At 16, I was finally diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease after years of consistent symptoms. My family took me to specialist after specialist to try to find a cause for my frequent “stomach upset” and chronic vomiting, but we never got an answer until my symptoms became so severe they almost killed me.
When I was 15, I had my first full-on IBD attack. I use the word attack vs. flare because that’s what it felt like. It happened frighteningly fast. I lost control of my bowels and was passing nothing but blood and mucus, in addition to the Exorcist-style vomiting that left me dangerously dehydrated. It wasn’t until a year later, when I started passing blood again that I had a series of tests that diagnosed me with severe Ulcerative Colitis. Continue reading →