2 more B12 injections, Barium Follow Through test and finally dancing again!

Since I last blogged I have had two further vitamin B12 injections, thankfully these have been a lot less painful. This is thanks to having the injections into my fatty bottom rather than my ultra-muscular arm (I wish)! Hopefully the three injections have been enough to raise my B12 level so I don’t need regular injections. We’ll just have to wait and see what this week’s blood test results say.

This time last week I was tucking into a yummy bacon and egg sandwich after enduring the hell that consists of taking laxatives and fasting, in preparation for a Barium Follow through test. Drinking the laxatives turned out to be the worst part of the whole process, as usual they just made me feel like I wanted to throw up. Then the nervous waiting begins before you are sprinting for the toilet, which takes surprising longer than expected. I was fascinated by what I could see whilst having the x-rays taken of my digestive system. I could see the x-ray screens that the radiologist was using from the bed I was lying in. Watching the Barium liquid move through my intestines fortunately distracted me enough to cope with the pain of the radiologist pushing and moving my bowels around in order to x-ray specific parts. An hour and a half later I had ran to and from the hospital café to the toilet 8 times and was ready to head home for some much needed food. So the waiting then began, 20^th June to be exact, until I go to see my consultant and am given the results. Crohn’s Disease??

Now back at University and loving it! I think the enemas and Methotrexate are now working together and having a very positive effect. The bleeding has decreased a lot, I now know longer look into the toilet and see what looks like a murder scene (sorry to be graphic). This has meant that I have been able to start a technique (Limon), that I had to defer last term as I was too unwell to dance. To my joy and surprise I have loved dancing again. I have always danced and never not enjoyed it, so when this flare up began and it affected dancing so much I was very concerned that I would never enjoy dancing again. Thankfully that isn’t the case, I still have some dizziness to deal with but it’s not to the extent that it was last term, I basically passed out every time I tried to dance. I am back in the studio every day and really love being able to enjoy my passion again.

Also on the dancing theme, I was part of the University’s Dance Platform performances at the weekend. Again this made me incredibly happy as at one point it looked like I would have to drop out of the performance. I could only manage one dance, but that was plenty, it still meant I got to be performing, what I love most.

Ouchy... B12 Injection!

After convincing the doctor that, 'Yes I do need these injections, as you can see from my blood test results I am deficient in B12', I swear sometimes doctors think because I am young, I have no clue what is best for me! He asked for my left arm and approached with the dreaded needle. Now I am really not scared of needles and as a Crohnie am used to regular blood tests, but 'Oh my' I was not expecting the, 'slight sting' that the doctor explained, to be such a burning, continuous pain! Once the injection was over I began to feel very hot, the feeling I have recently learnt to be the start of a process that results in passing out. I quickly got up, thanked the Doctor and left his office. Walking down the corridor and my eyesight began blurring and ears started to ring, this is when I know I am getting close to fainting. I made it out the first front door, into the little hallway as a nice gentleman caught me on my way to the floor.

As you can imagine the prospect of having to have another Vitamin B12 injection on Friday doesn't really thrill me! Hopefully these injections will mean that some of the side effects I have been experiencing will disappear, so I guess it’s all worth it.

Non-Crohnies, I think I should explain why I'm having these B12 injections. This will be my interpretation of what the doc's have told me, so apologies if it’s all wrong.

As I said previously I was originally given a diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis, the docs have always told me there is a chance it could be Crohn’s because of my family’s history of Crohn’s Disease. While in London at Uni I read that people that suffer from Crohn’s disease can be deficient in Vitamin B12, this can cause symptoms like tiredness, fatigue and flu like symptoms, which I have been experiencing. I decided to ask the doc's in London to check my B12 level at my next blood test. When the results came back I was in fact deficient in B12.

At my next appointment with my GI consultant, I showed him these results and he found them very interesting. My consultant explained that B12 vitamin is only absorbed by one part of the body, this is the small bowel. Now Ulcerative Colitis (UC) does not affect the small bowel which therefore means that people that suffer with UC do not get deficient in B12.

This has led to having a Barium follow through test. This involves fasting for 24 hours before the test, taking laxatives to make sure your system is clear and then drinking a very thick, chalk like substance and having your small bowel x-rayed. Hopefully this will show where the inflammation is and subsequently see if I have Crohn's Disease in my small bowel.

Next Steps...

If this Barium follow through comes back that I do not have Crohn’s disease then I could have a rare form of anaemia (can’t remember what it was called, oppsie) or Coeliac Disease as well as Ulcerative Colitis. To be honest, I’m not really too sure what would be the best outcome of these three options.

This Barium follow through will happen the begining of next week and then its back off to Uni after three weeks rest at home. I am looking forward to getting back to Uni but nervous about getting back to dancing, I just want to enjoy it with NO pain again!! Fingers Crossed!!

 

Where am I now?

So let's bring it up to date. I am now 18 months down the line and 7 months into my second flare up. Steroids and Azathioprine failed to work so now onto Methotrexate, Enemas, Pentasa Sachets and B12 injections. Fingers crossed it can only get better!

After a blood test to see if I am B12 deficient I am now going for a Barium Meal test in two weeks. I was initially diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis but after particular symptoms and my family history I've been told I could also have Crohn's Disease. Hopefully this test in two weeks will give me a final diagnosis.

Since my diagnosis I have read loads of other crohnies blogs and just wanted to share my experiences, but also share how it affects me being a dancer.

September 2011- The start of my new life at Uni in London

Up until this time in my life I had never really had any health problems other than the odd cold and cough, oh and a set of braces. Various family members already suffered with Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's disease, including my sister. When moving to university I did not expect to get so homesick, so I guess it's safe to say that the stress of missing my friends, family and home was enough to bring on these awful diseases.

I suppose I could say I am lucky to have a vast family history of these diseases, it meant I got a colonoscopy, diagnosis and medication relatively quickly. I was in flare for about 5 months when it all started, so not bad compared to some people. Studying dance meant I couldn't slump in the back of a lecture theatre and make notes when the pain was bad, but I was determined that this was NOT going to stop me! Even through the rocky start to my first year I still finished with a strong 2/1.