Posted 8/13/2013 6:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hello,
I am 18 years old and getting ready for my first year of university. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis when I was in grade 7, so about 6 years I have had UC. Immediately after diagnoses through a colonoscopy, I was put on Asacol and it worked. No problems, at the age of 13 I had no idea what was really going on or the severity of the disease. Months down the road I thought I was cured. Months passed and passed, and i was still doing well. At this point it was nearing the end of grade 8 where I was 5 foot 4 inches and about 185 pounds. I had a flare that summer going into grade 9, and was quickly put into the hospital for another colonoscopy. The doctor in my area (who I loved at the time) prescribed me imuran (indefinitely) , and prednisone to help get over the flare. At this point i was on prednisone for a while, and gained alot of weight, my highest being 5 foot 5 and 213 pounds.. Very chubby. I was soon "cured" again and slowly got off the prednisone and was going strong for another long period of time. By this time I was going into grade 11 and things were starting to change. I thought I was eating healthy, going to the gym, and I was losing weight. I thought everything was going well. December of that year (2011) was when I got my flare back that I am still trying to settle down to this day. I went for another colonoscopy and the doctors loaded me up on prednisone again. The flare settled down a bit but I was on the prednisone for so long that i was starting a lot of weight gain. When we realized prednisone wasn't working, we tried Ramicade (Summer 2012) under the supervision of my doctor. At this point i had dropped the weight from prednisone so I was 5 foot 8 and 185 pounds again.The Ramicade gave me some sort of relief for the starting of my grade 12 year, but no where near symptom free. I reacted badly to the Ramicade and had to stop it, the next drug use Humira. I didnt like where things were going. Mid November and on Humira for a month and a half and I felt worse. Then the final drug was a "Trial and error" drug prescribed by my Gastroenterologist. He put me on Methotrexate thats typically used to treat cancer patients. At the age of 17 I had NO idea what to. I carried through with the methotrexate for 2 months and saw no relief, only getting worse and worse as the time went on. my Gastroenterologist always told me since day one of diagnoses that food played no role in the disease so I was eating everything and anything to maybe stabilize my weight. I had dropped 25 pounds in 2 months, so i was down to 160. In December my Gastroenterologist had no more answers for me, I went for my weekly check up and this appointment felt different to me. I could tell something was up. My doctor said that the only other option was surgery and that he strongly recommended it. I couldnt believe it and within seconds started crying. He was coming down on me, being very realistic. Telling me things like "You're gunna have to get admitted to the hospital immediately, no more school, you're not going to graduate with all your friends, you have to take care of yourself before you go on with your life. I couldn't believe this was even happening. After one of the worst days of my life, and talking with both my parents and siblings, I decided to get admitted to the hospital to start prepping myself for the surgery. The day before I was going to be admitted, my mom came to me in a panic saying that she doesn't want me getting surgery and that their must be a way to cure myself. We cancelled the surgery and went back to weekly appointments where they would check my blood. Week by week my numbers were getting "better". Just enough to keep me out of the surgery. In January I decided to give up on the doctors. I didnt trust them anymore, they were killing me. I visited a chiropractor who has dealt with UC patients before. Within the first visit, he put me on a realm of supplements including fish oil, probiotics, vitamin D, and vegegreens. These supplements along with a very very strict diet. The diet consisted of almost nothing. I eliminated all foods that could possibly have an impact on my stomach. I was eating chicken, rice, veggies, and fruits for a solid 4 months and my symptoms were reducing a little bit. I ended up going back to school (still feeling terrible) but I ended up being able to graduate with all my friends. Since graduating, I have cut out raw veggies and fruit from my diet.. So now I have basically chicken and rice for breakfast lunch and dinner. I am on all the necessary vitamins and supplements that are required to heal my colon. I am on fish oil, probiotics, vitamin D, greens, phosphorus, turmeric supplement, b12, b1, 5-HTP, multi-vitamin, and L-Glutamine. At the starting of the summer I started attending Chinese acupuncture. The guy i go to is amazing, and doesnt even seem worried that I will get cured. He told me today 4 months until you are perfect. Hearing these words just made me look back at the journey I have done and just think. I am still experiencing symptoms for sure. My typical day consists of 7 bowel movements, the majority of them being in the morning, almost consistently. I find a lot of relief with the Chinese acupuncture, and I do feel as though i am on the right path. Stress plays a huge roll in my UC. Times where I am at home, doing homework, listening to music, watching tv, I live a pretty much normal life, almost symptomatic. The problem is, as soon as I am asked to leave the house or anywhere that is not close to a washroom, I panic which induces my symptoms like crazy. A 20 minute walk is impossible without going to the washroom, but I am able to sit at home, go to acupuncture, and come back home which takes 3 hours without having a bowel movement. This does not make sense to me.. I guess my real factor is the stress i live with, and how to cope with it. If anyone has similar problems where they find they cannot do activities such as, sports, walks, long car rides, anything away from a washroom.. and you are able to deal with it mentally please comment and explain how you cope with your UC stress. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope everyone takes the same route as I am taking now!!!
List of supplements I have been on:
Fish Oil
Probiotics
Vitamin D
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B1
Slippery Elm
Peppermint Oil
Phosphorus
Somnolin
5-HTP
Turmeric
Garlic
Oil of oregano
Coconut Oil
L-Glutamine
Multi-Viamin
VegeGreens
UltraInflamX
Not currently on ANY meds.
Please let me know if you know of and natural supplements that could help deal with that stress factor that i deal with everytime there is not a nearby washroom, or any tips at all!! Thanks!!!!!!