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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 7/31/2008 10:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hey if you are a college student with Crohn's please post on here so maybe we can all talk a little about what it's like to be our age in have crohn's. This way we can also share tips on how to deal with certain situations whether it be sharing a public bathroom 24/7, having roommates, social settings, making it to and through classes, and cafeteria foods. Sorry if there has been a post like this before but I just would like to share some experiences and hopefully ease my fears about college in a month!
Posted 7/31/2008 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
hey, yeah i'll be 19 in november (best month! haha) so im a little younger, im going to be a freshman and im going to college in boston!... and you'll be a junior? or senior?. but yeah have you ever had a flare while being away at school?
Posted 7/31/2008 11:09 PM (GMT 0)
im 28 but Im going back to school in January...does that count...hehe lol
Posted 7/31/2008 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
haha sure, a college student is a college student. so by saying you are going BACK to school, does that mean you have ever gone to college in the past or are you going for the first time?
Posted 7/31/2008 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
I went to college with Crohn's, does that count?? LOL I would like to go back but I don't know if it will ever happen.
Posted 7/31/2008 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
Im going back! been before to 3 different colleges. this time I wanna be sure that I like what Im going for....I know Im interested in a ton of things but being interested in something doesnt mean it will pay the bills!

This time I will come out with a "trade" so to speak....you always have a job if you have a skill that is in need, if you get what Im saying
Posted 7/31/2008 11:18 PM (GMT 0)
haha yeah i get what you are saying songstress. and did you have symptoms when you were trying to go to college or no?

and LBJ same thing, sure that counts! did you have crohn's at college as well?

what did you/do you want to study?
Posted 7/31/2008 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
i meant to ask, LBJ what was it like being in college having to deal with crohns? were you ever in bad flares where you couldnt go to class or had trouble with anything?
Posted 7/31/2008 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
well I suffered since age 10 with what docs said was IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) I remember going through a upper and lower GI ...and a few other tests but no one ever thought to do a colonoscopy or anything related to Crohns on me

so for years and yes while in highschool and college I would slip out of class to go to the bathroom...meanwhile hair is soaked from sweating/being in pain! went home early alot in highschool

college seemed a little easier but I did notice I was sleepier than most even when I got plenty of sleep and that affected grades
Posted 7/31/2008 11:31 PM (GMT 0)
yeah i definitely sleep a lot too, im going to need to take daily naps and probably not stay out too late, only on occasion. i already see how my friends from high school party and get wasted every night of the week and i dont know how they do that anyway even being healthy! that's gonna be out of the question for me
Posted 8/1/2008 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
yeah watch the sleep and DEFINITELY watch the drinking...that was finally my downfall with the Crohns...one year (04) to be exact...I partied all year long..kinda I guess what all 18+ people do (I was 24) and by the end of the year...my body said ENOUGH..and I got really ill...stayed ill for 6mths and then was hospitalized for 2mths

WE people with Crohns, just cant do the same things as others, and accepting that has been the hardest part of this disease, because I wanted my life back, I wanted ME BACK..ya know. And well the new me was the sick me..lol

life has gotten alot better though---so Im ready to take on school again! good luck..stay in touch
Posted 8/1/2008 12:35 AM (GMT 0)
I'm a grad student - that almost counts except it means I'm banished to an antisocial life of working in a lab all day.  But I finished undergrad 2 years ago so I think I remember how that went anyway :-)
Posted 8/1/2008 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
alright thats great, were you ever in a flare during school? and if so what types of things did you have to go through and how did you deal with it? did you have roommates and did you tell them about having crohns? how did they react?
Posted 8/1/2008 12:54 AM (GMT 0)

crohnspatient13 said...
haha yeah i get what you are saying songstress. and did you have symptoms when you were trying to go to college or no?

and LBJ same thing, sure that counts! did you have crohn's at college as well?

what did you/do you want to study?

Well I had issues yes, probably more my IBS at that time then CD.  CD really didn't come on until after college when I got married the first time.    I went to Hocking College in Southern Ohio.  Its only a 2 year school.   I studied Travel and Tourism.
Posted 8/1/2008 12:58 AM (GMT 0)
I was in college for a single semester in 06, but between a huge flare and my general dislike of homework, i didnt last long. I stayed until the semester ended, but was happy to be home. Plus the internet connection was atrocious.

My roommate was easy to deal with, because he was rarely there. His girlfriend was one floor up, and her roommate couldnt handle sharing a room and got a single, so he basically just stayed in her room the whole time. Suited me just fine. I told him about my Crohn's just because i dont like long awkward silences, but it didnt really affect anything.

as far as drinking and such goes, my friends know it would be extra unhealthy for me to drink, so they dont try to get me to do it, and i just tell those friendly acquaintances that cant take a hint that it would interfere with my medication and that id die. may or may not be true, but i dont care. shuts em up quickly. I dont miss drinking because I never did it, and I've babysat one too many drunk people to ever want to.
Posted 8/1/2008 12:58 AM (GMT 0)

crohnspatient13 said...
i meant to ask, LBJ what was it like being in college having to deal with crohns? were you ever in bad flares where you couldnt go to class or had trouble with anything?

I would have major issues, specially after I drank at the many parties I attended.  LOL   I could never figure out why I would be in the bathroom for days on end after I partied.  If I didn't drink I was pretty good. tongue    

I had bad days and days I would be super tired.  If I was real sick I would a few times have to miss my class, but there weren't too many.  I have IBS and CD very mild compared to many though.  And if I would get stressed out over a test I would usually have some problems and bad cramping in my stomach.  I tried not to stress too much but a few classes were pretty stressful. 

Posted 8/1/2008 1:28 AM (GMT 0)
I'm a college student too! Trying to keep a 4.0 and manage a chronic illness is my full-time job : )
Posted 8/1/2008 1:44 AM (GMT 0)
haah yeah that sounds like that will be me in a few months, malibu what year in college are you? and bane, since you werent able to finish college what are you doing now?

alot of people have suggested i just wait before i go to school, i really want to go and get out of my house but i dont want to make myself sicker but putting more stress on myself
Posted 8/1/2008 1:55 AM (GMT 0)

crohnspatient13 said...
alright thats great, were you ever in a flare during school? and if so what types of things did you have to go through and how did you deal with it? did you have roommates and did you tell them about having crohns? how did they react?

I had an extremely bad flare Junior year and missed a couple weeks of classes but my professors knew me well and were aware of my situation and let me finish up the work over winter break.  And I was started on Remicade, which helped a lot.  Other than that, there were many times when I really didn't feel well - I missed class a lot but always caught up.  I slept A LOT and had a very difficult time eating food because of our disgusting cafeteria.  I ate waffles for lunch and dinner for a few months before I attempted some more adventurous foods that usually didn't agree with my intestines.

I had no roommates, which was convenient.  It really was not fun sharing a bathroom with the entire floor.  I tried to keep my sickness quiet but I'm sure some people figured out something was wrong.  There was actually another person on my freshman floor with Crohn's and I met a couple other people with Crohn's as well.  I was at a small school, too, so odds are that you will run into several people who share your sickness!

But all things considered it was a good experience and I was lucky enough to do very well in my classes and made lots of friends.  I wasn't too upset that I couldn't be a typical college student as far as partying went - I found other ways to keep myself occupied!  I guess I really must've liked college since I decided to waste another 6 years of my life avoiding the real world.

Posted 8/1/2008 2:01 AM (GMT 0)

crohnspatient13 said...
haah yeah that sounds like that will be me in a few months, malibu what year in college are you? and bane, since you werent able to finish college what are you doing now?

alot of people have suggested i just wait before i go to school, i really want to go and get out of my house but i dont want to make myself sicker but putting more stress on myself

As far as waiting goes - I personally would not have been able to live with my parents any longer and my Crohn's wasn't going anywhere so I saw no reason to sit on my decision.  I had a stroke 2 months before starting grad school - my doctors told me I might not be able to read, write, or think straight but I did it anyway either because I'm a masochist or I didn't like the idea of having nothing productive to do.  I'll keep pushing though whatever I'm dealt but that's just the way I am :-)
Posted 8/1/2008 2:20 AM (GMT 0)
I'm a college student too, but I have ulcerative colitis so I definitely feel your pain. I'll be a sophomore at a college in Minnesota this fall.
Posted 8/1/2008 2:29 AM (GMT 0)
dodger thanks alot for all the input, and thats my mentality too that i couldnt stand another year here under the mercy of my parents and two younger siblings who just dont understand and are often jealous when i get to "just lay around all day" i feel like when im at school ill be able to get to know myself more by making my own decisions about when/what i eat when i sleep, etc. without people trying to shove things down my throat (literally!) haha my parents actually just came up with a plate of food and wanted to wait in the room til they saw me start eating and i was like NO! DONT YOU UNDERSTAND IF I TAKE 1 BITE ILL JUST BE IN THE BATHROOM FOR AN HOUR! haha and then they left!

one thing that i think might be a slight advantage for me is that im going to an all girls college so (no offense to guys) but i wont feel the pressure of being judged by college guys if something really embarrassing happens, it's just that whole opposite sex thing ya know? i would just rather the guys think im an attractive normal girl, that's it haha
Posted 8/1/2008 3:15 AM (GMT 0)

crohnspatient13 said...
dodger thanks alot for all the input, and thats my mentality too that i couldnt stand another year here under the mercy of my parents and two younger siblings who just dont understand and are often jealous when i get to "just lay around all day" i feel like when im at school ill be able to get to know myself more by making my own decisions about when/what i eat when i sleep, etc. without people trying to shove things down my throat (literally!) haha my parents actually just came up with a plate of food and wanted to wait in the room til they saw me start eating and i was like NO! DONT YOU UNDERSTAND IF I TAKE 1 BITE ILL JUST BE IN THE BATHROOM FOR AN HOUR! haha and then they left!

one thing that i think might be a slight advantage for me is that im going to an all girls college so (no offense to guys) but i wont feel the pressure of being judged by college guys if something really embarrassing happens, it's just that whole opposite sex thing ya know? i would just rather the guys think im an attractive normal girl, that's it haha

Gee I wish I could've gone to an all girl school tongue

you can be attractive and have Crohn's.. or else my girlfriend has been lying to me!  what happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom and, since our pants are sometimes (by accident) an extension of the bathroom there's never any resulting decrease in attractiveness by simply having Crohn's!  but I guess I know what you mean - I was scared when I let my current girlfriend in on the special bonus prize she won by dating me.  Who cares though!  we're sick.  that's just who we are!  if people can't see past that they aren't worth talking to (or trying to be attractive in front of) in the first place.

Posted 8/1/2008 3:26 AM (GMT 0)
You don't need to drink to have fun at college, anyway... Just because you're sick doesn't mean you can't have fun at college. Try to join a club (something you might be interested in or just a general volunteer on campus club)... This will get you social... Explain to the sponsor of the club your condition (so he/she will know why you have to go away for a bit at the club meetings)...

I'm in a club called the Student Ambassadors at my college... and I love it so much... The students are really nice... and the sponsor was very accommodating... because they'd have food parties (mostly with food I could not have)... So the sponsor would get food for me that I could eat... :)

Not too long ago, I was in a flare while I was in college... dropped my grades... it sucked because I was a 4.0 student.... got dropped down to a 2.8... (But that was still passing)... My inflammation has gone down, now... but I'm still having bathroom problems...
Posted 8/1/2008 3:27 AM (GMT 0)
haha thanks, not only great advice but i got a good laugh! haha i definitely agree with you
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