IBD and Depression

Some symptoms of Crohn’s can also be signs of depression.  The crossover symptoms can include several manifestations of both body and mind.  Crohn’s disease does not directly cause depression however symptoms of depression are interrelated with the illness.  Crohn’s can sometimes magnify the symptoms of depression just like depression can magnify the symptoms of Crohn’s.

With symptoms being interrelated it can prove difficult sometimes to get a correct diagnosis and then get the correct help either from a therapist or counsellor or a gastroenterologist.

When you are displaying any number of the symptoms below it is best to go and speak to someone like a GP or if you have an IBD team to speak to them.

·         Loss of appetite

·         Unintentional weight loss

 ·         Difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep

·         Enduring fatigue ranging from weariness to exhaustion

·         Trouble concentration or memory problems

·         Loss of interest in former pleasures

·         Persistent anxiety

·         Irritability or even belligerence toward others

·         Feelings of guilt

·         Feeling helpless, hopeless, useless and worthless

Among these symptoms there is a domino effect that weight loss usually follows appetite loss and sleep loss follows by loss of energy and concentration.

Moping about

Sadness over situations is very normal in cases of chronic illnesses and pain but we all have to move forward at some point as it is important to move on.  If you do not try to move on it can lead to isolation.  Try your best no to put too many limitations on yourself such as, avoiding activities to the point you become housebound.  Try your best to be a participant instead of a bystander or an onlooker.

It is very important to remember you are much more than the sum of your symptoms you are dealing with every day, you always have choices and it starts with how you react to your disease.

I know from personal experience that it can be hard to see the bigger picture but every flare up does pass.  When you are at your lowest point try to plan something to look forward to or spoil yourself like plan a movie day or buy yourself a bunch of flowers or a bath bomb. By choosing an activity it is to help lift your mood and help you feel a bit better about yourself.  By making some changes it can help alter your attitude over time and help make a healthy emotional outlook.  If you do need extra help please seek professional help from your GP or a counsellor either to speak to them or if you think anti-depressants are the right thing for you.

When living with a low support network with Crohn’s can be particularly depressing and can usually feed your depressive thoughts especially when you are struggling.  Give yourself a break and allow yourself some time to regroup.  Allow your body to rest.

Connecting with others in a support network can be vital to successfully manage your Crohn’s and depression.  Besides local groups there are chat rooms, Facebook and other methods to connect to a community.  Within your support network either in a community or to a close family member or friend you should encourage yourself to open up and reveal your concerns and feelings.  You should try to share both your struggles and also your triumphs.  Some people find that giving support helps elevate their mood and help them feel good about themselves.  One thing that helps me the most is writing this blog as I know a lot of people across the world read it and many people can benefit from something within my
blog.

I live with both anxiety and depression.  Most days are a struggle but when I am struggling the most I have friends who understand and help me through it.  They may be close by like my friend who is like a little sister to me or they could be miles away behind a laptop or phone talking to me on Facebook.  But having them there is the most important thing as they know how to calm me down out of one of my episodes as some of my bad days I am constantly having dark thoughts.  Without my friends or my daughter I do not know where I would be now as they are who gets me through the day thick or thin.

The Diagnosis....

Just before March 2013 all I could stomach was soups, liquids and Super Noodles. Just before I went home for a week I had went to the doctors as I was not feeling well, this time it was a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) but they thought it was so bad that it was near my kidneys. So I was put on a course of antibiotics. When I went home to see my family and friends during the first week of March all I got was are you eating properly or are you taking laxatives. The answer was no to both.

My food for the majority of 6months before my diagnosis.

I had lost just under 4 stone at the time. When I came back I still had the UTI but was feeling dizzy and faint. Within a space of two weeks I had visited the Accident and Emergency 3 times. The first time I was put on a fluid drip and send home with yet more antibiotics. The second time I was hooked up to an ECG machine and sent home with nothing but told to rest up and take it easy. On the third time it was a student doctor that had said that I was at all not well and should not be sent home like the previous times, as I had hardly any strength to even stand up on my own and I was being sick.

At this stage I had lost just under 4.5 stone and the student doctor said either ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. I am glad he was there that day or I would probably have still not been diagnosed or either no longer here as I had been getting heart palpitations and he had said it was a sign my body was either shutting down or could not cope no more with the rapid weight loss. The third time of being in A&E I was transferred up to the Acute Medical short stay ward. In the morning I was moved to the Acute Medical Ward for Gastro and Liver care as there was a bed free for me.

In the Gastro and Liver ward I was poked and prodded for 4 weeks. Within the first two weeks I had lost more weight just bringing it to just under 5 stone in total. My consultant and his junior doctors had helped to gather all the information from me and came to a conclusion it was more like Crohn's disease than ulcerative colitis. The only reason which lead to make their decision was the numerous blood tests they had done and all of them showed different vitamin and mineral deficiencies. I was put on a number of different IV drips to boost my vitamins and minerals which I was deficient in. During my stay in the hospital I had a number of tests done to try and see what was wrong with me such as, ultrasound of my liver, kidneys and stomach, endoscopy, colonoscopy and MRI.

My home for just over 4weeks.

For the Ultrasound I was not allowed to eat anything for 6hours before the scan so, they could get a better picture of what was going on. The endoscopy, colonoscopy and MRI I had to drink a disgusting laxative which had made me sick. But because I could not keep it down they had it changed to another one which went down a bit easier but closer to the test times I was really sick so they had to give me fluid through a drip and a paracetamol drip as I was in so much pain.

When they were carrying out the endoscopy they could only find mouth ulcers and ulcers at the back of my throat which was what was causing it painful to swallow anything. In the colonoscopy they had found a lot of ulceration and inflammation in my large bowel. But the consultant said where I was getting my pain in my stomach would not be caused by where they found the Crohn's disease so he ordered a MRI scan to see if it was in my small bowel. After these procedures he had said it was definitely Crohn's disease but he wanted to see how far it had spread. He had also said something about getting put on a drip when I returned to the ward but I was not paying much attention as I had been heavily sedated and was drifting in and out. I cannot even remember getting back into my bed on the ward but I was told that I was helped back into bed as I was near enough fast asleep. I was woken up to be told my dinner had arrived but I fell back to sleep as the sedation had not worn off by that time. It was near midnight I had woken up again but because I was slightly hungry and extremely weak so, I asked for some toast and butter and Lucozade. One of the nurses actually went to the canteen to get me the Lucozade as I could just about make it to the toilet without any assistance so, they did not want to risk letting me go on my own to the canteen. Once I got some food into me I felt a bit better. The next morning I was put on antibiotic and steroid drips for 4days. On the fourth day the plaster over the cannula made my skin come out in an allergic rash so, the nurse asked the doctor could it be taken out and be put on my course of tablet antibiotics and steroids a day early. Thankfully they said yes cause no matter who puts the cannulas in makes me come out in massive bruises. I had also been started on azathioprine as well at 100mg as the dosage goes by the weight of the patient. Also my consultant was unsure of whether or not to start me on humira but would make the definite decision when he got the results back from the MRI scan.
 
A week after my endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures I got disturbed eating my breakfast which I had stolen off the breakfast cart before they started doing the rounds at 8.15am, I was rushed down to the MRI scan. It was a complete waste of time eating my breakfast as I was given more of the disgusting laxatives which I was to drink within an hour before my slot. A few days later I was told that the Crohn's had not yet spread to the small bowel. This was a good thing as he had decided not to start the humira just yet.