When I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, I remember feeling quite relieved. I’d experienced some very minor symptoms, jumped through the hoops of awkward doctor assessments and no more than 3 months later I had my own consultant and a letter to take home. In that respect, I was pretty lucky. It can take some people years to get a diagnosis and even longer to get taken seriously. But there were a few other reasons behind my relief…

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease is difficult enough as it is when you’re allowed to lie-down all day in a room that’s no more than 1metre away from your toilet – but managing IBD whilst trying to hold down a full-time job can be somewhat trickier. How do people do it? When is enough, enough? What can I do to try and be more pro-active with balancing my wellbeing and my career? Continue reading →

“How are you medication free, seriously?” is a question that I get asked all the time. Like not an Instagram wanker ‘you guys ask me all the time’ kind of bullshit lie, but a genuine I-get-askked-ALL-the-time type thing. Whilst I’m flattered that my journey of IBD without medication has proven as such a source of interest, it’s also terrifying – because the truth is, I don’t really know! Continue reading →

Smile, honey! You don’t have to take any medication. What a wonderful treat! Except is it all it’s cracked up to be? Are we all hoping to reach the day where we no longer rely on surgery, tablets, biologics (etc etc etc) and instead can manage our symptoms more holistically – or is the lack of control a whole other compilation of its own?

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For so much of my time with Crohn’s Disease, I’ve been obsessed with immumnosuppresives. Initially scared of them, followed by a course of them, to finally coming off them – these little buggers are the one of the most popular things that I get asked about! And I get it – those little leaflets you receive telling you all the pros and cons and medical jargon are hell’a confusing!

Now, although I am not a trained professional and therefore cannot recommend any medical treatment for anyone (your body is your body, yo) what I can do is share some of my thoughts, experiences and opinions – and you can take it from there… Continue reading →

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been a people pleaser. It’s good to say ‘yes’, it’s polite to say ‘yes’, it’s fun to say ‘yes’. That’s the weird mantra that I’ve always seemed to live by – and although saying ‘yes’ can lead to a more positive existence that opens up a lot of doors, it can also be extremely damaging.

Being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease is like having someone steal all your ‘yes’ power and ration you with a certain number a day. Whilst internally you might still want to be that ‘hell yeah’ individual, the motive gets caught in a tangled web of anxiety, exhaustion and defeatism.

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I doubt anyone has ever envied the lifestyle of a person living with a chronic illness. I can’t say that I blame them, but what we go through on a frequent basis is a lot more complex than popping pills and having blood tests. Whilst there is an argument to say ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’, there is also a small part of me that’s a bit bored of getting ‘stronger’. Here’s my list of things that all people living with a chronic illness can relate to…

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As a sufferer with a Chronic Illness, it’s more than likely that you’ll have a plethora of new ‘friends’ that you may often see more regularly than your normal friends. GPs, consultants, pharmacists, specialists…the list can feel endless. But not all relationships are a positive one.

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I’ve resisted writing this post for quite some time as it seems to be a rather controversial subject in the world of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Since being diagnosed in 2015, I’ve been on a cocktail of different medications including Mesalazine, Prednisolone, Budesonide and Azathioprine. I was always able to control my symptoms with a selection of the above at any one time, but despite achieving remission from Azathioprine, something just didn’t sit right with me.  Continue reading →