Battling Ulcerative Colitis as a Teenager

As a young pre-teen girl I used to get "stomach upsets" both at home and at school. When at school, I'd go to the nurse who would assume I was just trying to get out of my classes. She'd usually just send me back to class or, if I really persisted, back home. My mother would come and pick me up and be so angry with me because she was losing money, that we so desperately needed, at work to come pick me up from school. She thought I was faking this stomach ailment too. I wasn't.

I finally got my mother's attention when I was in agonizing pain one afternoon and yelling out in pain. She then seemed to think that maybe there was a problem. She made a doctor's appointment and off we went. I remember the doctor asking me various embarrassing questions that I didn't want to answer at the time. I finally answered a few of the questions and he decided that it was just something normal; something that would go away soon. I forget what he prescribed, but it only seemed to cover up the symptoms for awhile. The problem returned again.

It was when I was in my late teens that I finally got a real answer. I went back to the doctor because I was having abnormally severe abdominal cramping, pain and weight loss along with bloody diarrhea. This wasn't the first time, but it was the most severe of all the times. The doctor referred me to a specialist. The specialist, after hearing my symptoms decided that a colonoscopy was necessary. Once he looked around he then diagnosed me as having Ulcerative Colitis. I finally had a diagnosis. I finally had something. I wasn't crazy and I could finally start treating the problem and hopefully feeling better.

My doctor put me on a variety of medications which included: Colazal and Dipentum. I was also on Corticosteroids for awhile, but was later taken off of then because of the side effects. Right now I'm not at the point where I'm considering surgery. It might be in my future, but not right now. I hope it doesn't go that far. I am currently trying my best to self treat.

In self-treating I have changed my diet and lifestyle to lengthen the time between flare-ups. I try to stay away from dairy products as much as possible. Dairy products cause diarrhea, abdominal pain and gas for me, so I limit them to next to none. I try to stay away from as many fruits and veggies as possible. The fiber content in veggies and fruit make the abdominal pain and gas much worse and can sometimes be painful. Most people consider vegetables and fruit part of a healthy diet, but for me, it only causes pain. I also stay away from specific foods that I know will cause me problems. These foods are usually spicy foods. They aggravate my symptoms, so therefor I can't eat them. I also eat small meals, drink a ton of water, and take vitamins to try to supplement what I lose from not eating fruits and vegetables.

Another important factor in my life is stress. Stress can cause my symptoms to flare-up so I need to be careful of that as well. I try to keep myself out of stressful situations, but that isn't always possible. I have learned through various means how to cope with stress and how to deal with it the best I can. I exercise often, I do breathing exercises and I do things that make me happy. I like reading, listening to music, watching movies and other things. These things help relax me and help calm my ulcerative colitis symptoms.

Ulcerative colitis is difficult to live with and to deal with, but knowing what I can do to help calm the flare-ups and to help make things easier for me is a blessing. I have the tools I need to make life easier, to make my symptoms less and to be able to be a part of the world again. I no longer have to be afraid to go out, to do anything really. When I do have a flare-up, that's the hardest time. I can't do things that I'd like to, and that's okay. I'll calm down and relax and wait until I can do the things I had wanted. It will always be a struggle, but in the end, ulcerative colitis will not win.