Hi and welcome back to this six-part blog series about my 2023 – 2024 journey with autoimmune pancreatitis. Today is part five, but if you missed any previous posts, be sure to read them here first! In part four, we left off this story with my alarm bells ringing. The fact that I continued to […]
Living with Autoimmune Pancreatitis, Part 4 of 6: Three Prednisone Tapers, Declining Azathioprine, and a Possible Alternative Diagnosis?
Hi and welcome back to this six-part blog series about my 2023 – 2024 journey with autoimmune pancreatitis. Today is part four, but if you missed the first half of this series, be sure to read those posts first here! This post will cover my three prednisone courses and tapering structures, why I declined my […]
3 Reasons Why Prednisone Causes Weight Gain (And 3 Tips to Stop Gaining More Weight)
If you have Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis, you’ve probably taken prednisone at some point. Prednisone, sometimes referred to as the “devil’s tic-tacs” in the chronic illness community, has some fairly intense side effects including weight gain. But why exactly does it cause weight gain? And what can you do to prevent gaining weight? Keep reading […]
7 Practical Tips to Hide and Prevent Chronic Illness-Related Hair Loss
IBD is an invisible disease. One of the top invisible extraintestinal manifestations I deal with is hair loss. I’ve met many others in the chronic illness community who deal with hair loss, whether it’s due to medications, malnutrition, or the disease itself. Regardless of the cause, there are techniques to hide the hair loss and […]
The Remarkable Ways Vancomycin Improved My Ulcerative Colitis and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
I had elevated liver numbers near the end of 2017 and my gastroenterologist believed I had the rare liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Unfortunately, the results of my procedures (including a specialty blood test and an MRCP) were normal. That’s why my GI and I decided that I try vancomycin to see if it […]
My Experience Transitioning from a Biologic to an Oral Medication
Can you switch from a biologic to an oral medication? Although this typically isn’t recommended, my doctor and I decided to try this transition in 2016. Keep reading to find out why we made this decision and how it worked out for me. Before Switching Meds, I Had a Colonoscopy The first step in this […]