Do any of you have a chronic medical condition?

[cajungal]

I was wondering if any of you have a chronic medical condition and how do you cope. I have IBS. Otherwise known as Irritable Bowel syndrome. It is a very painful disorder of the digestive tract. There is no effective treatment or cure. I have been dealing with it since a very small child. I was always missing school because of severe stomach aches. I was always at the doctors and was sent to the emergency room several times to run tests. They could never find anything wrong, so I got diagnosed with IBS. As I am getting older, (I am now 29), it is getting worse. I already missed work twice and had to go to the emergency room. I was passing so much blood and was in so much pain. With IBS, you got to really watch your diet. When ever I eat fried foods, barbecue, too much dairy or drink alcohol, that is when it flares up bad. I try to watch my diet but don't always have the will power. I been suffering so bad the last 2 weeks that I barely want to eat anything. Yet, that stubborn scale won't budge. I still always weigh the same.

IBS also makes you look heavier than you are. Because sometimes it makes your stomach bloated and swell. My stomach will never be toned and flat no matter how much crunches I will do. But, I still wear between a 4 and a 6 in jeans, because I have a small waist. IBS also interuppts my social life. I had to leave a family get together yesterday because as soon as I ate, I was doubling over in pain. Sometimes you get a fear of going out in public because you will get an attack. I got to go to work today from 12-9 and I already in pain. Another thing that worries me is that my grandma started to always have stomach problems like me. And they diagnosed her with colon cancer. She had a tumor growing in her stomach for 5 years. The whole time everyone thought she also just had IBS. We lost her in November 2003 and I miss her so very much. Colon cancer runs extremly high in my family. My paternal great-grandfather also died of it. I can't be under too much stress because it makes my IBS worse.

Sorry for the long entry. Just want to know if anybody else suffers from any medical conditons and how you cope. Sometimes I feel all alone in this disorder even if mine is not life threatning.

[Skywatch_NC]

I have hypoglycemia (borderline diabetes)...and also have irritable bowel syndrome, too. Also some allergies.

Eric

[vbhoutex]

Mine is much less of a bother than yours!! I have arthritis. I ususally don't take anything for it(basically "grin and bear it"), but when it flares bad I start with the advil or some other anti-inflammatories. Sometimes it gets bad enought to go into the real pain killers, but not too often thankfully. I have it in my spine, my ankle, my knee and my hip. I am sure that in the future I will have to have some of those replaced(like my Mom). Hopefully by then they will be "bionic" and I will be like Lee Majors was!!!!

[Vandora]

I actually have a handful of conditions...

Asthma, epilepsy, migraines, GERD (acid reflux disease, also have problems resulting with damage from the acid), severe allergies/chronic sinusitis, hiatal hernia, ulcer, IBS and a few other things. I also have reocurrent pnumonia (9 times so far, oy) and a weak immune system.

I don't cope well these days, but that's due to a lack of health insurance and being too ill to work (which doesn't work well together). I've been having some problems with my lungs and heart recently, so some of my other conditions have flared up. Gotta love how that works.

I sound so down, but I guess that's because today isn't a good health day! Sorry about that. I completely relate with you on IBS.

[Stephanie]

cajungal - I have IBS as well. If you're passing blood, it seems like you have ulcers and that could mean you have IBD or Irritable Bowel Disease or Diverticulitis. Have you seen a GI lately? If you're having that much blood and pain, I would think that they would want to do a colonoscopy. I had one a year ago but they didn't see anything. I'd get yourself back to the doctor soon!

With my IBS, I go through phases with really no rhyme or reason other than I can almost guarantee that 2 - 3 months after a stressful period at work my stomach will act up again.

I also have chronic depression which I treat with Prozac. It's been a life saver for me.

[DaylilyDawn]

I have to take a drug called synthroid since my thyroid gland was removed due to thyroid cancer in 1999. If I miss a day of it , it can mess up my blood levels and my Dr has a fit when I see him. So I have to make sure if I leave town for any length of time, I have to make sure I enough medicine to go with me.

[Skywatch_NC]

I have to take a drug called synthroid since my thyroid gland was removed due to thyroid cancer in 1999. If I miss a day of it , it can mess up my blood levels and my Dr has a fit when I see him. So I have to make sure if I leave town for any length of time, I have to make sure I enough medicine to go with me.

Haven't told anyone here at S2K until now...but my Mom was discovered to have some lumps in her thyroid area last November and since then has had 2 or 3 sonogram ultrasounds...she had a biopsy in 3 of the lumps at Duke Med in Durham this past Friday and will get the results tomorrow. We're all somewhat apprehensive for tomorrow's results and with the prayer warriors here and my own family's prayers...praying and hoping for the very best tomorrow that none that were tested will come back positive. My Mom's name is Joyce.

Eric

[Pburgh]

Eric, I'll put your Mom on my prayer list. ((HUGS))

I haven't seen a doctor in 15 years. I have been blessed with good health for my age. (60)

[DaylilyDawn]

I have to take a drug called synthroid since my thyroid gland was removed due to thyroid cancer in 1999. If I miss a day of it , it can mess up my blood levels and my Dr has a fit when I see him. So I have to make sure if I leave town for any length of time, I have to make sure I enough medicine to go with me.

Haven't told anyone here at S2K until now...but my Mom was discovered to have some lumps in her thyroid area last November and since then has had 2 or 3 sonogram ultrasounds...she had a biopsy in 3 of the lumps at Duke Med in Durham this past Friday and will get the results tomorrow. We're all somewhat apprehensive for tomorrow's results and with the prayer warriors here and my own family's prayers...praying and hoping for the very best tomorrow that none that were tested will come back positive. My Mom's name is Joyce.

Eric

Eric, if your mom's result is postive for cancer, please let me Know and I can tell you what to expect in form of treatment. I will start prayers for Joyce right now that her results will be negative.

[Miss Mary]

cajungal - Well, yes I do. But it's a direct result from having had colon cancer. My symptoms minic yours, but sigh, the meds or suggestions that often help IBS patients, do not help me. This has been a very long 6 year struggle for me. A busy mom who needs to be able to leave home, use any bathroom, anywhere, in other words I can't just stay home the rest of my life. I have found that a low residue diet works wonders for me. But it really was trial and error. I faithfully kept a food journal for over a year in the beginning, writing down every single thing I ate - gum, M & M's (could only have 5 in the beginning, now maybe 20), etc. My magic foods are all white, as my husband jokes - bananas, plain yogurt, applesauce, potatoes, chicken/turkey, fish, pasta, etc. It is a juggling act and I know it well, by now.

Here is what else I've discovered - most people do not get it. Have no frigging clue what we go thru. I used to try and educate people, explain why I skip eating dinner before a social event or feel sick a lot. I finally just stopped, I just say this is a result of missing a very important part of my GI. Gone forever, changed forever.

And finally, what works wonders for me sometimes when things get really out of whack - no solids. That's another time most people don't understand but at least my doctors say it's good to let your GI tract calm down. I take in fluids and ease back into solids again, slowly.

It's not easy and I wish so much I could be normal again. I will never be normal though. So I call this the new normal. At least my cancer was Stage 1, I've watched my oldest daughter graduate HS and begin college. I have a lot to be grateful for. But I sure wish I had that part of my colon back! I'm known to walk around, pants unzipped, belly swollen as you describe lamenting - I want a transplant, I want a transplant. Maybe someday they will offer them?

Finally, I have read that for severe IBS sufferers or Chron's patients, a colostomy is the way to go. But I think those patients have to reach a point where they cannot take it anymore. I had a temporary one and it wasn't so bad. I just want to avoid any surgery at this point. My first colon surgery was horrendous to recover from.

Hang in there, I have a pretty good idea how you feel everyday. Find your magic foods or meds and faithfully stay on them. We are what we eat (I know that firsthand now).

Mary

[Kelarie]

I have migraines. I never had a migraine before March 12, 2003, but I have made up for it in truckloads since. But mine are caused from going through early menopause. My entire life changed - because of the meds I take, no wine or beer. Before I got medicated for them, I was having them 8 days a week. Made work hard, couldn't go out. Went to the ER more times than I wanted (which was zero).

In taking hormone replacement (birth control pill), I turned out to be one of those people who can't take them, I threw bi-lateral pulmonary blood clots two years ago. While I was on the bc pills, no migraines. So the one thing that would make me better, I can't take cause it would kill me. That is just a one helva catch 22.

I have have hypothyroidism, slow thyroid, that I take a medicine for.

That is my story.

[Kim_in_MN]

I have sleep apnea - when I go to sleep, my trachea collapses, and I stop breathing until I wake up enough to start breathing again. I have had this for at least 10 - 15 years; finally went in and had a sleep study done this spring and got a prescription for a CPAP machine. What a difference! I realize that I have gone through probably more than half of my life sleep deprived (and I don't mean a little tired; in my test I quit breathing around 300 times in 92 minutes; which means I woke up 300 times in 92 minutes - I basically got no sleep for years). Now that I have the CPAP I wouldn't even attempt to sleep without it. I feel wonderful most mornings (although I am still not a morning person LOL) instead of being unable to get out of bed. Glad I got it treated; after making the appointment with the dr. I did some reasearch and found out that apnea eventually causes/contributes to an enlarged heart, high BP, and a host of other nasty things.

I also have psoriasis on my hands and feet, which drives me crazy. It acutally isn't a bad case and is in remission a lot of the time, but when it is breaking it just about drives me crazy some days - especially at work, where taking off my shoes and scratching all of the skin off of my foot would be frowned upon But it is, at most, really a minor annoyance compared to so many other chrinic conditions.

Kim

[Dee Bee]

Haven't told anyone here at S2K until now...but my Mom was discovered to have some lumps in her thyroid area last November and since then has had 2 or 3 sonogram ultrasounds...she had a biopsy in 3 of the lumps at Duke Med in Durham this past Friday and will get the results tomorrow. We're all somewhat apprehensive for tomorrow's results and with the prayer warriors here and my own family's prayers...praying and hoping for the very best tomorrow that none that were tested will come back positive. My Mom's name is Joyce.

Eric

Eric, I'm praying right now for strength, wholeness, and comfort for your mom and your whole family.

Diane

[streetsoldier]

Yes, but too many to recount herein. Let's just say that, at RealAge, my actual age is 53, but after entering in all the medical malaises, my "health" age is 78.

[Dee Bee]

I'm fortunate that meds and lifestyle options keep my conditions manageable: high blood pressure, allergies, spinal deterioration, severe hip erosion, (recovered) anorexia, thyroid irregularities, anxiety, mild depression, + auto-immune irregularities. I'm also very fortunate that my insurance coverage (through my husband) is excellent.

[azskyman]

Poppysky feels like the poster child of good health after seeing what others go through. I've been aware of some of your afflictions, but not all.

(First of all, though, prayers from my office desk here in Phoenix Eric for your mom and you in the days ahead.

My biggest challenge remains acid reflux disease which has been compounded by some very bad surgery to remove my gall bladder back in 1972. Internal scar tissue from that surgery has made the digestive tract reroute itself through the maze. At times I think all food must make its way through New Delhi before returning safely home to finish its route.

Lifestyle change is so ingrained now that I think nothing of it any more. Generally speaking, the last solid food of the day has to make its grand entrance no later than 5 pm (4 is preferred). Almost without exception, if I violate that rule, I pay a dear price sometime during the night. But this has been going on for over 20 years, so it is no big deal to me. I can still go out with friends or family on a Friday night and watch them eat...and they have discovered I can actually enjoy myself without the necessity of food.

I'm on Nexium now..40mg daily, and that works fine. I do get an endoscopy annually (scope down the throat) which also includes the stretching of the opening to the stomach. That will likely continue until I am at an age where cheeseburgers must be run through the blender first.

Otherwise, I am respectably strong, work outside and in, can walk vigorously for as long as the person next to me, have low cholesterol, can carry my grandkids, and only occasionally slip myself a Xanax to make our world affairs look better than they are.

Knock on wood...that's how the next decade will play out. I enter the big 6-0 decade next summer, one of the first among you to slip into the golden years.

The sunshine here in Scottsdale has been a blessing in disguise for my past bouts with anxiety. Haven't had any problem with that since seeing the sun more than 317 days a year.

[DaylilyDawn]

I have sleep apnea - when I go to sleep, my trachea collapses, and I stop breathing until I wake up enough to start breathing again. I have had this for at least 10 - 15 years; finally went in and had a sleep study done this spring and got a prescription for a CPAP machine. What a difference! I realize that I have gone through probably more than half of my life sleep deprived (and I don't mean a little tired; in my test I quit breathing around 300 times in 92 minutes; which means I woke up 300 times in 92 minutes - I basically got no sleep for years). Now that I have the CPAP I wouldn't even attempt to sleep without it. I feel wonderful most mornings (although I am still not a morning person LOL) instead of being unable to get out of bed. Glad I got it treated; after making the appointment with the dr. I did some reasearch and found out that apnea eventually causes/contributes to an enlarged heart, high BP, and a host of other nasty things.

I also have psoriasis on my hands and feet, which drives me crazy. It acutally isn't a bad case and is in remission a lot of the time, but when it is breaking it just about drives me crazy some days - especially at work, where taking off my shoes and scratching all of the skin off of my foot would be frowned upon But it is, at most, really a minor annoyance compared to so many other chrinic conditions.

Kim

Kim,
My husband has sleep apnea also and he has the machine also. His case is so bad that they couldn't even measure how many times he stopped breathing in the test he had done. If he could lose some weight , I am sure that would help him but he has other problems along with the sleep apnea.

[Miss Mary]

Eric - I will indeed say prayers for your mom. Please keep us posted. I'm so sorry I didn't read past cajungal's post when I replied here.

Azskyman - your no food past 4/5 p.m. rule has really given me the courage to say no to food also, if out in a social setting. Peer pressure does exist beyond your HS years but if you handle it with a smile and say no thank you, they mostly leave you alone. What I've discovered also is they feel guilty eating so much food, to see someone across the table rearranging their meal times and saying no to food, is foreign to them. But in the end, YOU are the one that pays that price, for caving. And I just no longer cave, I can see you don't either. This one rule of yours has become renewed inspiration to do it all - go out, have fun, but skip the food (if I must).

Bill - I hear ya. My life revolves around that one specific room the house. So much so that the dog looks for me in there, when she gets up or home from a walk....where's mom, I've got to find her. LOL I feel 80 somedays....

Mary

[BettyBoop]

I also have several chronic health problems, including Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and all the wonderful conditions that come with them like, body-wide pain, fatigue, cognitive problems, sleeplessness, IBS, depression, Mitral Valve Prolapse, restless leg syndrome, migraines, TMJ, high arches ( have to wear orthotic braces), sinusitis, chronic tonsilitis, and tinnitus (ringing in the ears) to name a few.
I am currently taking 6 meds daily just to be able to function.
I am only 38 years old, but to look at my medical records and history you'd think I was 70+! Unfortunately, that's the only way you'd know much was wrong with me. Fibro and CFS are conditions that don't show on the outside. Nobody knows what we're going thru, if they don't know us. And it is very difficult to make anyone understand (that is if they want to), in the little time you usually have to tell them. So, I too have quit trying to educate the world unless they come to me.
Over this last month or so I've been suffering from a flare-up of my Fibro-fog. It's a term given to the many cognitive problems associated with Fibromyalgia (FM). I get up to get something from another room and before I get there I've forgotten what it was, I have a very extensive vocabulary, but at times it is impossible to find the right word (even something simple like cat), I can't concentrate and can't retain new information. And these thing happen several times daily! It's been especially difficult because I'm in college finally trying to get my degree.
I try to take each day at a time and not to worry or get down, but I'm only human. All we can do is our personal best!
My prayers are with everyone on this thread, and all those peering in but too afraid to come out and play, who have any sort of health problem. Bless you all!

BettyBoop

[Stellar Storm]

Well, bless everybody! Eric your mom is in my prayers. I don't have anything chronic, but I'm feeling the effects of being in my forties. I did have a strange incident that happened to me about 4 years ago. It began with these strange pangs coursing through my chest and I thought I was having a heart attack. For two weeks, I was feeling uncomfortable until one day, I had to be rushed to the emergency room because my heart was beating out of my chest. They hooked me up to an ekg and found out that my heart was good, but it was racing and I had an elevated temperature. I wasn't feeling well, but I couldn't describe the way I was feeling. The doctor said I might be coming down with something, maybe a virus, but couldn't pin point it. After my heart beat slowed down, they sent me home. That night, my fever spiked and I began having terrible, terrible muscle pains....I knew it was the flu at that point. However, this was a flu that I had never had before....I was ill for the next four months. I'd pace back and forth during the night, swearing to my husband that I was gonna die (I also think I developed anxiety attacks from being sick so long.) I finally, slowly but surely began to feel better but it left me with a pain in my side that I have til this day. It's worse on some days than others. Over the last four years it has subsided to some degree, but it is still there and I'm not sure if it will ever completely go away. Hope so. I wonder what strain of flu I contracted.