Carrie81

I am 28 years old and a mother of two. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 06 after months of dealing with chronic diarrhea, bloating, pain and weight loss. After being referred to a Gastro doctor they did a sigmoidoscopy on me the first visit and diagnosed me. I was relieved they found out was was wrong with me but they never explained the seriousness of my disease or the fact that it's not curable! I did much better for awhile after being put of 750 mg's of Colozol and though my symptoms were still there I was able to control them much better. Then in 2008 I had my son. My pregnancy was fairly easy and my Colitis was not very active throughout it. I ended up having him prematurly and that is when my problems really began. Just days after havinghim my mouth filled up with ulcers and it was so painful I could hardly talk or eat. Weeks after that I began getting strange sores and an infection in my finger that came out of nowhere. I felt like I had HIV or something! It was one thing after another that didn't even seem to be related to my Colitis and the doctors who saw me didn't see the connection either. I became so ill and so dehydrated my colitis began to severely flare up and I ended up in the hospital. Even still mt symptoms seem to be so different and unrelated to each other it took the doctors some time to realize this was all caused by my Ulcerative Colitis! I was then put on steroids. I was never explained the side effects I would endure from this drug. I really struggled with it on top of struggling with recovering at home with and infant and a 4 year old. The steroids left me feeling out of body and shaky. not to mention the moon face I soon got! But on the upside they did eventually help me feel better and allow me to put weight back on since I was eating all the time! After being on them for about 3 1/2 months I finally was able to get off of them. Then that following May I begun to get sick again. After battling it for weeks I was put on steroids but they did not seem to help. I ended up in the hospital again and the IV steroids did the trick. I spent most of my summer recoverying and was healthy for most of summer and fall. Then this past November it began again. I got a tooth infection that seemed to set it all off. I opted to have the tooth removed to prevent it from happening again. But some things were already set in motion. I ended up being sick on and off and had to have another sigmoidoscopy where they determined I was inflamed from a flare up. I began feeling slightly better and wanted to wait it out a bit before having to resort to steroids again. I was doing a little better when my entire family came down with the flu including me. I took much longer to recover and this also made me get what I thought was a hemmroid which gave me severe pain. It was so bad I had to go to Urgent and they told me I needed surgery on it as it was thrombosed. Well it ended up being a fissure after all and I did have surgery on it. The anastesia was too strong for the surgery and I ended up vomiting twice during the procedure and woke up with no voice and feeling like something was down my throat. I was sick for days afterwards and still in severe pain. I have not been well since the surgery and I can't say that it was at all beneficial as I am still having the pain for the fissure as my Colitis has acted up since the surgery. I am trying to eat much more carefully and rest when I can which is hard with two kids at home and not much help! I am trying so hard to avoid steriods again but know I might have to give in as I want to avoid the hospital even more! I am now on two different drugs daily. Colazol and mercaptopurine but they don't seem to be enough. Looking into remicade and would love for anyone who has experience with this drug to let me know what they can about it. I just want to be healthy and have the energy I once had. I cannot remember what it is like to just feel normal and not have to think about this disease. They say Colitis and Crohns are two of the loneliest diseases a person can have and I believe it. No one wants to talk about their bowls and no one who doesn't have the disease can truly understand just how hard it is to have it.