Ps-crohn's&ibs-henry-

CROHN’S DISEASE and IBS
Accepting the Journey to a Happier Gut – and Soul ”My gut troubles all started at camp in the summer of 2006.
ologist diagnosed Megan with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).
For three years I was in and out of different doctors, constantly Megan started taking a drug to calm and regulate her bowel, complaining, having different tests done, and not getting she ate extra fibre and she eliminated bothersome foods any answers.“ The Gut Gazette, Megan’s blog chronicling her like dairy, refined sugar and chocolate from her diet.
struggle with digestive problems, begins with this entry.
Despite the changes, Megan still wasn’t feeling great when Megan was 16 and just beginning her last summer at camp she started university in the fall. “I had more good days when she first noticed diarrhea and abdominal pain. ”It felt than bad, but I still wasn’t 100%. There wasn’t much I could like a knife, stabbing into my upper right side,” Megan eat from the residence cafeteria, which was hard. Luckily, describes. ”I really missed out on the fun. I couldn’t even I had a single room right across the hall from the bathroom!“ stand up straight. I just curled into a ball on my bed.” The camp nurse recommended more fibre in Megan’s diet, but it A few months later, Megan’s gastroenterologist performed didn’t help. Megan’s stomach pain escalated throughout the several tests – a colonoscopy, gastroscopy and a small bowel day, sapping her energy and appetite. ”It was an awful two follow-through (SBFT) – to examine and xray Megan’s weeks at camp. I couldn’t eat much of anything – not even intestine. The tests revealed four small ulcers on the lining of Megan’s small intestine and she was diagnosed with mild At home, Megan talked to her family doctor about her Crohn’s disease. Megan switched to more powerful stomach problems and another concern – abnormal and medications and she avoided drinking alcohol. “People think skipped periods. “We were trying to figure both things out, it’s a bit weird that I don’t drink,“ Megan says. “But I can’t so I just lived with my stomach problems all through Grade – it feels like rubbing alcohol splashing on an open wound.“ 11. But every day it was getting worse,” Megan recalls. “I Now living off-campus in her second year at an Ontario university, Megan is gaining control over her condition, both Megan started missing school. When she was at school, she physically and emotionally. Megan takes mesalamine (for worried about being singled out for her constant bathroom bowel inflammation), amitriptyline (for pain) and she trips. ”I got really nervous for assemblies,” Megan admits. ”I experiments with a combination of diet, exercise and stress- didn’t want to get up and run out in front of everyone. I relieving yoga to help control her symptoms. “I eliminate didn’t have the greatest high-school experience anyways – it trigger foods,“ Megan says, “And my room-mates are really was stressful for me and the stomach stuff just made everything open to make ’Megan-friendly’ meals.“ Megan practices so much worse.” With help from her mom and a social worker, pilates and Hatha yoga to stretch and strengthen her muscles, Megan learned how to handle the stresses of high-school, but her diarrhea and pain didn’t improve. So, Megan’s aunt, relieve stomach cramps and improve digestion.
a family doctor, urged Megan to see a specialist.
Megan also finds support through the university’s Centre Almost two years after her first symptoms, a gastroenter- for Students with Disabilities (CSD). “I used to worry about PERSONAL STORIES – CROHN’S DISEASE and IBS
my stomach and diarrhea during exams,“ Megan says. “Now, I have my own exam room with a bathroom nearby and I Almost half of IBD patients have additional health issues can get up as many times as I need to. My last two midterms affecting their joints, skin, eyes, and biliary tract that may were the best exams I’ve ever written! And if I’m sick with be more debilitating than the bowel symptoms. Malnutrition a flare-up, someone will even take class notes for me.“ and blood disorders are common conditions in IBD patients.
Through her advisor, Megan learned that she is not alone – The majority of Crohn’s disease patients will require 22 other students with Crohn’s and colitis are registered with hospitalization at some point and more than half will the CSD. “That’s when I decided to start a digestive disorders support group at school,“ Megan says. “I’ve planned the first meeting and advertised it across campus. A huge place in IBS is a benign, chronic problem that does not lead to cancer my heart has opened up to spread awareness and share with or any permanent damage to the bowel. Symptoms may wax and wane, getting better and worse at certain times. For some individuals, symptoms do get progressively better.
Blogging in The Gut Gazette is another process to help Megan heal. “I used to cry when I talked about my IBS and Crohn’s with family and friends,“ Megan says. “But that’s Many of the symptoms of IBD are similar. The most common changed. Now, I’m totally open. Through the blog world I’ve symptom of ulcerative colitis is bloody diarrhea. There may discovered cool tips, recipes and ideas for digestive health.
also be weight loss, fatigue, fever and abdominal pain. The And I write about what works best for me – for my symptoms.
most common symptoms of Crohn’s disease are abdominal Hopefully, it can help someone else. I’ve accepted that this pain (often in the right, lower area of the abdomen) and condition is my journey – a journey towards a happier gut diarrhea. There may also be rectal bleeding, weight loss and fever. Symptoms outside the gut may include aching, sore joints, skin and mouth sores and red, inflamed eyes.
People with IBS may experience a variety of symptoms including abdominal pain related to their bowel movements and an irregular bowel pattern that results in constipation, diarrhea or diarrhea alternating with constipation. Other symptoms may include heartburn, nausea, gas, bloating Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists principally of two cramps, and mucus present around or within the stools.
separate disorders, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, that cause inflammation (redness and swelling) and ulceration (sores) of the small and large intestines. Canada has one of Have I experienced a new onset or change in symptoms the highest incidence and prevalence rates of IBD in the world, with more than 200,000 Canadians living with the Do I have rectal bleeding or dark red blood mixed in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), is a chronic, gastrointestinal disorder. Those affected may experience recurrent abdominal pain and irregular bowel patterns that are often painful.
If you answered yes to any of the above, you should speak Five million Canadians suffer from IBS with 120,000 Canadians developing this digestive disorder each year. IBS affects Over 20 million Canadians suffer from digestive I want to donate to the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation disorders every year. The Canadian Digestive Please accept my donation to support:
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Source: http://cdhf.biz/bank/document_en/35-accepting-the-journey-to-a-happier-gut-and-soul.pdf