Distressed in Dayton, OH

Introduction:

I am a 28 year old female from Ohio that was just diagnosed with UC April 2012. I am currently in the process of finding a better GI doc.

Symptoms:

My symptoms I currently have are but not limited to…… abdominal cramps, abdominal area feels like it has its own heartbeat, bloody stools, exhausted, burning pain in base of neck & shoulders, back pain, headaches, nausea, jumps in B/P.

My Story:

My experience with being diagnosed with UC is a challenge all in its own plus the symptoms of the disease. I am a 28 yr old college student and bartender. The day I was diagnosed…… I had been experiencing back and neck pain and thought I may of slept wrong. I went to work that night and got some stomach pain which I thought were period cramps. As the night went on, the pain in my stomach grew more intense and as that did back pain came with it. The stomach pain got so painful I was in sweats, pale, calmy to touch, and thought a BM would help resolve the issue. I had 4 BM’s and nothing changed. I came home and had another BM that wasn’t really a BM at all because it was nothing but pure bright red blood. That took me to the ER. At the ER I was given heprin shots in the stomach, blood work, SB capsule endoscopy, colonoscopy and ultrasound. Then I was told that I have UC…… if that news didn’t shake me a bit then the reason for why I h ad it really upset me. The doctor I was given told me that this was all caused by my binge drinking! I do not drink on a weekly basis or even a monthly one at that. I guess he assumed that was the cause because I am young, college student & a bartender. I was so pissed after I kept explaining these facts to him but no matter what I said his response, “if it came from a grain or a grape, you should leave it alone”. My mom has UC, and there is abdominal cancer that runs in the family and the best thing this so called doctor could come up with is that it was from alcohol. Even against my better judgement I went to see this “so called doc” for my follow up 2 weeks after getting out of hospital. It was fact that I had the ulcers from the colonoscopy, he said SM capsule looked good for most but there was inflammation where small bowel goes into the large & it was also caused by alcohol. I asked, should I change my diet? his response was not to eat yellow cheeses and to quit drinking.

WHAT????

I dont think I have ever experienced

someone in the medical profession

that is that insensitive to another person.

I have an appointment next week to meet with another GI doc and I pray to god that they are not bias like the last. Since getting out of the hospital I have had flare ups 2-3 times a week from dealing with the stress from this bias doctor as well as life in general. I am tired all the time, at times cant get comfortable in any position from the joint pains, feel I spend half my life in the bathroom now, and cant help from crying some days from the pain.

I am most concerned about trying to get the flare ups a little more under control. My resting heart rate and blood pressure spikes during a flare up (HR-121, B/P 140/95) which is a weird feeling since I feel wired & so tired at the same time. The medications I currently take are sulfazine and bentyl. As of today I also got med’s for anxiety to help with the stress.
How can I get these flare ups under control??

What are some things to do to help with the joint pains?

Where I’d Like to be in 1 Year:

In a year I would like to have the flare ups semi undercontrol, might be wishful thinking but to once a month. I would also like to get the joint pain down to were I can still at least function. I am half way through my program to be a respiratory therapist and don’t want to give up my dream because I couldn’t find a happy medium with the disease.

Colitis Medications:

Since I was diagnosed last month I have been taking Sulfazine and bentyl. I don’t think that these medications do alot for me since I have flare ups 2-3 times a week.

written by Jessica

submitted in the Colitis Venting Area