Intro:
Army guy here.
In May 2014, I had a very weird BM. It was normal in the beginning, but followed by a sludge of blood and mucus. From then on I started having crazy urges to use the restroom, and even soiled myself a few times. I finally went to the doctor a couple weeks later, and he ran some tests to check if it was bacterial. All came back negative.
A couple weeks later I had the flu. My fever was causing me to see hallucinations. I went back to the doc a couple weeks after that incident to ask if the two were related. He referred me to IM. IM scheduled me for a colonoscopy a couple months out.
Colonoscopy came back normal and I was diagnosed with IBS. I still had issues, and started taking an anti-depressant for my symptoms.
Fast-forward to July 2015, my symptoms got worse. Negative blood results, positive stool sample. Visual colitis during colonoscopy confirmed with biopsy results.
Doc told me I have mild ibd. Upper GI series in a couple days to see if there’s inflammation anywhere else.
Some more details:
I’m a pretty boring person. I like music and sports.
Symptoms:
Burning stools, cramps, weight loss, nausea…
Army with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
I’ve scoured though the internet since I was diagnosed last week. It seems like I’ll be kicked out of the military in a relatively short time period.
The great thing is that my civilian referral diagnosed me, so I have some time before the Army will see the results.
At a crossroads and don’t really know what’s going to happen. I would appreciate to chat with some other current service members or vets that have gone through or are going through the med board process.
Outside of my career, I don’t really mind too much about being diagnosed. I’m glad my case is mild, and that my docs are actively trying to get me into remission. I’m interested in finding out what foods make me tick, and if I’ll have to cut out all alcohol from my diet.
One neat thing I found is that I can’t eat raw vegetables. I used to love salads, but now I stay far away. They give me the worst gas, diarrhea, and cramping.
A part of me does worry about the increased risk of colo-rectal cancer, but it’s great that all the colonoscopies we get will help catch it sooner than later.
This is my first time being sick with anything. I’ve been pretty lucky growing up. No broken bones. I usually only get a cold once a year, if that.
It’s pretty daunting to me that the medication for ibd has to be taken every day for the rest of my life. I’m going to look into natural supplements to replace some of the medication. I’m not a big nature guy, but it just doesn’t seem natural and healthy for my body to have to process medication every day.
Medications:
Delzicol pill and enema. Uceris.
written by Anony Mous
submitted in the colitis venting area
