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 […]
Living with Autoimmune Pancreatitis, Part 3 of 6: My Third Hospitalization, a Specialty Endoscopy, and Starting Prednisone
Hi there! Welcome to part three of this six-part blog series about my crazy rollercoaster journey with autoimmune pancreatitis. Did you miss part one or two? Check them out here! This post will cover my third (and final) hospital stay, my specialty endoscopy procedure, and my super strange pathology results. We left off in late […]
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 […]
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 […]
Health Update: An Inflamed Colon, an Inconvenient Hospitalization, and Starting Entyvio
In August 2018, I was hospitalized for five days for the worst ulcerative colitis flare of my life. In this post, I share why I was hospitalized, how they managed my symptoms in the hospital, and how this flare affected my long-term school and career plans. Let’s dive in! The First Signs of the Flare […]