My name is Ross
I was diagnosed with Chron's desiese when I was 3 years old, I am now 15. I have been on varius treatments:
1) Steroids – Tried to cum off the but never worked (Really Chubby now to)
2) Infleximab – Works for about 4-5 weeks but get ill again after that and back on higer dose of steroids.
As a result of Chron's I am really small for my age and now havind testostrone every 6 weeks via injection.
My surgons at asked me if I would like to go ahead with an operation to take the rest of my small bowel away as I have no large bowel at all any way. This would allow me to eat again aswell which i'm looking forward to.
I also have 3 illiostomy bags one is a normal stoma and the other 2 are fistulas that have never healed but if I have this operation I will be able to get rid of them aswell which would be the best thing i'm looking forward to.

i suffer from ulcerative colitis for a number of years. i am still on steroids and asacol but still get flare ups all the time. Generally some days are ok but some days i am going to the toilet up to 10 a day. could certain foods cause this? my diet is not that great due to a very hectic work and social life style. is there anything else i could try that could help me?

when i was first diagnosed with chrones at the age of 15 now 19 i had it so bad i was hopitalised and was tube fed for 3 months with not eating any thing for 6 weeks after this i had a few treatments of steriods to help with the flare ups but after 2 years i had to have an operation after having intense pains to remove half of my bowel and apendics with alot of stress 1 year on still on tablets and b12 injections every 3 months i have not had any other flare ups ant hoping it stays this way

Hi – I've had Crohn's since I was 16 (I'm now 48), I had peritonitis at 18 & had a large section of intestine & bowel removed & an ileostomy for just over 1 year. I've had 2 children at 22 & 24 and felt great during each pregnancy. I'm on several tablets each day and suffer with dreadful bloating & diarrohea (no drugs seem to help for long), but I'm determined to lead a full & active life (I work full-time), you get very good at disguising your toilet problems over the years (4-6 times a day on average).

I've never smoked and drink very moderately. I hope if you read this it gives you some hope for your future.

I am 18 years old and I was diagnosed with crohns when I was 9, but had it years before but they couldn’t figure out what it was! I have had so much treatment and scans done I cant remember all of it, my mum and doctors always remind me and it gets me down. I am a bubbly person so I block it out most of the time, and don’t realise what I have been through. I started off on steroids which puffed me out like a walrus and then was put on the liquid diet many times and ended up having to have a tube put through my nose to feed me it as I got hysterical when I had to have it. I had to swap doctors because he was so old fashioned with the steroids, and heard of this miracle doctor in London. I’ve been on so many different kinds of drugs I can’t remember all of their names, one even made my skin turn orangey and my eyebrows ginger!
I eventually had to have an operation when I was 12 with my new doctor which was very successful but I do have a huge 6inch scar on my belly now.
It has been up and down still but I have just got it settled with tones of drugs, pentasa, renetadine, folic acid, methotrexate, ferrous sulphate and every 6 weeks I have an infleximab treatment.
However I am getting really worked up about having flare ups and needing to go to the loo.. and I don’t know what I’m going to do next year in a house because I get really upset and embarrassed about it! My mums even mentioned seeing a shrink about it :S HELP! i really don't know what to do.

i was diagonised with crohns in 2003, my sister has suffered badly since 1998. while my condition is quite mild at the moment i find if i am within a stressful situation it flares up immediatley. since moving away from certain people in my life my crohns has died down radically and i am no longer on medication and doing very well.

To Marie, I was on steroids after my initial diagnosis and remained on them for around a year. They are of great benefit in helping your symptoms and you can feel the benefits very quickly. Unfortunately they are not without side affects. The main one I experienced was weight gain (water retention). I gained 3 stones and my face was very swollen. My other symptoms included: severe mood swings, depression, chest pains, leg cramps, nausea, urinating at night, fatigue, sensitive to bruising and wounds taking longer to heal. After being weaned off them I lost weight very quickly and I am now on 150mg azathioprine daily. This will be reduced in due course. This may seem off putting but you do not remain on them for the long term and looking back on it now I believe it was all necessary. I do have my 'off' days and get fatigued but all in all I keep well. I do worry about having to go back on steroids but I try to remain positive and not stress about it. I also enjoy reiki and yoga and believe this helps to relax me and helps me through any rough patches. I hope this is of help.

Hi i am 16, i was diagnosed with crohns disease at the age of 13 which was resolved by being on a sachet of small balls called pentasa which was taken twice a day and for the space of six weeks i was off food completely and made to drink a food drink called modulen. I am still on pentasa twice a day and a glass of modulen daily which has stopped me having any flare up since i have had crohns disease. Since then i have actualy had the energy to do most of the stuff i could not do before i was diagnosed with crohns.

people say my story is quite sad. Not that long ago i was diagnosed with chrons. Symptoms started 4 years ago and my first doctor told me that i was lying. It wasnt till latley after having a barium meal and an endoscopy that i have chrons. I was pu on modulen (a liqued diet especially for people withchrons) for two months and steriods for life. Since then my dietetion has started me eating and i felt better then befor. I've put on wheight and look better.

Hi, i am 22 and i was diagnosed with UC when i was 16. At first it was monitored by my specialist, and flare ups were controlled with asacol and steroids. However when i started a one year course at college, before university, thing got worse and the pressure i was under at college caused my UC to get more servere. For about 3/4 years things got gradually worse for me, with all of the medicines i was perscibed, and 5 or 6 emergency admittances into hospital for weeks at a time on IV steroids, not working. My specilist asked me yime and time again to consider surgery, but for me it was just not an option. I was so close to finishing my uni course, and that was my main priority. However, the final straw for me came in March this year (2008) when i was admitted once again into EAU for 5 days, only this time needing several blood transfusions. I was in holpital over the Easter weekend, and watching what my parent and family went through with me over that couple of day was enough for me. So…on a brighter note, i have now had the first operation (Aug 08) of my 3 stage procedure…and its the best thing i have ever done. I have my life back, and i feel the best i have in about 5 years. I feel fantstic. I can eat what i want (ish) when i want, and its great!!

There is light at the end of the tunnel for everyone feeling down, i am proof of this. Stay strong.