Slip, slop, slap + Immunosuppressant side effects

I take Imuran (Azathioprine) for maintenance of my Crohn’s disease, which amongst other things is known to increase the risk of developing skin cancer. I am always careful to slip, slop, slap when I am out in the sun, however I’ve been advised that whilst I take Imuran, I should have annual skin cancer checks. I went for my first one around 6 weeks ago.

Uncomfortably numb

Can we switch our emotions on and off? Can having a chronic illness lead you to turning off your emotions or at least dulling them down? Or you might experience the opposite and have your emotions run into overdrive? 

Being chronically ill can be like riding a roller coaster of emotions – pain, grief, guilt, hope, anger, loneliness, anxiety, frustration. Some liken it to the stages of grief cycle.  I am not sure it is necessarily a cycle or follows the same path, but I am sure most of us have been through some of these in relation to our illness.

A Year without Alcohol

My last blog post was all about my experience with IBD and blood clots … a pulmonary embolism that could have been fatal, and subsequently taking blood thinning medication for 12 months.

This post is about what that meant for me socially, in particular relating to alcohol.

Blood clots & IBD

A few weeks after my first stint in hospital for Crohn’s disease I passed out whilst taking the dog for a walk. Fortunately, I was with my family and could sense something wasn’t right as I puffed my way up a fairly steep hill. My poor little mum somehow managed to catch my fall as I toppled onto the front lawn of a neighbour’s house.

I was only out for about 20 seconds, and after getting home, getting some fluids into me and having a bit of a lie down, I felt okay. I didn’t really think much of it, but the next day decided it was best to see a doctor, just to be safe.

The GP did some blood tests and a few hours later I received an urgent message saying I had to get to the hospital, IMMEDIATELY!

It turned out I’d had a Pulmonary Embolism (PE).

Eating disorders + IBD – is there a link?

Body image is a controversial topic! For someone with Crohn’s disease (a form of IBD), an Ostomy, AND a history of an eating disorder, this is even more the case!

“An eating disorder?”, I hear some of you say. This is not something I have spoken about in public before, and very few of my close friends even know, but I used to be bulimic.

I have travelled a bumpy road when it comes to body image and food. Having IBD created even more bumps, and really made me reflect on my entire connection with and feelings around food.