This is all new to me...!

[molly.portillo]

Hi there,

My name is Molly, I am 33 and was diagnosed with LC last week. I feel so grateful to find this message board. Like many of the stories I've been reading here, my GI dr makes me feel alone and unimportant. He even said this is a strange diagnosis as he has never seen anyone under the age of 70 with LC/MC.
Anyways, I feel relief in knowing what is happening with my body. I had a bad run-in with covid in January, passed it off to my grandmother who then passed away. I went on an ADHD medication (strattera) to help with concentration because my anxiety and stress was so bad after that traumatic experience. Then the daily D started in March. The GI thinks the LC was triggered by the Strattera, but that is a new medication so he said he can't be sure. I've also experienced extreme fatigue. I will fall asleep mid-day with little to no warning. I'm a very active and outdoors-y person, so to be so tired all the time makes me depressed. Its just been a very hard year.
The GI wants me to start steroids for treatment but i am very hesitant. I guess I am asking for some advice? Is it better to go on the steroid for relieve while I work on eliminating foods from my diet?

Thanks for being here, everyone. Sorry for the sad welcome post but i'm still just accepting that the LC will never go away.

[tex]

Hello Molly,

Welcome to the group. Yes it is somewhat uncommon for younger people to develop MC, but we have more than a few members in their 20s and 30s, and of course there are many more in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and upward. Our youngest member was 2 1/2 years old when diagnosed, or rather, her mother joined for her.

There's a good chance that the medication you were taking may have caused the disease, because selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) have been shown to cause the development of IBD's. And the extreme stress you were under at the time, almost surely contributed to your development of the disease. MC can cause extreme fatigue, brain fog, and many other symptoms, some of which can linger for more than a year or two after you reach remission from the disease. Each of us has to decide how to proceed with our treatment. Making the right diet changes that totally avoid our food sensitivities that have developed because of the inflammation that caused the MC, can heal our digestive system, but if your symptoms are very severe, and you need to go to work each day, the budesonide can mask your symptoms until the diet begins to heal your digestive system, and since it's a source of cortisol, it can temporarily restore your energy. Like all corticosteroids, it does have some significant side effect risks, so not everyone chooses to use it while they recover.

Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.

Tex

[Erica P-G]

Hi Molly,

I just wanted to extend my sympathies to you....what a tragic beginning to the year. That’s enough stress to set anyone on the MC path if their body was on the verge of it already.

If you haven’t already found an ordered Tex’s book on MC it’s a must have, I’m not sure exactly where the link is on this new site (used to be in upper right corner on main page). I refer back to it occasionally and I’ve been at this LC thing since 2015.

Welcome....this is a good place to talk about a lot of things.
Hugs
Erica

[molly.portillo]

Hi Tex and Erica,

Thank you for your replies. I've had a few days to "digest" my LC diagnosis and i'm starting to accept it.
I started the elimination diet yesterday and feel some relief knowing im doing something to help my body. If I start to have trouble sticking to the diet or my symptoms don't subside within in a month, I'll likely add the budesonide to help.

I'll plan to order Tex's book shortly! I'm anxious to get into it but in the meantime, i think i've read almost ever post on this forum.

Thank you THANK you for being here an for listening to me.

[Gabes-Apg]

welcome
it can be overwhelming at first - I was age 40 when Dx'd so can relate to your current unsettlement about the diagnosis

as someone who has come through the other side here is a long story short summary

- you can get your life back - it wont be the same as what it was pre MC
(if you can accept this mentally and emotionally you will have an awesome life!!)

- figure out your staple eating plan. keeping inflammation at minimum and having energy and focus is worth the effort

- taking 'control' now will protect you from worse health issues down the track. At my worst i had 5 auto immune issues in chronic state.

it is soooo much easier now!! the awareness of food intolerances, the wide range of products available, the 20 years of knowledge that is written and shared in this forum makes this journey super easy.

keep reading the various posts etc. be patient, sadly there is no quick fix, albeit figuring out what works for you will be foundation for healthy happy life
hope this helps!