My Ulcerative Colitis Road

Twists and turns of life

Looking back, the first signs started about 25 years ago. Every once in a while there would be blood in my stool, but I did not have diarrhea or anything else serious enough to make me think I should get checked out. I ignored it and just kept living life.

About 20 years ago, things changed fast.

I started having diarrhea with blood, and once it started it never really stopped. It became constant bloody diarrhea. I got so lightheaded and weak that I finally ended up going to the hospital.

While I was there, they did a colonoscopy and diagnosed me with ulcerative colitis. They started me on steroids right away. At the time, I hoped the medication would get things under control and life would go back to normal.

Instead, over the next couple of years things slowly got worse.

The diarrhea became more violent and more frequent. The gas was explosive and painful. Eventually I went to the bathroom every half hour to an hour all night long. Sleep barely existed anymore because every night I was constantly getting up and running to the bathroom.

The exhaustion started taking over my life.

Trying to keep working became one of the hardest things I have ever done. About every two hours I was fighting symptoms while trying to make it through my job. I remember praying constantly just for the strength to get through another day at work.

The disease started affecting the way I looked too. My skin turned gray and unhealthy looking. People would ask me things like, "Are you dealing with cancer?" Those comments did bother me, because I didn’t want to look so sick having to deal with the public but honestly, I probably did look very sick.

I became desperate to find anything that would help.

I started reading books and researching natural ways to get inflammation under control. I tried different diets, supplements, and anything else people suggested. Some things helped for a little while, but most of the improvements were temporary. Essential oils and DoTerra supplements seemed to help me more than anything else I tried, but even then it felt like the disease kept slowly progressing no matter what I did.

Eventually I started using stronger medications, and for a while things seemed somewhat manageable. But one day my doctor sat me down and told me there were only a few medications left to try. Some of them were extremely expensive, and there was no guarantee insurance would even cover them.

Then came the conversation I never wanted to hear.

He warned me that if I ran out of medication options, the next step would likely be removing my colon.

I fought that idea hard. I did not even want to consider surgery. I kept pushing for other options because the thought of losing my colon terrified me.

Living with ulcerative colitis felt like riding a roller coaster I could not get off. Sometimes things would improve for a while, and I would think maybe I was finally getting ahead of it. Then suddenly everything crashed again. Some flare-ups got so severe that I ended up back in the hospital because I could not get things under control on my own. Every hospital stay meant at least a week before I was stable enough to go home again.

Then everything shifted. After years of feeling trapped in a cycle of pain and setbacks, Ulcerative Colitis Pain Management became a true life-changing moment for me. Even though I only used it once, it marked the beginning of a transformation I never thought possible. As I kept investing in my health physically, mentally, and emotionally, I started to experience something I had nearly given up hope of ever feeling again: genuine, lasting improvement.

Eventually I got off the medication completely. Surprisingly, I did not notice much difference being off the medication compared to being on it.

I never returned to how things were before I was diagnosed, but life became much more manageable. Instead of constantly living in the bathroom, I was only spending a few minutes a day dealing with symptoms. The pain became less intense. The gas has improved. I finally started sleeping more at night.

For the first time in years, life felt livable again.

This journey changed me in ways I never expected. There were times I honestly did not know how I was going to keep going. But somehow, I kept fighting through the exhaustion, the fear, the hospital stays, and the uncertainty.

Things are still not perfect, but compared to where I was before, life is so much better now. And after everything, I am grateful for that.

This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis consult a professional.