Monday, May 30, 2011

Chronic fatigue and colitis

What I don’t understand is I feel tired all the time even when it seems like I am in remission, but I’m not even sure I know when I’m in remission. I thought a flare = blood in the stool, but that’s not always the case with me. The other thing is, I don’t have a severe case of colitis. Mine is in the lower part of my colon and compared to other colitis sufferers, my case is mild. So why am I tired all the time? I’m not anemic. It could be because people with colitis don’t absorb nutrients and that could make me tired. But all my blood tests are normal and my doctor checked my thyroid and that is normal. Also, my hormones are normal. So what’s up with me?

I feel so frustrated because I feel like crap and the doctors can’t find anything really serious, but I’m scared. Who wants to feel tired and crappy all the time? I wonder if it’s a combination of things that are making me feel so sick—colitis, arthritis and moderate allergies (that cause chronic sinusitis) can all cause a person to feel crappy. It’s to the point where I can’t work anymore and I HATE that. I’m even having some mental problems that are freaking me out. Am I depressed? I have no idea. I suppose I could be depressed. I have good cause to be depressed having to deal with not one, but several medical conditions.

I don’t think I eat well either. I keep reading that a person should eat at least nine servings of vegetables a day. Nine? I don’t even eat that much in a day. How am I supposed to get in nine servings of vegetables? Most days I don’t want to eat much at all. Is that the same for most colitis sufferers? I’m trying to make my lunch more nutritional. I told my doctor what I was eating for lunch—crackers with cream cheese and her response was that it wasn’t very nutritional and was more like a snack rather than a meal. Hmm. She’s probably right. I’m trying to make improvements to my lunch by adding some tuna salad instead of cream cheese to the crackers. Crackers feel better on my tummy. The thought of eating nine servings of anything a day makes me feel queasy.

What do people with colitis like to eat?

Colitis Chick

Discovery_Channel_Wolf_Poster_C10076615

My mad and tired colon