Wondeful crohns

[honestlylovable]

I have Crohns on and off for 29 yrs now, I was always a super skinny child but always sick with something or another. When i was about 14 i started having open sore all over my scalp... hair dressers wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole, as i grew older I was always sick with the flu or a cold and allergies to caffeine, animals, chocolate Migraines head aches all the time throughout high school.. as time went on I found out that any thing with caffeine in it would start the migraines and then severe stomach pains. Doctor though it was appendicitis, flu, something I was eating. so i stayed away from chocolate coffee etc... When I turn 21 these cramps continued to get worse to the point i was passing out. kept going to the doctors and they couldn't give me any findings. People accused me of doing this because I didn't want to work and i was lazy. later on that same year I was married, a month later I was in so much pain to the point I was sleeping in the bathroom between vomiting and bad diarrhea, my husband took me to emergency and they finally kept me for observation and did the upper and lower colonoscopies, still couldn't find anything... a few months later I was at work and again passed out from the cramps. boss drove me to the hospital and they admitted me. this time they found out I had crohns from my throat all the way to my anus. after that it seemed that almost monthly i was in and out of the hospital and now the bloody diarrhea was starting. I was week and lethargic all the time. due to blood loss. then I was pregnant spend 7 out of the nine months in and out of hospital.

When I was 34 I had a hysterectomy and within i went from 110 lbs to 200lbs. due to hormones and steroids.
About ten years ago I started getting the same sore allover my arms legs and face, Doctors said that it was the effects of my crohns that my body was expelling all the disease thru my skin, they are always oozing and very itchy.. scratch and keeping opening them up to the point they get infected. I have an autoimmune issues as well, now i am 50 yrs 250lbs overweight and I cannot keep a job as every other year I am sick with crohns or I get a new job and go to work and then within a week of working I was getting constantly sick with the flu...and lose my job because I miss to much work as I always sick.... STRESSED OUT!!!!!

 

[ronroush7]

Welcome. Have you been to a dermatologist for your skin issues? I am sorry for all you have gone through. What kind of medicines are you on?

 

[JackG]

I was going to ask about your history with meds, too, honestlylovable. It doesn't sound like you've been on much of anything, but you must have been.

I was on azulphidine for a while (and probably a few other things), and then Pentasa for 15 years or more. At each stage, it was like Crohn's finally caught up and I needed something stronger. Depending on what you're taking, there's usually something more a GI can do for you.

Crohn's wasn't well known in the 80s when I was diagnosed (and you too), but now it is, and there are lots of therapies and meds that will help. I'm seeing a dermatologist, too, for this pesky psoriasis.