3rd shot in the arm today!! Whoohoo! Who’d have thunk I’d be psyched to get a shot. TBH, I have been nervous because - even tho my test results showed I made some antibodies - I am on one of the meds listed as preventing ppl from making a high amount of antibodies. Like my Drs just haven’t been sure if I’ve really been protected. Hopefully now I am. #GetVaccinated to help protect me even more! (Seriously, I don’t wanna get Covid. Pls help protect me. This has been my Ted Talk).
Hi just i know this is news to me but my cat is having a surgery next weekend and i was hoping if you could help me cover up some of the vet bills? I don’t really need that much so just spare me any amount you can give! i’m actually lacking at most 200$ hope you don’t mind me sharing this! Thanks everyone!
Turns out one of my medications puts me at a greater risk for a specific type of cancer and this was never mentioned. I don’t want to overthink it but I’ve been losing a lot of weight, and like every freaking symptom that is a warning sign for this cancer has popped up fir the past 2 months. It could be other stuff and I’m falsely attributing it to cancer. But if this actually is I don’t know what I’m going to do
Today is World IBD Day and I wanted to share a few things (treatments, symptoms ect) about living with IBD that I have personally experienced.
Symptoms of IBD that I have had include stomach cramps, fatigue, diarrhoea, constipation, weight loss, partial blockages of the small bowel, dehydration, blood in my stool and muscular cramps in the abdomen. I haven’t had all these symptoms at once (thankfully) but I have experienced them all in some capacity and in various combinations.
Treatments I have tried for my IBD include a lot of medications as well as surgery. I have been on anti inflammatory (mesalazine), steroids (prednisolone), immuno-suppressants (azathioprine, mercaptopurine & infliximab), anti-ulcer (omeprazole), antibiotics (co-trimoxazol), meds for bile salt malabsorbtion (colesevelam), as well as vitamin/mineral supplements (folic acid, adcal-d3 & colecalciferol). I have also been on fortisip nutrient drinks and (as of this week) modulen which is a complete nutritional replacement drink.
Other treatments (for lack of a better term) would be surgery. I had my colon removed about two years ago and a temporary end ileostomy (stoma) placed. Although many would assume this has “cured” me of my Ulcerative Colitis, removal of the affected organ sadly does not cure an auto-immune disease.
Side effects of these many treatments are numerous. From the medication alone I suffered with bloating, insomnia, loss/increase of appetite and weight gain/loss. The surgeries came with there own set of side effects which included muscle spasms in my rectum and abdomen, partial blockages of my small bowel, strictures (narrowing of the gut) and ulcers from infection. I also suffered with a case of ileus which is when the muscles that move food through the gut slow down, causing the bowel to effectively stop working for a time. This happened after my second surgery to form my j-pouch and took about three-four weeks to heal. Treatments for it included an NG-tube (a thin tube that goes in through the nose and down the oesophagus into the stomach to extract food and other waste that can’t move into the small intestine), and TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition – another form of liquid nutrition that is fed via a PICC line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) that goes in through a main line in the upper arm and ends somewhere near the heart).
I think out of all the things I listed here, ileus was the worst. It came on suddenly after surgery and meant I wasn’t allowed food for almost a month. It started with vomiting and my stoma stopped working (meaning nothing was passing through my gut). This is when they inserted the NG tube. They had to replace it once but it stayed in for about two weeks to clear out my stomach. In the meantime, they inserted the PICC line (which can be left for several weeks or even months) and started me on TPN. Eventually, when the NG tube wasn’t bringing anything else up, they removed it and after a couple of days, allowed me to try soup. When that stayed down, I was allowed to try soft foods and, eventually, I was back on normal diet and discharged from hospital after almost four weeks. This is the longest I’ve had to stay in hospital and I hope to never experience it again.
So, there you go. I know it’s a long post but I thought it would be worth sharing as people so often underestimate the impact of IBD on a patients life.
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PS. This is the same article on my WordPress Blog but seeing as it’s extra long and I know not everyone will want to click the link, I thought I’d share it here in full.
Head up to my diabetic and PCOS friends, metformin ER (extended release) has been recalled. I’m making this post on 7/22/20, but it has been in discussion for recall for months.
I would contact your pharmacy and your prescribing doctor to switch to instant release, which is not included in the recall.
[image description: A colour photo of a stream through a forest. The viewer is looking upstream and can see a number of small waterfalls as the water makes its way down. The stream is bordered by large rocks and trees that seem to be starting to change colour at the change of season. Light blue/grey text with a black outline fills the center of the image and reads “Don’t forget your meds today.”]
[image description: On a dark background bold text changes colour from, yellow at the top, through white to purple at the bottom. The text reads “Don’t forget your meds today.”]
[image description: A colour photo, the top three quarters of the photo is of a blue sky with clouds. The lower portion depicts a white gothic styled timber house in a field of golden grain. Above the house a flock of birds. In the sky olive green font reads “Don’t forget your meds today.”]
[image description: A photo of the sky. In the upper left corner a slice of lemon obscures the sun, the sun illuminates the lemon slice from beyond. Running down the right side of the photo a faded yellow font reads “Don’t forget your meds today.”]
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