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.
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
It’s strange how as a female, so much of my identity was defined by my hair.
When I was 14, I became absolutely obsessed with my locks – products, extensions, colours…I was a chameleon and I loved it. When I was 16, I told my Mum that I wanted to be a hairdresser (it was a short lived dream) and when I was 20 I decided I wanted to create my own hair-care brand (I didn’t).
Despite these phases, the way my hair looked and felt remained the core of my identity. However, the relationship I have with it today has been somewhat of a challenge. Continue reading
So, recently I was contacted with a question about whether or not I had ever been travelling whilst having Crohn’s Disease. We’re not talking about a 10 day Holiday to the Balearic Islands, but more like a 10 month trip around Asia. Sadly, I have not done the ‘travelling thanggg’ so rather than give up and be unable to help with any advice, I put the feelers out to you wonderful people, and have managed to get your feedback and create my first Community Q&A post – using your words, your experiences and getting answers from there! Continue reading
Hello, party people! Happy New Year – even though we are now a week deep into 2018. Whoops. How is everyone doing? The festive period can be a bit of a weird one, especially if like me, you don’t go to your family home for Christmas anymore. But whatever December threw at you – you made it, and you’re here, reading this; so well done, you! Continue reading
The word ‘support’ is a bit of a weird one. It has weird connotations to me – like ‘support group’ or ‘support bra’ but sadly neither of those items are what I want to talk about (although let’s see if I can slip them in somehow…)
What I really want to put on the table, is the importance of getting the support you need when you are battling a Chronic Illness like Crohn’s Disease and why not allowing yourself to be supported is probably hindering your health.
Our day has arrived, babies! 1st December – 7th December is Crohn’s & Colitis Awareness Week in the UK and a chance for us to have our voices heard and make our mark.
Regarded as a notoriously ‘invisible illness’, the campaign is aimed at #MakingTheInvisibleVisible – trying to reach out to people who are unaware of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases as well as bringing more visibility to these illnesses to those who might not know a lot about it.
Before I start, I just want to make it very clear that I am not a trained medical professional, nor should anything I say be taken as ‘good advice’ – I write about my own personal experience and journey to share my story with others battling a similar illness, but please always seek professional help if you wish to discuss your medication or condition.
I was first prescribed Azathioprine probably back in February 2017, which in short means that I had been on it for 8 months. Initially, I was set a dosage of 125mg before blood tests revealed that there was too much of the Immunosuppressant in my body and my hospital Pharmacist decided to take me down to 75mg a day. Continue reading
Last week, something crazy happened – I was featured on UniLad! Although I try and be as open and honest as possible with putting our illness out there on the internet to shed light on it and raise awareness, it is still weird seeing your face next to the words ‘poo taboo’ and watch it go viral…! With nearly 2,500 reactions to the post, and 388 shares on the Facebook link alone, I feel like we are slowly getting somewhere with shedding some light on our disease! Continue reading
