Colitis

Sorry to hear that. I never had it myself, so I do not know exactly what you are going through. I hope you get well soon.

I have both colitis and Crohn's disease. I suffered through years of pain, and hundreds if not thousands of trips to the doctor where it was chalked up to as stomach virus, gastritis or whatever else they could come up with at the time. Neither the Crohns nor the colitis was diagnosed until I went in for an emergency appendectomy, and they found out that my intestines had actually burst, spreading infection throughout by body. At that time much of my intestines had to be removed. That was about 15 years ago. I was put on large doses of a lot of medications for a long time afterwards. If the doctors had their way, I would still be on most of them, but I have discussed my choices with my doctors and am on only minimal medications for this since it is currently in remission. Whenever I have a flareup, I have to start up some of the other medications though so they keep pretty close tabs on me. Most people who know me well believe me, because it only takes once of not believing me to find out that they should have. As anyone with a bad case can tell you, bathroom needs are urgent. I'm not sure if it is as bad for everyone but when I need to go and can't, the pains are near the intensity of labor pains, especially in the area of my surgery. If you have ever seen anyone doubled over, even if they are trying to conceal the labor pains, you can be pretty sure that they aren't faking. Before it got bad though, I did have many people who didn't believe me. I also have people who think I am making excuses not to eat certain foods just because I don't like them.... until they get to know me. I do appear to be a very picky eater, but I have good reason since so many foods bother me. My main medication these days is Imodium to help keep the diarrhea under control because even when I'm not having any major flare-ups, that is a constant problem for me. A couple of things I learned early on was to always carry a change of clothes with me, and to always find the bathroom right away when entering any new place. You never know what's in store.

My husband has Crohn's and other autoimmune conditions. He's had medical people tell him he was enjoying being ill and could push himself to feel better. He had to give up work. Friends believe him though.