Introduction:
22 year old University student majoring in Information Technology and working 2 part time jobs. Stress has been a major irritant for me so I’ve been trying to relax as much as I can.
Some more about Steve:
I love(d) having fun, drinking, and partying with friends but since my diagnosis it’s been hard to even leave the house. I spend a lot of time at the computer so restroom urgency isn’t as big a deal as the frequency with which I use it but stomach cramps sometimes get so painful I become bedridden.
Symptoms:
loose stool, copious blood in stool, waking up in the middle of the night for the bathroom, loss of appetite and weight.
Busy, Stressed College Student
It’s only been a month and a half since I’ve been ‘diagnosed’ and even that isn’t set in stone yet as you will see:
It all started with light bleeding and minor amounts of loose stool I attributed to poor diet (buffalo chicken nachos are the best) but after another 2 weeks with increasing volume of blood I realized that I needed a colonoscopy. This was ironically the best part of my ordeal thus far, the prep was easy and I felt fine the days following.
Now the downhill shitstorm (no pun intended) begins. They see that the inflammation is throughout my intestine but I still have to wait ~1.5 weeks for my pathology results to be analyzed. Fast forward to me thinking there will be progress made now that the pathology results are in… Wrong again. They half-heartedly refer me to a GI nearby (Concord with Dartmouth) and I don’t hear anything for 2 more weeks. Turns out the GI office snail-mailed a letter telling me to set up an appointment to MY HOME ADDRESS out of state >
As of now I’m stuck in a phone-call war with the two offices and neither of them can acknowledge to the other that I need urgent medical attention :(
I’ve read that this feeling of loneliness is common but it feels so much more solitary away at college – even with friends to help me emotionally. I’m also worried that this was all caused from excessive amounts of stress (33 hours of classes + 25 hours of work = 58 hours of busy time NOT INCLUDING homework).
As far as diet goes I’m sticking to a low-fiber diet with no processed foods but i’m not seeing any monumental changes, I wish there was more of a baseline food plan for UCs.
Thanks for letting me vent… This actually felt pretty good.
Medications:
Prednisone 20mg – haven’t tried anything else because getting a GI appointment is proving to be difficult. Heard it’s supposed to increase the chance of depression but my current depressive state could be related to my loss of physical ability and bowel regularity.
written by Steve
submitted in the colitis venting area
22 year old University student majoring in Information Technology and working 2 part time jobs. Stress has been a major irritant for me so I’ve been trying to relax as much as I can.
