressure" is usually accompanied by a throbbing pain which can be mild, but still able to be felt. Occasionally, the pain is sometimes higher, and is felt in the very bottom of the lower back region, above the rectal area.
- I occasionally (3 times a week or so) have a throbbing pain in my testicles AND the shaft of my penis. My bladder is also tends to feel somewhat "inflamed" a few times a week when I wake up in the morning and the bladder has been filled overnight with natural fluids. Also recently, if I intentionally push down on my genital area, to the right of my penis, I feel an almost severe throbbing pain. I'm not sure if that's the bladder or my intestine causing it, but I will say that it is very near to where my two ulcers are confirmed to be, though I do not feel this pain unless I intentionally push down on it. My prostate seems to be ok as I was sexually active up until 9 months ago.
- A week ago I felt a sudden stinging pain in my colon which radiated to my left leg before disappearing. It hasn't recurred and never happened before then but still was scary and new so I thought I would include it here.
- I am possibly experiencing fatigue (cat-napping 2-3 times a day) but I'm not sure if it's just from the culmination of all my conditions put together plus the burdens of life. I figured I would mention it but not sure it's anything out of the ordinary.
Negatives symptoms I do NOT have YET:
- No blood in or on stool.
- Stools still look essentially "normal". They are somewhat smaller than they used to be, but nothing like "pencil-thin", or something I haven't seen before. As of now, not very alarmed by the stools themselves as I do believe they look normal.
- No weight loss experienced (in fact I've gained 50 pounds due to my bulimia).
With the way things are in America, I'm currently trying to wait until January 2014, only 4 months away, when Healthcare Reform is present and I will finally be able to purchase health insurance again regardless of my preexisting condition. But what I'm worried about is that I could possibly be in stage 2 or even 3 of colon cancer with these symptoms I'm exhibiting and that waiting 4 months would put my life in peril. From your observations and experience, could these symptoms just be from a combination of Crohns, IBS, Bulimia, and lack of proper nutrition and exercise? Or do they really indicate I have something more severe? Just looking for feedback at this point. ANY and all help would be GREATLY appreciated from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much for reading.
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