Hi everyone,
I'm new here and have not yet been diagnosed. It all started in 2005 when I was 16 and noticed changes in my bm's (frequency, loose, urgency, mucus, small amounts of blood) and was experiencing cramps and also pain in my lower-right tummy. I went to my GP and he (without any examination) said it was IBS and sent me on my way with a script for membeverine (sp?). I stuck with this and tried eliminating things from my diet but nothing changed and he continued to say the same thing. Eventually things evened out and although my bm's were still not normal and I got sporadic pain, they became the norm for me if you understand what I mean. When you feel consistently ill, it sometimes becomes hard to differentiate between normal and not normal!
Things came to a head in April 2008 and when I woke in the middle of the night with excruciating stabbing pain in my lower right quadrant, D, fever, and vomiting. Being the kind of person I am and only having recently started uni and moved away from home against the advice of my parents I decided to just try and ride it out. Eventually at 8am in the morning I could take no more and phoned my dad who took me to the doctor. He simply said it was likely to be an ovarian cyst, I was vomitting from the severe pain, and the D was related to my IBS. He sent me on my way with antibiotics (I don't know why) and painkillers (I'm very allergic to anti-sickness tabs). I felt so ill that I caved in and stayed with my grandparents for a while and after a couple of weeks things seemed to go back to 'normal'.
Things seemed to continue the same until sep 2009 when my acne (of all things) got so bad that I decided to change GP to the same dr that my dad and the majority of my family are with due to my current dr doing nothing about it. Not long after I had my introductory appt with my new dr (who is an angel) my stomach problems worsened. I was having many bowel movements per day, pain, had eye infections, lots of pain, was hugely fatigued and lost about 20lb of weight off of an already low BMI (I'm very tall, which doesn't help). By jan 2010 and after a ruined xmas I decided I could not take it any longer and went to see my dr who instantly referred me to a specialist. I think this was due to the symptoms and the fact that my dad has Crohn's - was diagnosed 11 years ago when he was 40 and got a permanent bag last year after all other avenues were exhausted at least once. I got a flexible sigmoidoscopy (ow!) finally at the end of feb and all that was said to me afterwards was that they had found some patchy inflammation and had taken biopsies. I then got a letter a week later simply saying that an appointment had been made for me with the gastroenterology consultant on the 26th April at the GI clinic at the hospital,
I have still been having symptoms although not as bad as at the time my new dr referred me. I have been to see my GP since my scope about my skin etc and he says he has not heard anything from the hospital. He said if the biopsy results were simple and straightforward (normal) they would send both him and me a copy to save the hospital time and appts as they are so busy, but if they aren't they will have me in before they send him anything, and he highly suspects it is an IBD and will be very surprised if they say IBS. I have an important english exam on monday morning and the hospital appt on monday afternoon and I'm so scared and nervous and fatigued with it all. I can't concentrate on uni and it is making everything in my life so difficult. Further to this I have just lost my job due to the business doing badly so my financial difficulties are huge. I'm worried that I go on monday and they say it is Crohn's as my dad was so ill, but I think im possibly more worried that I go and they either say more testing or give me the old IBS chestnut again I just want an answer and some medication as I've felt like this for so long now
Anyway, I'm sorry for the long-winded tale, I suppose I was just looking to vent. Lol. Thanks if you managed to make it through!!
xxx
I'm new here and have not yet been diagnosed. It all started in 2005 when I was 16 and noticed changes in my bm's (frequency, loose, urgency, mucus, small amounts of blood) and was experiencing cramps and also pain in my lower-right tummy. I went to my GP and he (without any examination) said it was IBS and sent me on my way with a script for membeverine (sp?). I stuck with this and tried eliminating things from my diet but nothing changed and he continued to say the same thing. Eventually things evened out and although my bm's were still not normal and I got sporadic pain, they became the norm for me if you understand what I mean. When you feel consistently ill, it sometimes becomes hard to differentiate between normal and not normal!
Things came to a head in April 2008 and when I woke in the middle of the night with excruciating stabbing pain in my lower right quadrant, D, fever, and vomiting. Being the kind of person I am and only having recently started uni and moved away from home against the advice of my parents I decided to just try and ride it out. Eventually at 8am in the morning I could take no more and phoned my dad who took me to the doctor. He simply said it was likely to be an ovarian cyst, I was vomitting from the severe pain, and the D was related to my IBS. He sent me on my way with antibiotics (I don't know why) and painkillers (I'm very allergic to anti-sickness tabs). I felt so ill that I caved in and stayed with my grandparents for a while and after a couple of weeks things seemed to go back to 'normal'.
Things seemed to continue the same until sep 2009 when my acne (of all things) got so bad that I decided to change GP to the same dr that my dad and the majority of my family are with due to my current dr doing nothing about it. Not long after I had my introductory appt with my new dr (who is an angel) my stomach problems worsened. I was having many bowel movements per day, pain, had eye infections, lots of pain, was hugely fatigued and lost about 20lb of weight off of an already low BMI (I'm very tall, which doesn't help). By jan 2010 and after a ruined xmas I decided I could not take it any longer and went to see my dr who instantly referred me to a specialist. I think this was due to the symptoms and the fact that my dad has Crohn's - was diagnosed 11 years ago when he was 40 and got a permanent bag last year after all other avenues were exhausted at least once. I got a flexible sigmoidoscopy (ow!) finally at the end of feb and all that was said to me afterwards was that they had found some patchy inflammation and had taken biopsies. I then got a letter a week later simply saying that an appointment had been made for me with the gastroenterology consultant on the 26th April at the GI clinic at the hospital,
I have still been having symptoms although not as bad as at the time my new dr referred me. I have been to see my GP since my scope about my skin etc and he says he has not heard anything from the hospital. He said if the biopsy results were simple and straightforward (normal) they would send both him and me a copy to save the hospital time and appts as they are so busy, but if they aren't they will have me in before they send him anything, and he highly suspects it is an IBD and will be very surprised if they say IBS. I have an important english exam on monday morning and the hospital appt on monday afternoon and I'm so scared and nervous and fatigued with it all. I can't concentrate on uni and it is making everything in my life so difficult. Further to this I have just lost my job due to the business doing badly so my financial difficulties are huge. I'm worried that I go on monday and they say it is Crohn's as my dad was so ill, but I think im possibly more worried that I go and they either say more testing or give me the old IBS chestnut again I just want an answer and some medication as I've felt like this for so long now
Anyway, I'm sorry for the long-winded tale, I suppose I was just looking to vent. Lol. Thanks if you managed to make it through!!
xxx