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Crohn's Disease

The Beginning.

By Ann MillerPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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Crohn's Disease
Photo by Daan Stevens on Unsplash

May 4, 2014 is a day I will never forget. I woke up to my 6 kids doing what kids do best, making a mess. As soon as I opened my eyes I knew it was going to be bad day. Headache, stomach pain and that dreadful feeling that I hadn't slept at all. My first thought was great I have the Flu now all the kids are going to get it. Little did I know that was just the beginning of 6 years of hell.

The next few weeks were filled with bloodwork, urine samples, stool samples and unanswered questions. All I did was go to the doctor and go to the bathroom. Everything I ate or drank came up or came out ! I was popping tums for the massive heartburn and Ibuprofen for the pain. I was drinking Gatorade to stay hydrated. Little did I know the Ibuprofen was just making things worse.

It was 6 months before I had my first Colonoscopy and Endoscopy. They found nothing but some inflammation and small erosions in my stomach. All that Ibuprofen I had been taking was literally trying to eat my stomach lining. I stopped taking it and started to just living with the pain. And there was a lot of it !

Over the next year they were pumping me full of steroids for the inflammation and prescription antacids. I tried every diet recommended. No sugar, no gluten and no dairy. None of it worked. I could literally only eat soup and bread. By 2016 I had gone from 200 lbs down to 120 ! I couldn't gain weight because what I could eat didn't stay in my body long enough to absorb. That was a whole other problem that was about to make my life even worse !

There are so many misconceptions about Crohn's Disease. Most people refer to it as a bathroom disease. It is so much more. I have what is known as Crohn's with malabsorption. My body does not absorb nutrients properly. I could eat an entire 4 course meal by myself 3 times a day for a month and not gain a pound. Not for the reason you think. I'm not going to the bathroom to much. My body is just not absorbing the food. If your body does not absorb nutrients from the food you are eating it causes many more health issues that most don't realize are associated with Crohn's. I not only had Crohn's Disease I had low blood sugar, low iron, and was dehydrated. Dehydration caused me to be constantly be fatigued. I was light headed and felt like I was on a continuous rollercoaster. I would lay in bed sometimes all day. Only getting up to eat or go to bathroom. That can make living very difficult. Especially when your a mom.

Being in my late 30's at the time I felt like I was 80. I could barely move and when I did my entire body ached. By 2017 I had been in and out of the ER probably a thousand times. In 2018 the doctor that I was seeing finally found a medicine that my body could function with. I'm allergic to aspirin so finding a medicine to treat my Crohn's proved difficult. I had go through a lengthy process of getting approval from the insurance as well. I had to pay out of pocket for 6 months out of the year until it was approved each time. However, now that we found the medicine that didn't mean it was over.

The medicine took me from going to the bathroom to much to not going enough. I would go an entire week without having a bile movement. That was causing me to have flare ups. For the next 2 years I was having at least one flare up a week. I would sit on the toilet for an hour in horrible pain. Eventually I figured out how to manage the flare ups. Hot showers and a bucket ! Yes a bucket !

WARNING TMI is about to happen. When I felt the flare up coming I would sit on the toilet, take all of my clothes off and wait a few minutes then I would get in the shower. I would be in the shower sitting on a bucket with hot water hitting my back. The mixture of squatting and the hot water would help calm the cramping and the anxiety I was having. I had to do this at least once a week. After each flare up it took at least 2 days to recover. Which meant I couldn't plan anything because I didn't have the energy and had to rest to prepare for the next flare up. I was miserable. Obviously this made it very difficult to work.

I applied for disability 3 times and all 3 times I got denied. I was told that I wasn't sick enough and my employer could work around my illness. I worked on and off for several different places. Calling off a lot, going in late or just going in sick because I needed the money. I had a flare up and was doubled over in the bathroom with my bucket at 8 am and would still go to work at 9 am. It was no way to live and my mental health started to be affected.

By January 2020 I had been working the same job for over a year. it was a desk job so not a lot of moving around. I had to answer calls so that sometimes mad it difficult if I had to go to bathroom. I couldn't just put someone on hold and go to the bathroom and it was really hard to remain professional when I was in pain so I decided to resign. Which proved to be a really good decision.

Not long after I left my job the world changed. The Corona Virus began to take over every aspect of daily life. I of course had no immune system and was already sick so yes I was paranoid. I didn't need anything else making my life difficult. Crohn's Disease was already trying to kill me. My life for the first 7 months of 2020 consisted of flare ups, virtual schooling 5 kids and never leaving the house. Then in July something big happened. July 28, 2020 is another date that is important to remember.

I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a status from a long time friend. It was a post about working online. I was barely getting by financially so I was like okay what's this about. Little did I know It would change my life. I went all in on this opportunity when I found out it centered around Health and Wellness. I was looking to make a little money but never imagined that it would actually help in many more ways.

I began to take the products that I was marketing for this company that I will not name for personal reasons. They were supplements that would give you Energy, improve your Gut Health and help you lose weight. Yes they worked. From July to December 2020 I had no flare ups ! I lost 20 lbs and felt better than I had ever felt. It was like a miracle. I was no longer fatigued, I was having regular bile movements and I felt like me again ! I went from taking 3 pills a day for my Crohn's down to one plus the supplements. I was cleaning my house, exercising, drinking more water and felt like my future wasn't so bleak anymore. Going from 3 to 5 flare ups a month to none in 5 months was amazing. Of course nothing is perfect and I experienced a set back the week of Christmas. There was a shipping delay due to the holidays and I was off of my supplements for an entire week right before Christmas. A friend and colleague gave me some from hers to get me by. But I had not taken them for an entire week so my system was messed up. Christmas night I had to go to the ER. I was in so much pain. I couldn't pass gas and hadn't gone to the bathroom in 4 days. They did a cat scan and discovered that my pancreas and intestines were severely inflamed. They had to give me Iv fluids and steroids. So that meant back to the drawing board. Still a big accomplishment though.

So what am I doing now ? The day after Christmas I started a new supplement that offers the same benefits. I am back to having no flare ups. I have Energy, mental focus, gut health and I'm still maintaining my weight. I actually went shopping for new jeans. I went from a size 8-10 to a 6 !! I take one in the morning for energy and mental focus. One in the evening for gut health and one at night that helps with sleep. I hope to continue on this amazing journey and go another 5 months with no flare ups.

It is my 2021 goal to help as many others also get healthy and start living better not just for themselves but also for their families. I'm on a mission. If you want to be a part of that mission check out my website to see what its all about.

https://annmiller.lifeactivated.com/

Email me at : [email protected]

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