A Backstory, A New Story

On the 12th of May, year 2016 C.E., I am making what may turn out to be a very, very stupid decision. I’m going to try a diet.

I involuntarily sneered just typing the word.

Two major illnesses have come to have unfortunate influence on my life. At the age of sixteen, I was diagnosed with anorexia and spent the following…well, until the present day, dealing with the physical and emotional ramifications of a really, truly obnoxious mental illness. I’ve been behavior-free for five and a half years (cue confetti!), but this blog isn’t about that.

 

Confession: I can’t stop laughing at this picture

In January of 2016, after more medical tests than I’d gone through in the previous twenty years of my live, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Here’s a tip, by the by: do not hesitate to go to the doctor if you’re consistently pooping blood for five-plus weeks.

Oh, yes, dear readers! This blog will be talking about butt stuff. And not the potentially fun kind.

For those of you who do not know and don’t wish to hit up the wikipedia: ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease. It is more a remarkably consistent set of symptoms than anything else: ulcers throughout the large intestine/colon and rectum, frequent bowel movements and diarrhea, blood in bowel movements, and, most characteristically, inflammation of the large intestine.

To this day it’s unclear what exactly causes ulcerative colitis. It is, however, safe to say how the inflammation itself is generated. Bacteria in the large intestine get together with your trusty immune system. Together, they just decide to THROW A PARTY. Not a nice little get-together with friends, wine, food, and conversation. A goddamn rager where the keg gets thrown off a balcony, someone ends up crying, vomit is found somewhere other than the bathroom, and several people are missing shoes the next day. Bacteria get rowdy. Leukocytes down vodka & Redbull start a mosh pit. It ends well for no one.

I hope they recycle

 

Technically, it doesn’t end. Ulcerative colitis is chronic, but is treatable by certain anti-inflammatories and immunosuppressants.

All things considered, I’m remarkably fortunate. My UC is considered mild in terms of long-term intestinal scarring and GI symptoms (it was quite a lot of blood, and I say that as a person who menstruates, but not the chronic and debilitating diarrhea of which I’ve heard horror stories). I obtained a prescription for delayed-release anti-inflammatory a few months ago and celebrated.

 

What do we do immediately upon coming out of colonoscopy sedation? Take a selfie! …I have literally no idea how I got my phone for this.

 

However. I am not starting this blog because all my symptoms are, by the miracle of modern medicine, completely under control. While the worst of the GI symptoms have abated, they periodically decide to make a small appearance. (Enough to be a flare up?) I was also pretty damn uninformed about the other symptoms that UC can bring into insufferable being, like fatigue and migraines. On the other hand, I am a fourth year PhD student. Apparently, fatigue and migraines can come with the career choice.

That was an awful lot of hedging for one paragraph. Ulcerative colitis (and inflammatory diseases generally) are tricky and unpredictable things. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I am not a fan of tricky and unpredictable, particularly in regard to my own body.

We arrive at the driving forces behind this blog: my own ignorance, coupled with my desire for ever more information.

So, Internet, allow this blog to formalize my attempts to get my health under some semblance of control. I am a scientist. This means I like large studies and lots of data, but I also like to keep an open mind. I like to experiment. Most of all, I like to not feel unwell 90% of the time. So, let’s explore all of that!

 

Using SCIENCE!

 

I anticipate posts not only bitching about my recent need to get 10+ hours of sleep a night (and boy howdy, there will be those!), but also digging into the scientific literature of IBD and other inflammatory diseases. Many people don’t have access to peer-reviewed journals or the resources to understand just what research articles are saying. Personally, I find knowledge and understanding helpful, even if it doesn’t have an immediate impact on my treatment. I also want to hear from you! I want to find out what works for you and what doesn’t. How weird things about your life, which aren’t easily captured in a study, might impact your illness.

Which brings me to the opening of this post. I am embarking on a small experiment with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I weep for the loss of my brown rice. Many people manage their UC symptoms with a variety of diets, but remember: I have a raging and fairly recent history of anorexia.

How’s that for ‘weird things in my life, which aren’t easily captured in a study, but impact my illness’?