This seems adequate for a first post

Well, hello and thanks for reading. I guess this works for a first post. Generally not good at these kind of things, so bear with me please.

Growing up, things were never quite right. Around age 2 I began having violent seizures, doctor said it was due to neurons, my brain processing information too quickly. Was put on Dilantin. I would always puke my food up, and as far as I can remember back my favorite things to eat were fruits and veggies (the body knows what it needs, for the most part). Never thought this would be connected to food, but the way gushers, fruit rollups, 'cookies for breakfast' and all the other junk is made to look so nice, I don't think any kid would.

I have <repressed> memories of puking in school, usually after lunch, diarrhea, and constipation to the point of crying - always thought I just had a weak stomach. Was never able to keep weight on, and probably like most of you, just didn't grow/mature right.

I guess my first tragedy came when I about 8 years old. I awoke to my mother's cries, a house full of paramedics, police, and men in weird attire. Was quickly ushered back into my room. Can't remember how the news came, but my 3 month old brother passed in his sleep. They found cheerios in his throat, which I now believe caused his death - though the official cause was SIDS.

Things basically progressed as they have been, the next year (Friday the 13th) my mother was told she was carrying twin girls! Such a pleasure, it was as if, somehow, the horror of losing my brother had been undone. On February 24th, 1999, the twins were born. Of course, this was short lived. One was jaundiced, the doctor said not to worry. She was given plenty of sunlight, and was yellowing more every day. The doctor took a look again, quickly said not to worry. My sister was 10 days old when the jaundice took her.

I'm glad I've taken the time to do this, combating these memories is a lot healthier than repressing them. Hmm...

Anyway, besides puking, the strain and pain of defecating, I thought everything was normal for me. Oh, and my teeth rotting no matter how many times I brushed. I guess we just think these things are quirks, we learn how to subside them a little, and continue as we were. Around 15 my mental health plummeted, I no longer had the will to strive in school, nothing mattered and I did not care anymore. I think the only thing I prayed for was to be taken out of this world, without doing myself in of course. Things stayed at a downhill from there. Ulcers, palpitations, anxiety, the vomiting, all these worsened considerably. Until about a year ago, I, nor the imbeciles recognized as doctors, were able to tell me what was wrong.

Due to a suggestion from a friend who has Celiac, I started a gluten free diet. Within 3 days my mental health changed. This basically had me convinced, but who doesn't love a good sandwich/pizza!? I wavered in the beginning, but after excruciatingly vomiting worse than ever before, I decided to stick to it. Didn't have much a choice :tongue:

Well, after a few months, my body began to get worse!
<I have my theories on this, but will post at the bottom>
After getting jerked around by one doctor for 5 months, she sent me to get a colonoscopy. The doctor was really cool, said 10 extra minutes he'd do an endoscope as well. The gluten free diet had helped, but had(have) esophagus, small intestine, and rectal damage. After a nice barium smoothie (not sure about you guys, by my food literally goes right through me, the barium took under 20 minutes) and a week of waiting, was told I have Crohn's.

Yeah, that's as far as anything has progressed. I've no idea what to eat, or what not to eat. I have a juicer, thought I don't know if it'll be much use now. My joints suck, innards feel like they're on fire, taking 2k mgs of sulfasalazine daily, prevacid, constantly have mucus coming from my ass, and bowel movements are absolute horror. I don't like to go in public for fear of how I smell, or if there is a toilet in the vicinity. I'm also on and off a Candida diet, as I think this is the cause for both Celiac and Crohns, yet give in after 2 weeks.

http://www.denvernaturopathic.com/news/celiac.html


I've read some of the stories on here, and I'm thankful not to have experienced some of the things you people have been through, but who knows where this may lead me. Do you not have extensive sugar/dairy/bread/fruit cravings? I wholeheartedly believe Candida is the root for these conditions, as it has to start somewhere.

Best of luck people, I'm sure one of you had/is having a surgery today

Sorry to hear of ya traumatic time
but glad you now hav a diagnosis
you will find plenty of good info an help/ideas on this forum
use the search function above and look for diets etc you may find what your after
also someone may chime in and help

the one thing I found to help me was a low residue/low fibre diet this allows your bowels etc too settle and heal a bit

good luck an welcome

Think I'm going to try ensure, or nothing but water, rather hurt a little now than much more later. Here's something I forgot to add to the first post.

http://www.candidafree.net/resource_21.htm

Hi transient solace, and welcome to the forum. I am sorry to hear about the loss of your brother and sister, and the pain you have suffered. I hope you find a diet that works for you. There are many great people on here that will have wonderful advice/suggestions for you to try. Everyone is different, and what works for one won't work for others - you just have to keep trying until you find something that works.

Good health and best of luck.

Welcome TS.. wow, what a terrible childhood you had and your parents have had so much grief and I am sure they worried of you too. All that stress had to play a role in your flare ups.. it usually does. Diet isnt the cause but everyone has a trigger food to avoid, and most dairy products and wheat are not handled well. All of us are different in food and medications, you have to find your "concoction" to get you into remission. Whether is be surgery or medications, not all of us suffer all the time. Glad you found us, lots of info here and many to cheer you on! What meds are you on now?

Currently taking sulfasalazine 2k mg a day, and prevacid for the ulcers. No blood anymore What really gets me...I'm convinced 90% of the diseases we haven't been able to control, are just resulting from food. There hasn't been any other factors that contribute to the suffering that modern humans are - except the stress of punching a timeclock, but this goes hand in hand with the McDonalds/Starbucks approach. If everything from General Mills to Verizon to General Electric can put boring, yet hypnotic, multi million dollar commercials out there, can we not at least get ONE channel dedicated to information of commonly undiagnosed diseases? I have been seeing things about Crohn's and Lupus and Autism, but these can spawn from Celiac - haven't seen one yet. Of course, if people realized how toxic the crap they're buying into is...don't think there''d be much left of the processed food industry, though lawyers may be busy for a bit.

Hi Transient
and welcome

sorry you're having such a terrible time, maybe you could ask your doc for some different meds? Sulfasalazine which is a derivitive of Mesalazine (Pentasa) might not be strong enough for your inflammation, and they are not pain killers neither. these meds are ok during remission to maintain and prevent, but not during a flare, you might need a short course of Prednisolone to stop the flare dead in its tracks, worked for me!
During a major flare, it doesn't matter what I eat, or don't eat, I still have inflammation,
hope you get sorted soon, and any questions, just ask
Joan xx

Hi Transient Solace,
You've certainly had more than your fair share of troubles. No wonder you are feeling down and anxious. It's good that you're diagnosed though as it sounds like you've not had a proper treatment programme. I hope things go better for you from now on,
Gail
x

Just wanted to say thanks for the replies, life hasn't been fun, but I read on here and there's people A LOT worse off than me - and these are only the 'told' stories. My doctor hasn't told me anything really...I'm worried about my insurance expiring next month, how I'm going to make money is an encumbrance, to say the least. I'd like to know how you ladies and gents cope with this. Also, does anyone have a juicer? I was juicing pretty steady, now I don't know if it'd help or make things worse (steady decline in quality of life since August). I know I have a problem with Candida, and I'm working on getting that under control. It's funny what your body unconsciously craves :tongue:

Best regards to everyone - you're my hope

Hi TS - I have a juicer and was juicing wheat grass daily for about 5 months. I had to take a break though.... the smell was starting to make me gag. And then once Spring hit, and the smell of mown grass was everywhere, I was driving in my car and gagging at the smell of it!

But - I don't see how juicing could hurt - as long as you stay away from things that bother you, like anything with too much acidity.