Hello everyone, my name is Amanda, I am 20 years old and have recently been diagnosed with Crohn's disease. My aunty has crohn's disease but I never once thought it was something I could have which meant a lot of tears and tantrums when I was told by the doctor of the diagnosis. I was immediately started on Asacol tablets but stopped taking these after a month as my consultant felt they weren't working. I am now on my last week of a 6 week weaning dose of Prednisolone which I have hated every second of taking. They made me feel like I had had 20 Vodkas and I have gained a considerable amount of weight which has really effected my confidence. At my last consultant appointment they mentioned starting me on Azathioprine after the steroids which I am a bit apprehensive about but I think that is due to not fully understanding what the tablets are doing, can anybody help with this? Although I have been given leaflets and information about Crohn's disease I still feel like I have a million questions which I do not know the answer to. Ironically I have been given the topic of Crohn's to research for a university assignment and have scared myself reading some of the information such as 50-80% of patients will eventually require surgery, how many of you have had surgery? This prospect scares me because although I don't particularly feel like I have had serious flare ups I don't fully understand what can lead to a patient needing surgery. I am due to see my consultant again on the 1st of Feb but always seems to come out of my appointments with more questions that what I went in with.