I have no idea what is going on with me. Supposedly I have left-sided ulcerative colitis, but I have been having right sided pain and a lot of stomach problems that don’t seem to belong to colitis. I was also really tired, a scary kind of tired different from my usual fatigue, where I thought something was really wrong.
I saw my doctor recently and told him how sick I have been, the right side pain, blah, blah, blah and asked him if this was normal for colitis. He didn’t think so, but thought I had a secondary infection. The antibiotic he gave me specifically treats stomach infections and when I looked it up later, I noticed it is used to treat people with Chrohn’s disease. Chrohn’s is kind of similar to Ulcerative Colitis except that it affects the small and large intestine and can affect the anywhere from the mouth to the rectum. I think it is worse than colitis because it can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract and it would explain why I have been so sick. The problem is it is really hard to tell the two apart and difficult to diagnose.
Here is a link to more info on Chrohn’s disease and the different types: http://ibdcrohns.about.com/od/cdbeyondbasics/a/crohnstypes.htm
This link also shows some of the differences in the two diseases:
http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/ulcerativecolitis/UC_whatis.html
So, do I have Chrohn’s disease? Who knows? My doctor didn’t say anything and maybe it doesn’t really matter as long as I respond to the treatments. It appears Chrohn’s and UC are treated basically the same anyway. If I get sick like that again than maybe it will be time for more tests, but I don’t really want more tests. I hate tests and not sure they really help anyway. I have a chronic disease. That I know. As long as I have my appetite back, my tummy isn’t hurting too bad and I am back to my normal pain and fatigue, I’m good.
Cheers and good health!
Colitis Chick
My mad colon
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