Hope's story

I was diagnosed with Crohn’s in February 2021. I had been experiencing painful symptoms for over 2 years. My symptoms were mainly extreme stomach pains, hair loss, a complete loss of appetite and loads of trips to the toilet. But it was the pain that I really struggled with.  

At first, my doctor prescribed steroids to try to calm down my inflammation, which they did. But they only ever worked in the highest dosage. 

Since then, I have been on numerous different medicines. I am currently on adalimumab injections. These have calmed down most of the active inflammation and my trips to the toilet have lessened. However, for me, the side effects have been extreme fatigue and worsening stomach pains, severe constipation and nausea. 

I work full-time in training at a Nursery and started this job in the same month as my diagnosis. It has been hard to adapt - I was not ready for the challenge that I would face with this condition. I find working full-time is difficult and it often makes me feel very poorly. I find it hard to get through the days right now.

I have found so many people who are going through a similar experience to me, which makes me feel less isolated. I hope to meet more people in this community and have been using social media to raise awareness – as well as to help myself feel less alone with this crazy experience! 

It was also tough communicating about and explaining Crohn’s to people who had never heard of it before, when even I was new to it. I received a lot of support from Crohn’s & Colitis UK. 

I found reading people’s stories on the Crohn’s & Colitis UK website helpful - seeing that everyone has a different story, and that’s OK, we are all going through something challenging!