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 […]
3 Irritating Side Effects of Remicade & Ideas to Help Manage Them
Remicade was a miracle drug for me. But even though it put me into remission, I still dealt with some pretty annoying side effects. In this post, I share the three side effects I experienced and offer some solutions you can try to help manage them. 3 Remicade Side Effects I Experienced I was on […]
How to Be a Confident Self-Advocate When You’re on Remicade
Being your own advocate is so important, but it does come with a learning curve. In this post, I describe my not-so-great second Remicade infusion experience so you don’t have to learn the hard way to be your own best advocate. Keep reading so you can avoid the experience I had and go into your […]