I was going to create a diaryring of my own for people who have the same sort of illness as me but I thought I had better expain my reasons first.

So here goes and I do have to warn you its not all pleasent....

I have something called Crohn's Disease.

What is it..?

It is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the whole of the alimentary tract (digestive tube) from the mouth to the anus.

Symptoms..?

1. Diarrhoea - sometimes, but not always, with blood.

2. Abdominal pain and tenderness over the intestine, often more severe in the right iliac fossa.

3. Weight loss and, in children, failure to grow.

4. Fever.

5. Tiredness.

6. Sores and abscesses around the anus, which may discharge. These may be the first sign of the disease in some patients.

What are the causes..?

Well we don't know. There have been many theories put forward ranging from intolerance to Dairy Products to Genetics to Stress.

Is there a cure..?

No. Thats the short answer. There are many treatments out there. Steroids are the main one. Some people find that homeopathic treatments work for them, others find that diet management is the best and others (like me) find that only the strongest drugs keep it under control. Sadly until more research is done the present methods are the only options.

Are there any related illnesses..?

Yes, Ulcerative Colitis and Irratable Bowel Syndrome are the closest to Crohn's.

Having this sort of illness does affect your life in some ways. You have to constantly watch what you eat and you have to be aware of where all the toilets are, just in case.

When I went on holiday to the Caribbean a few years back, I took a packet of 4 loo rolls. If you didn't laugh at some of the situations you can find yourself in, you would have major psychological problems.

At times it does get you down, especially when you are on the treatments or have to go into hospital for investigations, like I have to tomorrow, but you just keep on going because you have to.

I have joined an orginsation which provides me with a card, so if I am ever "caught short", I can wave at a shop assistant and they let me use their facillities.

A lot of how you cope is how your friends and family deal with it. If you have ones that are very uptight, then I think it makes it worse as it puts undue stress onto you.

If like me you live with someone who makes a joke out of it all, it releases the pressure on you to act well all the time. It allows you to have an off day. And laughing about it all is the best pain relief of all.

I hope that this has cleared up a few things about my diary entries and why I sometimes feel the way I do. Hopefully after this week I should be back to normal. Well normal for me. :o)

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