Back toUpdated on October 25, 2024
A severe Crohn's flare-up sent Julie to the ER. Crohn's disease was not allowing her body to properly absorb iron, leading to iron-deficiency anemia and the need for an iron infusion. Watch Julie's story of taking back control.
Transcript
Always be in tune with your body. And if something is off, definitely look into it.
Iron-deficiency anemia is when our bodies are unable to metabolize and absorb iron
at an efficient level. So it leaves us feeling chronically exhausted. I thought it was normal to wake up feeling exhausted.
Pushed myself through work being exhausted, just living on caffeine. The old Julie used to love being social
and used to love going out. And I always was extremely optimistic. And it kind of took that all away from me.
Because I couldn't foresee a future. I couldn't imagine a day where I wasn't feeling exhausted.
I was only 24 when all of this happened with my first Crohn's flare. So I was naturally in denial and just thought
that I had extreme bloating. I called my doctor because of this. And he didn't like how my symptoms sounded
and how extreme it was. So he said, you know what, just go to your nearest emergency room just to make sure.
And then they found that it was a severe Crohn's flare, which involved a distended stomach.
I had extreme gas and bloating. And I had a golf-ball-sized abscess on my intestine. After they did a series of blood work, I had the bloodwork run.
And they saw how dangerously low my iron levels were. And it was because of my Crohn's disease. I wasn't properly absorbing the iron in my diet.
So I had to get an iron infusion immediately to get my iron stores back up to a healthy level. And it was a wake-up call to me when my daughter was
born that, now, not only was it important for me to manage my own health for myself, but now I had a daughter that's relying
on me to have energy and feel well all the time. Finally, in the summer of 2016, I was declared in remission.
And I have been in remission since. I have been gluten free for seven years. I have been better managing my stress.
I suddenly woke up with energy. And I was being really productive at work, and energized, and not because of coffee.
If you are diagnosed with Crohn's, colitis, or IBS, it may seem completely overwhelming.
As long as you're taking it day by day, and you take control over what you can control, there is no reason to think that you are completely helpless
