My Story...the long and short of it...
(27 year old male/Police Officer/Diagnosis: Crohn's Disease)
So, I've battled stomach issues almost my whole life. Back in 2007, I had an upper endsocopy and they found several ulcers in my stomach and esophagus. They shrugged it off and said it was probably just acid reflux. Then over the years, I started to develop problems with my lower Gi tract. I was then told it was IBS. Two and a half years ago, I started getting into long distance running, because I had set a lifelong goal to run a Marathon. I ran the Portland Marathon and completed the entire race. It was amazing. I felt the best I've ever felt in my life.
However, overtime, my diarrhea would get worse and worse. Especially when I'd run. Most people just told me I had the runner's trots. But it seemed much more worse than that.
In October 2014, I went for a 7 mile run after I got off work. I had severe diarrhea. When I got home, I went to bed. I woke up approximately 15 times to go to the bathroom and found large amounts of blood in the toilet. I went to the Emergency Room and they ran a series of tests, including a CT scan. It showed obvious colitis in my colon. They told me to follow up with my primary care physician. About a week later, I did. I was then referred to a Gastroenterologist.
I had a colonoscopy and it didn't show much. It showed some nodules or inflamed lymph-nodes at my terminal ileum. Biopsies were collected. The pathology report showed active colitis and healing ulcers in my colon, especially around my terminal ileum.
I was put on Prednisone. However, I was never officially diagnosed with anything other than some unexplained colitis. My symptoms seemed to worsen. My abdominal pain became unbearable. I developed mucus drainage problems. I had mouth sores, especially on my tongue. My eyes were inflamed and I had terrible night sweats.
I was given Flagyl, Lomotil, Bentyl...you name it, I've had it. I then had a Barium CT scan. It showed lots of inflamed lymph-nodes around my small intestines. The Dr still wouldn't make a diagnosis. He then had a capsule endoscopy done. The report came back as showing nothing.
As my symptoms seemed to worsen, I wouldn't give up and kept bugging them. I finally had a special blood test done that was sent away to be tested. My DNA that was tested, showed I was positive for an Inflammatory Bowel Disease. However, it didn't specify Crohn's or UC.
My Dr then discovered a Fistula on my anus. After taking all the pieces of the puzzle and putting them together, he finally made up his mind and diagnosed me with Crohn's.
I was prescribed Humira. My body rejected it and I had a bad reaction. It caused severe liver problems and fluid build up around my lungs, that caused me to have difficulty breathing.
I went back for more follow up and he took me off Humira. He then scheduled me for an upper endoscopy. The results showed that the disease had progressed to my stomach and duodenum area. I had severe deep ulcers and erosions that were clearly visible. The pathology report also supported the visual findings.
So, the Dr seemed more confident in his diagnosis after upper endoscopy results. He has now put me on 40 MG daily of Prednisone with no plan yet of a tapper off.
I'm still in severe pain, not only in my lower abdomen, but in my stomach area as well. My symptoms haven't improved, they seem worse. I don't know how long it will take for the 40 MG of Prednisone daily to kick in...but these lovely side effects seem to make everything that much better...NOT!
I've been figuring out what to eat and what not to eat. I've tried getting back into running, by only small distances and I've been going to the gym. But any serious activity seems to exacerbate things. So, it's like a double edged sword. Do things to try to get better and the body says no!
I'm almost to the point where I feel helpless. I can barely function doing my job. It is almost impossible to be out on the street doing my job while having this disease. I have tried to keep the mindset where I won't let this disease take me. However, it seems to have a strong hold on me and I feel like I am slowly going down.
We all know this disease drains us physically and emotionally, but having to basically undress 10-12 times a shift just to go to the bathroom...it's exhausting. It's not like I can just quickly take off my pants and plop down on the toilet. I have to take off my outer duty belt, my under belt, radio, etc. Then when a call comes in, I have to scramble to put it all back on and make sure I don't forget anything. Doing this over and over in a shift is depressing. I don't even want to be here most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and I've been doing it for seven years. I dedicated my life to this profession. But it seems like if I can't get a grasp on things, I might have to find a different profession and it breaks my heart.
I am not sure where to go from here. I hope there is some glimmer of hope. I had a TPMT test done yesterday. My Dr is talking about putting me on Imuran.
Thanks for reading my story. I appreciate your time and for allowing me a place to share my thoughts and feelings.
(27 year old male/Police Officer/Diagnosis: Crohn's Disease)
So, I've battled stomach issues almost my whole life. Back in 2007, I had an upper endsocopy and they found several ulcers in my stomach and esophagus. They shrugged it off and said it was probably just acid reflux. Then over the years, I started to develop problems with my lower Gi tract. I was then told it was IBS. Two and a half years ago, I started getting into long distance running, because I had set a lifelong goal to run a Marathon. I ran the Portland Marathon and completed the entire race. It was amazing. I felt the best I've ever felt in my life.
However, overtime, my diarrhea would get worse and worse. Especially when I'd run. Most people just told me I had the runner's trots. But it seemed much more worse than that.
In October 2014, I went for a 7 mile run after I got off work. I had severe diarrhea. When I got home, I went to bed. I woke up approximately 15 times to go to the bathroom and found large amounts of blood in the toilet. I went to the Emergency Room and they ran a series of tests, including a CT scan. It showed obvious colitis in my colon. They told me to follow up with my primary care physician. About a week later, I did. I was then referred to a Gastroenterologist.
I had a colonoscopy and it didn't show much. It showed some nodules or inflamed lymph-nodes at my terminal ileum. Biopsies were collected. The pathology report showed active colitis and healing ulcers in my colon, especially around my terminal ileum.
I was put on Prednisone. However, I was never officially diagnosed with anything other than some unexplained colitis. My symptoms seemed to worsen. My abdominal pain became unbearable. I developed mucus drainage problems. I had mouth sores, especially on my tongue. My eyes were inflamed and I had terrible night sweats.
I was given Flagyl, Lomotil, Bentyl...you name it, I've had it. I then had a Barium CT scan. It showed lots of inflamed lymph-nodes around my small intestines. The Dr still wouldn't make a diagnosis. He then had a capsule endoscopy done. The report came back as showing nothing.
As my symptoms seemed to worsen, I wouldn't give up and kept bugging them. I finally had a special blood test done that was sent away to be tested. My DNA that was tested, showed I was positive for an Inflammatory Bowel Disease. However, it didn't specify Crohn's or UC.
My Dr then discovered a Fistula on my anus. After taking all the pieces of the puzzle and putting them together, he finally made up his mind and diagnosed me with Crohn's.
I was prescribed Humira. My body rejected it and I had a bad reaction. It caused severe liver problems and fluid build up around my lungs, that caused me to have difficulty breathing.
I went back for more follow up and he took me off Humira. He then scheduled me for an upper endoscopy. The results showed that the disease had progressed to my stomach and duodenum area. I had severe deep ulcers and erosions that were clearly visible. The pathology report also supported the visual findings.
So, the Dr seemed more confident in his diagnosis after upper endoscopy results. He has now put me on 40 MG daily of Prednisone with no plan yet of a tapper off.
I'm still in severe pain, not only in my lower abdomen, but in my stomach area as well. My symptoms haven't improved, they seem worse. I don't know how long it will take for the 40 MG of Prednisone daily to kick in...but these lovely side effects seem to make everything that much better...NOT!
I've been figuring out what to eat and what not to eat. I've tried getting back into running, by only small distances and I've been going to the gym. But any serious activity seems to exacerbate things. So, it's like a double edged sword. Do things to try to get better and the body says no!
I'm almost to the point where I feel helpless. I can barely function doing my job. It is almost impossible to be out on the street doing my job while having this disease. I have tried to keep the mindset where I won't let this disease take me. However, it seems to have a strong hold on me and I feel like I am slowly going down.
We all know this disease drains us physically and emotionally, but having to basically undress 10-12 times a shift just to go to the bathroom...it's exhausting. It's not like I can just quickly take off my pants and plop down on the toilet. I have to take off my outer duty belt, my under belt, radio, etc. Then when a call comes in, I have to scramble to put it all back on and make sure I don't forget anything. Doing this over and over in a shift is depressing. I don't even want to be here most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and I've been doing it for seven years. I dedicated my life to this profession. But it seems like if I can't get a grasp on things, I might have to find a different profession and it breaks my heart.
I am not sure where to go from here. I hope there is some glimmer of hope. I had a TPMT test done yesterday. My Dr is talking about putting me on Imuran.
Thanks for reading my story. I appreciate your time and for allowing me a place to share my thoughts and feelings.
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