Managing through stressful times as a teenager doing exams?

Finding out more about crohns...

In 2006, aged 13, my Dr discovered i was anemic and after having stomach pains for as long as i can remember, i was diagnosed with crohns/UC after a barium follow through. At this time i was going through a bad flare up and was in hospital for a week. My weight dropped from 8 stone to 4 stone which was the main cause of concern to my Dr. I also had terrible stomach pains and bloody bowel movements every 5 or 10 minutes including through the night and also lost alot of my hair (is this a common symptom?). I dont know much about IBD as i was diagnosed at a young age and as it is common in my family (my brother, gran, aunt and cousins on both my mum and dads side have it) so i was never there when it was explained to my parents in detail for the first time, so i only know what i have found on wiki and around the internet. Now that im getting older im more interested in researching it. Hence me coming across this forum

I didn't have a colonoscopy at the time as my consultant thought it would irritate my bowel more and after taking galfer (iron supplement) and 16 weeks on pred i was in remission complete with the moon face, lots of weight gain and stretch marks to show for it. Anyways the consultant thought it was better not to disturb anything again and let it be.

In early 2010 after 4 years of remission (taking a maintenance dose of 2g pentasa daily) and only having mild stomach pains occasionally, i started having diarrhea 4 or 5 times a day and losing weight and bad pains again. Since then I have managed to maintain my weight but have very regular diarrhea and on and off moderately bad stomach pain. During my period the pain/diarrhea becomes very bad and i have absolutely no energy, all i want to do is sleep (i could easily sleep for 15 or 16 hours only getting up for toilet breaks) and can barely being myself to walk down the stairs in the morning.

In june 2010, sept 2010m jan 2011 and recently I have felt really unwell and finally managed to get an appointment with my consultant a few weeks ago and had blood taken showing i was very low on iron so now i am on galfer again and my normal 2g of pentasa and mefenamic acid to help reduce period pain and flow during that time of the month. Also getting my first colonoscopy in july which will be interesting to see whats really going on. I also feel dizzy and at time nauseous but im guessing this is a side effect of the medication.

Anyways sorry about the big essay got slightly carried away and it felt therapeutic just to be able to write stuff down, get my head sorted a bit. The point of all this is everytime ive had a flare up it is caused by stress. My dad died in 2005 - first recognized flare up a couple of months later in 2006. June 2010 was during public exams i was taking and i havent felt well at all since then and bad very sick in september (start of term) and January during my a levels and now i have exams next week and have started feeling terrible again going to the toilet 7 or 8 times a day. I no that i dont have as severe a case of IBD as some people on here, when not on my period i can get through the day with paracetamol atleast get the school day over with and deal with the pain in the short term for an hour or so then i can go home to my bed to comfort me lol. (how often do people on here need to take painkillers, is it usual for it to be daily?)

The thing that most worries me is urgency and accidents (not sure how acceptable it is to talk about this on here :$ but if its not ok here then where else will it be??)
Even when im not in much pain i have urgent bowel movements with only a couple of seconds warning so accidents are inevitably really. If i am in a routine (ie at school going to the bathroom before each class) i have always been able to manage at school and so far away from home atleast but my IBD has got progressively worse since last year and with 2 stressful months of exams ahead i dont no how to best manage these symptoms. I have arranged with the school and exam board to be able to leave the exam hall urgently through an exam if needed and a seat beside the door so i can leave discreetly and have extra time if i need a long toilet break but i wont be able to do an exam having to leave every 10 mins for the toilet and in pain all the time in between, worrying more about getting to the toilet than completing the exam.

Im here looking for any tips on how to manage through stressful times which are only made more stressful by knowing the stress will make me more sick.. and the cycle continues until im taking every painkiller i can find in the shop and staying as close to the bathroom as possible. Has anyone else been in a similar situation with exams or can anyone offer any advise just to settle my mind slightly?

Thanks for reading, sorry about how long it is. The only food i have found that affects me is apples which cause really bed stomach pain for me. I have not had any blood in my bowel movements since 2006 that i have noticed. When im remission should you be symptom free? or is it possible to be?

Kb1,
Very acceptable to speak of gross bathroom habits here. Most of us have described, in great detail mind you, of our running trips to the toilet only not to make it in the end. So, no worries on that score, okay? Long post, we will read it! Again, no worries.

Now, I was not a young person when I went back to school for my degree. I was 27. However, I faced exactly what you described above. Stress really sends me running! I think you have done everything right though. You notified the proffs and made arrangements for any difficulties during exam week. (almost 20 years later and I still have nightmares about those little blue books!)

I have found pain killers only exacerbate the cycle for me. The rebound pain is horrible! The only thing I can tell you is this: you have done all that can be done. Prepare for your exams, get plenty of rest and (I hate when people tell me this) stop thinking about it so much...you are adding more stress that way.

All you can do, is the best you can do. If you are prepared for your exams, it really becomes a much less stressful situation.

I hope this helps. Good luck,
Michele

Hi KB1 and welcome.

Have u tried Loperamide (Imodium) for the diarrhea? it's not wise to take them all the time as u can develop a tolerance, but a dose before each exam might help lessen your need for the toilet and might allow u to focus on the task in hand.

Also, some painkillers are contra-indicated for Crohn's, Ibuprofen is a big no-no. My GI recommends i only take paracetamol.

I agree with Michele, get plenty of rest and try to relax, a relaxed bowel works much better than a tense, up-tight one. It may be hard to relax with all the worry of exams going on but sometimes u just have to go for a quiet lie down, and then u'll feel more able to focus.

Good luck

Ian

Just make sure you dont leave all the revising to the end. Im currently doing a degree and found spending long periods of revising to stress me out a lot. So i do it in 30min cycles, do a bit, chill out, then do a bit more. Try not to do a lot in one day.
Remember that your health is more important than your grades (you can always resit them again).

Although you have told your teachers, is the head, and more importantly, the people who will be watching over the exam aware. Will be bad to get in there and find out they know nothing of your condition.

Good luck

Hi KB1! I'm so sorry to hear all this, your Crohns, your stress, your dad...

My story is very similar to yours, I was diagnosed at 12 and now I'm doing my AS exams! What subjects are you taking?
Also, when I first got Crohn's I hardly knew anything about it cos I went to a childrens hospital and they barely explained anything, then bout a month ago I decided I should find out more, and now I'm on this forum!

Good luck with your colonoscopy, and I hope your flare up goes away soon!

Hi Kb1 and welcome to the best place for info and support. I've been on both sides of the table as an educator who had to take state tests and as a proctor for state tests. It is imperative that you let your teachers know of your condition. If it takes a doc note, get that. I had to have a doc not when I took the state test and was given a card to put on the desk that let the proctor know that I could leave the room whenever I needed (although they did send a monitor w/me...how embarassing but the flip side would have been worse!)
I am a worrier. Always have been. I was prepared (probably overly) didn't eat/drink anything the morning of my 6 hour exam but still, had to flee the room 3 times. I think if I had to do it over, I would have taken the imodium and then suffered the next day. When I have bouts like this, I have to have water right after and, since we weren't allowed to bring anything, I found myself sipping from the sink... any port in a storm.
Do whatever it takes to relax. (Listen to me... I am still trying to find that outlet...) I am now a child advocate, am very competent (if I do say so myself...) but the meetings are very intense and I still find myself on occasion having to excuse myself to use the b'room. I'm better since I have been keeping a journal, and reviewing my notes to assure myself that I am indeed ready for the challenge.
Good luck! I hope you love what you are studying! Jan
I am so sorry to learn of the death of your Dad. No greater trigger than something like that.

Hi kb1. When I was younger (late teens, early twenties), I lost a lot of hair when I was flaring. I have UC. That hasn't happened to me in a while, but it used to happen a lot. Have you ever tried Rowasa (mesalamine enemas) for the inflammation and diarrhea? They are the only thing that I've found that stop by bleeding and diarrhea when I have a bad flare. It might be worth a try if your doctor thinks they would work for you. I found that when I was in college, and stressed out, I would have more issues stomach too. I agree with the other member to relax in between studying and doing work. Get some fresh air/sunlight, or listen to some relaxing music and rest a bit. Good luck with everything!

Hey kb1. I am 17 and have was diagnosed at 16. Had symptoms since I was 15 though. I luckily got most things explained to me up front about Crohn's and have researched a lot about it. I try to read all the newest reports that are posted on here; which are very helpful and interesting for almost all of us to read and hope that new and more efficient treatments are on the way. Back on topic I know what you are saying about exams. School and the work that ensues from it wear me out on a daily basis. The SAT is also stressing me out since it is the test that kind of decides college anymore. I definetly notice a difference when stress is involved. I really dont know many ways to relieve the stress other than for me to just do well on the exams and finals

I'm 19 and have had Crohn's for 11 years.
But luckily I'm not a very stressed person, and my Crohn's is totally random and not stress induced.
But, as a few tips for revision (I'm in first year of degree at the moment so did my alevels pretty recently) just make sure you do your revision in good time like someone said above, and make sure you try your hardest to start early so everything is revised, I found that the most stressed people were the ones who knew they hadn't revised enough and were worried about failing. I revised my arse off so I went into my exams feeling good and therefore, wasn't stressed
But also, remember it's just an exam. Your health is more important! So don't stress too much.
What alevels are you doing? I did Biology, chemistry and history, so if you are doing any of these subjects and need more help let me know
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Hiya Kb
and welcome

I was on mefenamic acid (ponstan forte) as a teenager, and one of the side effects is diarrhea. This piece is from their website
Diarrhea: If diarrhea occurs, the dosage should be reduced or the medication stopped temporarily. Certain people who develop diarrhea may be unable to tolerate the medication in the future as well.

I was in agony for 3 weeks of every month and got checked out by gynae, I had endometriosis. It even hurt during ovulation.
Have you considered seeing a gynae?
Read this from the wiki.
http://www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/Endometriosis-can-mimic-Crohns?&highlight=endometriosis

good luck with the exams
lotsa luv
Joan xxx

Hi KB and welcome!

The others have pretty much covered it, but i just wanted to say welcome to you and I hope you make it thru exams okay.

As you read around, you will learn a lot and you will mostly learn that WE LOVE TO TALK ABOUT POOP!!!

Hang in there, kid. You'll do fine on exams if you try your best!

-Amy

Well, I can sympathize. I was diagnosed during my second year university. Went from being an honours student to failing the first (and only) course of my life in that year. I finished my degree eventually, took an extra two years of university and then much later went back to get my B.Ed degree to become a teacher. Medications did help, but I really believe the big thing was to take control of the time that I was healthy and able to work. I used to be a huge procrastinator, and Crohn's taught me how to stop doing it. Develop confidence in your abilities to work when you are healthy, and it will reduce your stress. Aside from that, it'll help you kick butt on your studies too!

Keep your desire to succeed. That drive will help you work through a lot of the difficulties Crohn's can present. Despite not knowing remission in 25 years, I have been able to finish two degrees, have a decade long career in the credit industry, become a top level hockey referee, a reasonably successful artist, and start a family and a new career as a teacher. Keep the attitude to succeed. Crohn's may win a battle (or two or three), but make sure you win the war against it.

Hi Kb1!

Your symptoms sound very similar to mine, and being an A-Level student I can completely understand and sympathise!
Mine first reared it's head around the time of my GCSE'S (3 years ago now). This was my first flare up therefore I had no idea what was going on with me or how I should treat it myself, so as well as worrying about exams I was worrying about how to cope in the exam hall if I needed the toilet! Being a very private person I didn't really vocalise how I was feeling (which looking back, seemed very stupid) so I got through the exams by taking Immodium, which helped a lot for me (at least for a few days). Since then I've gone through GCSE's, AS's and am currently doing my last set of A Level exams at the end of June, and know exactly what you mean about stress making things worse. I had a bad flare up from around November in my first year of college right through to June, and then in the summer (I hadn't been diagnosed at this point) my Crohn's dissapeared by itself and my body returned to normal. Up until December this year (my second year) at which point my Crohn's returned; was diagnosed in January but typically had exams in January too, and am currently still flaring although trying new medications to try and induce remission. It seems that stress is a very important trigger in my flare-ups too! However, for the short term, Immodium is very useful for reducing symptoms for the exam-i find if I take two in the morning and give myself enough time to make sure they work, I'm right for the exam The best way to deal with it is to not stress too much; keep remembering exams can be re-taken and it is not a big deal if you fail, no matter what teachers tell you.
Sorry for the essay but just wanted to let you know that you are not alone, and we can all work with each other to help and provide support.
Hope you are feeling better

R
x

sparkles said:

Hi KB1! I'm so sorry to hear all this, your Crohns, your stress, your dad...

My story is very similar to yours, I was diagnosed at 12 and now I'm doing my AS exams! What subjects are you taking?
Also, when I first got Crohn's I hardly knew anything about it cos I went to a childrens hospital and they barely explained anything, then bout a month ago I decided I should find out more, and now I'm on this forum!

Good luck with your colonoscopy, and I hope your flare up goes away soon!

Click to expand...

Hey great to know someone in a similar situation im doing chemistry, business studies, physics and maths for AS atm hoping to drop business for a2 though. Wbu?

vickyhunter said:

I'm 19 and have had Crohn's for 11 years.
But luckily I'm not a very stressed person, and my Crohn's is totally random and not stress induced.
But, as a few tips for revision (I'm in first year of degree at the moment so did my alevels pretty recently) just make sure you do your revision in good time like someone said above, and make sure you try your hardest to start early so everything is revised, I found that the most stressed people were the ones who knew they hadn't revised enough and were worried about failing. I revised my arse off so I went into my exams feeling good and therefore, wasn't stressed
But also, remember it's just an exam. Your health is more important! So don't stress too much.
What alevels are you doing? I did Biology, chemistry and history, so if you are doing any of these subjects and need more help let me know
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the tips and support
im doing chemistry, maths, physics and business studies for AS hoping to drop business for a2 lol. Have my chemistry practical on tuesday not something im looking foward to lol. Not much tends to get me stressed apart from exams lol i cant stand not doing well.. not that that means i dont procrastinate a stupid amount haha
x

Wow i really cant believe how supportive everyone is on this forum! So glad i came across it... reading every reply just made me smile. Its great being able to talk with like minded people who dont get grossed out by the details haha i hate the social stigma associated with this disease!
Thanks you all so much. This forum has made my day

ooh I did business at AS too! And dropped it Never felt so good haha!
Are you getting special consideration in your exams?
like extra time if you go to the loo? I got that for my GCSEs, I wasn't ill at the time but got it just in case
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haha i am counting down the days i have left in that class! less than a week and then i just have the exam to stress about haha. Did u do business with AQA as the exam board?

i have talked to the teacher who is the exams coordinator at my school and he has been more than helpful, gave me a seat beside the door which is just across the corridor from the toilets so i can leave discreetly and make it in time haha. Ive been told that if i need a long toilet break i can make up the time at the end of the exam but i havent needed to make use of this yet but atleast i have the option. I am also able to do the exam in a private room but i think this would cause people to ask too many questions which id rather they didnt no the answer to lol.

yeah I totally understand what you mean about not wanting to raise attention to yourself and have questions asked. That was my main concern and probably still is to be honest. and yes! I did AQA haha. how are you finding it? how did you do in the january module?
xxxx

haha yea id just rather it wasnt public knowledge that i have crohns lol and as soon as one person finds out it wouldnt be long before the whole school new.
I loved b.s. for gcse but i hate how much essay writing there is in this module (im more of a maths/science person lol). And how in hell is it possible to finish it in time!! It takes me 4 hours to do a paper at the minute lol no way is it going to be finished in 1 and a half haha. Cant see it getting any better next year hence why i hope to drop it but slightly worried that only having 3 a levels might look bad to universities lol. But im hoping my school will let me and a few others in my class do AS further maths next year... no schools in my area run it and i would really like to do it so hoping that will happen...
I got an A in the first bs module just about got 64 marks on the grade boundry haha. me/my teacher was kind of disappointed cause i did put a lot of work in to it and really enjoyed it up until then lol but i guess thats just being picky im happy with an A haha what about yourself? How did you find chemistry?
x

I got an A is BS too, I thought it was sooo boring though, when I went for it I thought it would be like economics because that's how they represented it on the open day for my college but it soooo wasn't haha! And I'm doing chemistry at uni so I really liked it at AS/Alevel. I'm at Warwick, revising for exams at the moment! eeeek, it's so hard.
When are your exams? I remember mine were all late may/early to mid june when I did my Alevels.
Ooh my boyfriend did further maths, I can't believe they don't do it in your area! Make sure you put pressure on them to do it
xxxxxx

I just hope i can get an A overall at AS then be able to drop it haha. Yea its the most tedious subject and not difficult so i just lost interest, much rather something like maths haha. Ahhh! Im thinking of doing chemistry or chemical engineering at uni or something related to chem/maths. I was considering maths at Warwick as it has such a good reputation for it but im not sure if i should aim for such a difficult course without further maths.
I wasnt planning on doing chem for A level at all until i decided to not to do ICT and there were no other decent options in that block that i could choose, so chemistry it was. I didnt overly enjoy it at gcse but its def a lot more interesting this year. So glad i did, probably the most interesting of my subjects and i have a great teacher so even the harder topics are do-able (so far anyways!).
There are so few schools in northern ireland who offer further maths! It is ridiculous! I would love to do it and there is about 6 or 7 people in my year the same but we were told the school isnt too sure about running it as the maths department has too few teachers already and although one teacher mentioned that we could do it after school (which i wouldnt mind) there are no teachers willing to stay in
I had my chemistry practical today which is the start of my exams so i have another 5 between now and 24th june which is chemistry unit 2, some people who only have one exam in my year finish next week! So jealous lol
x

My boyfriend does further maths at warwick! and you need to pass this thing call STEP which is pretty much an entrance exam! It's to stretch you beyond maths/further maths, as Warwick don't think Alevels are hard enough. He did F maths and he said there's some people here who didn't do further maths but they are really struggling.
I had to do parts of the F maths module as part of my chemistry and it's not too bad, you should definitely try to do it if you're interested in maths

By the way how is pentasa in your opinion? I was on it from being 7 to 13 and it did nothing for me, I had 2 massive flare ups with it! I'm really well now (touch wood) on azathioprine
xxxx

*my boyfriend does maths at warwick - not further maths haha (he did do that at Alevel though)

I started taking it when i was 12 during a flare along with pred. when i went into remission after that i just stopped taking pentasa completly. I had regular 6 monthly check ups with my dr who said beginning of 2010 i could pretty much say i didnt have crohns as it hadnt affected me in so long without me taking medicine so i didnt need check ups or to declare i had crohns and all the rest of it. Was fine until last year stress, from gcses i guess, made me have a minor ish flare which id say im still on so i started taking 500mg a day from last may.. didnt notice much difference but it was pretty much bearable until it got pretty bad in Jan this year had an appointment a few months ago with my dr. (took me 9 months to get an appointment... completely ridiculous) who told me to up the pentasa to 2g a day as that was the normal maintanance dose... so ive being doing that for a few months.. diarrhea/pain have been up and down since (i think cause by stress no affect from pentasa) so dont no if the pentasa is actually doing anything but when i dont take it i get really bad headaches lol this is only reason i havent stopped and id be scared to stop it and get a flare and the dr can just blame the lack of pentasa for the flare... whereas it probably would have happened anyways but have my first colonoscopy in july so will be interesting to see the results of that. Havent had a severe flare since i was diagnosed on 2006 just had minor pain (compared to most people of here) and bad diarrhea and anemia for a year now hence the colonoscopy. Ive never tried any other meds and have may dr has never mentioned any alternatives to me, or my brother who has severe crohns and is just taking a shit load of pentasa and pred during bad flares...

Will definitely push harded to do f maths now! thanks for the advise x

I know how you feel about the appointments! I was with a children's hospital for 10 years and whenever I was flaring they were so good, got an appointment straight away. and now I'm an adult, it's like they don't care! I've been so stressed having to do it all myself whereas my mum used to sort it out for me. Perscriptions, changing doctors, getting a new consultant arghhh and at warwick they don't do blood tests on campus at the health centre so I have to go all the way to the hospital which is a 50minute bus ride away! (I have them every few months for azathioprine) So annoyingggg.

It's like there's nothing in place for young people with Chronic illnesses living at uni but at home for the holidays. and I had an emergency referrel about 2 months ago as I was having a minor flare and the referal took 2 weeks and then the appointment was for a month and a half later! I got put on steroids by my GP and sacked the appointment, there was so point!

Remember if it gets really bad you should go to A&E. I've not had to do this yet as all my reallllly bad flares were in childhood and I was admitted to a ward if I was flaring. But as an adult it seems like a regular thing by the sounds of it :/

ooh your first colonoscopy? I've had two endoscopys (my crohn's is higher up, in the ilium and small intestine) but my mum has had about 7 colonoscopys (she has Ulcerative colitis). Are you being put to sleep or just "relaxed"?
xxxx

xxxxxxx

Same with the childrens hospital situation... the last appointment i had a few months ago was the first ive had with a new consultant, not the one ive had before, probably why it took so long. Im quite lucky in that ive just been following behind my brother with this disease hes 3 years older and was diagnosed a few years earlier but has it more severe than me. We both had the same consultant as children and now i have the same consultant as him in the other department. Only problem is as the consultant knows about family history and that and has already explained most things to my mum with my bro ive never had it properly explained but a dr which is quite annoying. He is in 2nd year at uni in glasgow but he comes home for appointments and the like. Hes had to go to A&E in scotland 3 times this year due to bad flares (luckily there is a hospital a minutes walk from his flat lol) but the thought of being on my own and taking myself to a&e scares me... lol

im just being relaxed for the colonoscopy as theres less risk although I think i would rather be put fully out. The last time i had blood taken a few months ago (last appointment) i fainted twice after it lol. I have no idea why. The nurses seemed convinced that it was because i was scared of needles but im not at all.. and i wasnt scared that i would hurt, the slight prick doesnt bother me at all but the feeling i get after it i go really pale and weak then pass out and it happened twice within 5 mins. Also passed out the last time i had a cervical cancer vaccine at school.. about 5 mins after the injection which i was fine with the whole way through and then i suddenly got really hot and dizzy and stood up to go over to a mat to lie down and fainted.. in front of all the girls in my year lol but i spose with a colonoscopy looming its not the most embarrassing thing that can happen . It would also point towards me being scared of needles but i have no fear of them at all im well used to it, now im just scared of what i will feel like after it.

Not looking foward to it but hopefully something useful will come out of it.
xx

Hi KB1! Looks like you have gotten a lot of good advice, so i just wanted to welcome you to the forum!

Thanks Joan for describing your experience with endometriosis. I've been having a lot of problems lately and will bring up the possibility of something like this with my Dr next week.