Crohn’s can be extremely tricky to diagnose, especially when symptoms first appear as they can be pretty mild. Like many people who suffer from an IBD, it was only after a multiple doctors’ appointments, misdiagnoses and many A&E trips that I finally got diagnosed in April 2013. Unfortunately, things went extremely downhill within a space of five months and I am lucky enough to be still alive today. By the way this will be quite long, so please be patient as it is about 10 years’ worth of important information going into this.
How it all began....
It all started when I was in my early teens, I was around 12 years old at the time and I had started bleeding so, I told my mum and she thought I had started my monthly cycles. So, mum explained everything and showed me what all I had to do etc. and left me to it. Looking back now it was not the cause, I was under stress at school due to being bullied from near enough day 1 of secondary school due to the fact that I was slightly plump at that time and for being smart.
Then as time went on I just did not feel like myself so, I was in and out of seeing my GP for blood tests for numerous things. The most common thing that they had found was deficiencies especially my iron, so they kept putting it down to anaemia. The doctors back then had always put it down to my monthly cycles to decrease the iron levels to where they were, so I was constantly given iron supplements until my diagnosis. Back then I had similar symptoms to Crohn's Disease but mainly pointed at the anaemia, such as; lack of energy, fatigue, pale complexion and hair loss, this was why they overlooked the Crohn's.
It was when I was 14/15 years old I kept coming down with a stomach bug every couple of weeks during the school holidays and my mum did not think anything different as most of my family had similar illnesses at the time. However, I was in more pain than what they were all in. Around this time, I was also told I had depression and a deficiency in my B vitamins. One doctor told me to think positively in school and ignore the bullies as the stress had lowered my B vitamin levels and told me to take supplements, which was of no use as things got worse in school and I could not cope with the bullying any more. So, back to the doctors I went again as my mum took me back as I was not my usual self and she thought my iron levels had dropped again, which they had but instead of coming out with just supplements, I was prescribed anti-depressants as well. The anti-depressants was only prescribed at this age due to me trying all other methods of help first i.e. counselling.
During the summer holidays when I was 16 years old, I got lumps all over my legs, that looked similar to insect bites but, with no bite marks, and changed in a ray of colours over a space of approximately 2-4weeks starting off at red, purple, blue, black, yellow and then green. The pharmacist had said they were insect bites and told me to go see my GP for a special cream to stop me from scratching at them as they were extremely itchy at the time. These lumps kept appearing and disappearing right up to my diagnoses every 4-6months. I had other symptoms such as, fatigue, lack of energy, appetite, slight weight loss and frequent but urgent running to the toilet. This was all put down to an allergic reaction to the insect bites and the extremely hot weather.
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| My legs looked something similar to this when I was told it was insect bites. |
At this time, I had just started my first ever job with the company I still happen to be working for today and awaiting my GCSE results. Why I was panicking over my results back then I do not know as I had worked extremely hard for all of my 8 subjects and got all good grades.
When I started Sixth form things got worse as I continued with the loss of appetite, fatigue and weight loss. It got that bad my mum physically dragged me to the doctors and they put it down to stress of my A-Levels and anaemia. So, out I can with yet more iron supplements. Things still stayed the same for the 2 years of Sixth form and the doctors could not find out what the cause of my anaemia was.
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| My lovely iron tablets looked like this but it was an endless pile. |
Also the lumps had reappeared and they were so bad, luckily at the time I had a broken tail bone and was allowed to wear my school tracksuit bottoms instead of my skirt and tights as anything rubbing up against my skin had me screaming in pain. So, my doctor had tested me for all the allergies possible without seeing an allergy specialist and all had come back clear apart from the lactose intolerance which I had known from when I was a child, so they ruled out pet and animal allergies, food allergies and coeliac disease. Back to square one again which was what the doctor had said.
Once starting University in 2010, everything had settled for a while, which I was relieved as I was near breaking point due to all the supplements after supplements and also being attacked by the vampires who came after endless blood samples. But as time went on and second year of the degree started everything started again, lumps, loss of appetite, extreme fatigue and some more weight loss. My mum put it down to the stress of finding a placement for third year, which was extremely hard to find a decent business in hospitality where I lived in the recession as most places were closing their doors as they could not afford to stay open. Thankfully my manager at the time had agreed to take me on under her wing to train me up as a decent hospitality manager. It was about a quarter of the way through the year that I had started to notice my symptoms getting worse and everyone was saying it was because I was working too hard in the gym, not eating enough or being in work too much (this last one was what my mum kept saying). But what they did not know was that it was not any of these that was causing the problem, but it was the start of a massive flare up with the Crohn's Disease.
In August 2012, I had a bad cough for about 3 weeks so, I went to see the doctor and he was not my normal doctor so, he thought it was my asthma playing up and said if it was still there in a week to come back again. A week later I had went back with the same problem and was given a dose of antibiotics. That did not clear it up so 3 more doses was given after the first and it eventually cleared it up. With the constant use of the antibiotics over a month my symptoms got slightly worse.
At the end of October, my Area Manager had come to see everyone in my unit saying that there was an important staff meeting and everyone must attend. That was when we all got the bad news that the unit was closing down. We were all given the choice to transfer to another unit in England but, most of the staff had families all set up and did not wish to leave. Due to my placement terms I had to look for another place as soon as possible to finish my year and I had only done 5 months in that unit. I had started looking elsewhere but everywhere had said not a chance. So, I contacted my Area Manager and asked could I apply for the position in Manchester. I had to go through the whole procedure again of the interview etc. which did not help one bit as I was told differently on the day we were told my unit was no longer trading. It had took 3 weeks to get an interview and everything sorted out in Manchester and I had started to deteriorate even more.
By the time I had set myself up in Manchester and left my family behind near 300miles away I had lost a stone and a bit. I was sleeping most of the day, rarely eating, was severely anaemic, drinking gallons of anything but mainly energy drinks like Lucozade and also mochas. When I had been eating, I only ate soups, bread, pasta, cereal and Super Noodles, this was all I could stomach as the thought of everything else made me feel extremely sick. In December, my right eye had become all blood shot and felt like someone had grabbed it and tried to squeeze it. I had to go to the Emergency eye Clinic at the hospital and it was episcleritis.
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