IBD Patient Voice
I first realised something was wrong when I was 18. I had just left home and gone to university and it was a really exciting time. However, instead of being able to use my spare time to go out with my new friends, I ended up spending lots of time resting due to terrible abdominal cramps and frequent trips to the toilet. I was absolutely exhausted. When I realised that I was losing a lot of blood and that my symptoms weren’t improving I went to my GP. I was put in touch with a consultant and this led to a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. Soon after we were introduced, the consultant arranged for me to have an operation to remove the part of my bowel that was most badly affected by the IBD.
Both before and after the operation, I was extremely frustrated because I was too tired to do all the things that I wanted to do. My university work was suffering and it was difficult to have a social life. Even after sleeping for 12 hours, or only working short days for weeks, I didn’t feel rested or energetic. I told my doctor about this and he did some blood tests that showed that I was anaemic and that this was due to iron deficiency.
My doctor explained that I could have lost a lot of iron because of blood loss both before and after my operation. My iron levels may also have been low prior to surgery. On top of this, even now, I am not absorbing as much iron from my food as a healthy person.
My iron deficiency was treated with extra iron. Soon I started to feel much better, I was less moody and was able to do more than just go to lectures and sleep. I had a new lease of life and I felt like a completely new person!
Life is so much better now I am managing my IBD, and I know that I don’t have to put up with being tired all of the time!
