Hello Everyone!

Hi! I'm new to the forum. I was recently diagnosed at the end of July, and have had noticeable symptoms since May. Probably have been having milder symptoms since February, and didn't think much of it.

I ignored the symptoms/pain for a month, thinking it would just go away on its own. It got so bad, I couldn't stand it, and went to Urgent Care. The doctor there was very worried, and ordered a bunch of tests and gave me some antibiotics. If I remember correctly, those antibiotics made me so sick, I kept throwing up for a couple of days. My new primary doctor immediately emailed me after she looked over the results. (I hadn't even met her face-to-face yet.) She referred me to a gastroenterologist, and told me to try out a diet in the meantime. That diet made me feel worse.

I went through a bunch more tests, and my new gastro (as I like to shorten it...) said I needed to have a colonoscopy/endoscopy down my throat immediately. It was scheduled for the week after we first met. I was 30 at the time (I just turned 31), and it seemed scary. The laxative they gave me was vile. I couldn't keep it down, had to get an anti-nausea med, and try it all over again. Only managed to get close to half of it down. But, my symptoms were so bad, I was already cleared out. They found a bunch of ulcers in my colon (they looked beautiful, even though I knew it wasn't a good thing), it was very red around them, and parts of my stomach and duodenum were also affected. Those parts of my stomach and duodenum didn't seem nearly as bad, though.

My gastro had diagnosed me at the time as having Crohn's. Almost everything (the tests, the colonoscopy, the symptoms, etc.) has pointed to Crohn's. The only thing that hasn't was an IBD blood test that pointed towards Ulcerative Colitis. She said that the test can come back with false positives. She's being careful about it, but still thinks it's Crohn's.

I apparently have some malabsorption issues, too. For one thing, I know I'm not absorbing enough protein. Had a whole layer of hair come out, my nails are weird, etc. I normally didn't eat enough of it to begin with. I'm hoping to talk to a nutritionist about it in the future.

One of my cousins' kids has it. They live on the other side of the country, but occasionally my cousin will pipe in on facebook when I post how I'm doing. I only know one person who has it that lives close to me. I've known her for most of my life, and didn't know she had it until she messaged me on facebook. We got together once in October and talked like crazy about it. Hope to see her again soon. Wish there were more people I knew who lived around me that have it. I'm still trying to get my head around the 'disease' part. Also, still scared about it all. Not as much as before I was diagnosed, though. The unknown can be scarier.

Welcome to the group. I am sorry that you have this disease. Are you on any kind of probiotic? I am and I was told that when I go on antibiotic to double up on the probiotic. Concerning the diet that you wereut on, try keeping a food diary and see what foods you have a negative response to and avoid. This is a forum you can always come to.

Welcome to the forum. Hopefully you're on medication, you want to get those ulcers healed up before they turn into something worse. I went to a nutritionist a few times myself. Protein is one of my problems, you could try adding peanut butter and nut butters to the menu. It can be scary at first, you can go through the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

Thanks @Tuff and @ronroush7. I was only on the antibiotic for a few days. I was supposed to be on it for a full week, but it made me too sick. Ended up feeling a lot better without it in my system. I might still look into probiotics. I think I was on them after being hospitalized twice. My flora and fauna were wiped out afterwards, and my doctor at the time suggested it. Those 2 times at the hospital weren't related to my IBD. At least, that I know of. I had a horrible case of pneumonia, and the following year had 60x the normal clotting factor (clots in every air sac in my lungs, too). That was several years ago. But, I remember the doctors at the time telling me my gut stuff will never be the same because of all the meds they pumped me with.

I've been trying to keep track of what I eat. For some reason, I can't seem to pinpoint my 'trigger foods', though. I think I have problems with corn, and beef summer sausage. But, I know there must be others...

I'm currently on balsalazide and azathioprine. They had me on 9 huge pills a day of the balsalazide basically as soon as I woke up from the colonoscopy. I'm down to 6, and my gastro might ease me off of it. I'm up to 3 pills a day for azathioprine (been on it since August), and have noticed that I get sick more often. Like, I got a nasty cold a week after upping the dosage. I normally only get sick like that once or twice a year, so I'm not used to it. I know it's an immunosuppressant, but it still surprised me. Kind of have to be more careful with it. (The meds can be scary, too.) I know that my inflammation, or the test results that indicate it, has gone down considerably. But, it's still not 'normal'.

For a while, until our refrigerator broke down last week, I was trying my best to add more protein for the time being. Adding chicken breakfast sausage, having canned sardines, peanut butter sandwiches, more lunch meat, eggs, oatmeal, etc. I felt a bit better, but it's harder now without a refrigerator. I'll figure out something temporarily, though. My hair luckily stopped falling out, but my nails are still weird, and I still have other symptoms with not absorbing enough. (My gastro was the one that said I probably have malabsorption problems, and it might be more than just with protein.) So, I guess I have quite a lot to bring up when I talk to a nutritionist.

For a couple of months, I also ignored this entirely. (Except I still went to get my blood tests.) After feeling major pain in my right abdomen that traveled to my back and up into my chest one night, I decided to get back to educating myself, being more aware of it, messaging my gastro about what I'm more concerned with, looking for a forum, etc. I'm not sure if I'll ever get to the point where I 'accept' it, though.

I wish you the best.

Welcome to forum , i hope you get better soon.

You could try keeping a food diary. The weird nails could be a vitamin deficiency, have you had yours tested? My nails had grooves in them, until my doctor put me on vitamins. Eventually you'll figure out a routine that works for you. For me, staying on a low residue diet is still necessary. I don't digest food like I used to.