The Diary of Li'l Crohnsie

CCFU?

2012-01-25T14:17:00.000-05:00

So, I've had my criticisms of the CCFA in the past, and was myself once threatened to be booted from their forums. So I wasn't too shocked today when the guys at SCD Lifestyle linked to a post by Crohn'sDad about getting formally banned from the CCFA community pages. I haven't bothered with the CCFA page for a while, but apparently he broke the rule of making treatment-specific suggestions and making "tasteless posts" whatever that means. As an advocate of the SCD diet and alternative treatments, it seems like Crohn'sDad wasn't too welcome by the CCFA.

It's their page, they can do whatever they want, and being that I never read the posts in question I can't necessarily defend them....but I still think it's lame to boot someone who wants to act as a resource and help people. If you don't know by now that you have to take the information you read on the Internet with a grain of salt and do your own degree of research to verify the advice you come across, then you probably shouldn't be online to begin with. Neither the CCFA nor any other organization can control that.

Presented Without Comment

2012-01-18T13:28:00.000-05:00

via happyplace.com

Let's Talk About Brains

2012-01-10T11:53:00.004-05:00

So perhaps you've already read about the angry NYU student who very publicly flipped her lid by cc'ing her entire department on a thread of diversely fonted e-mails. It's brought up a lot of questions about her mental state, political leanings and overall sense of entitlement. A lot of commentors on the blogs that have covered this story have diagnosed the student in question as being bi-polar or schizophrenic. Some who claim to know her dismiss this and say she's not "crazy" at all, just annoying. While I have all sorts of opinions on this, the reason I'm posting about it here is this- who says mental illness has to be a grand diagnosis? I know I've had bouts of anxiety or depression that are more akin to a cold than acute inflammation, and I think these short-term cases of the head-sicks are far more common than typically addressed. I don't mean to imply that mental health issues just come and go or magically disappear, rather that you don't have to be clinically insane or identify as "crazy" to suffer from an episode of mental illness.

A personal anecdote: It's no secret that I take celexa to deal with my anxiety. I tried therapy a few times, and never found the right doctor so, as a college student short on time and in desperate need of a solution, I turned to meds. A few years ago I tried to come off of it, and I became irritable, paranoid and somehow both self-deprecating yet self-aggrandizing. In this time I also happened to try the Nuva Ring for birth control and it made me borderline suicidal. I spent two weeks out of every month thinking about slitting my wrists which is, hands down, the last thing I would ever do to myself. I've never been a cutter and, with the exception of my period, I typically feel faint when I see my own blood. The moment of truth came for me when I was in Florida on a family vacation and I couldn't stop crying when I was sitting on a private beach on a beautiful day. Thankfully I know myself well enough that I was able to say "Okay, this is not me, this is not right, this ring has to come out." I had an awesomely blunt conversation about it with my mother on our flight back, with my poor little brother stuck in the middle seat between us. I've never seen him squirm so much in his life. Ha!

But removing the ring wasn't enough. Although it relieved the more serious symptoms of depression and I no longer found myself thinking about wrist-slitting, I still felt miserable and angry almost all of the time.I often fantasized about blowing up at my then-job, storming out in the name of the little guy like a corporate martyr. I usually managed to direct these impulses and only act on them when it came to bitching out my cable company or reaming out businesses with no customer service skills, but that's not to say I didn't also do stupid shit I'm not proud of. I've burned a fair amount of bridges thanks to lapses in my mental health, and clearly I'm not alone. I met with my doctor, and went back on my meds and have been significantly happier since (although I do hope to someday give them up, perhaps when I'm living somewhere less miserable than NYC).

So, going back to this NYU student. Although I've linked to the story, I'm hesitant to go into it in-depth or even include her name here. She may very well be mentally sound and deserve all of the criticism she is getting (because frankly, her arguments for not wanting to do her homework are pretty weak and she paints a pretty unflattering picture of herself) but if she is indeed suffering from a wave of mental imbalance then I feel kind of terrible for her. Although she certainly seems to want the attention, she might look back in a year and say "Oh God I wish I knew then that I was making a huge mistake." The Internet is an amazing thing, but it can do a hell of a lot of damage to your reputation and, when mentally ill, even in brief spurts, it can be one of your worst enemies.

**Update** Here's a much more expansive piece on attitudes towards depression that is a worthwhile read and offers some great advice. Thanks to Catherine for writing about her experiences so openly!

Image source: physorg.com

Resopoohtions

2012-01-03T15:24:00.001-05:00

1. Work "pooh" into as many words possible
My love of poop humor is rivaled only by my love of puns. The more I can make the two combine, the better my blogging experience.

2. Reduce my daily average of bowel movements from 4-5 to 1-2
2a. Stop drinking coffee

3. Be less lazy.

I spend all day at a computer, then go home, slump on the couch with my laptop and watch tv. I'm so out shape even sex feels like a strenuous workout.

Well, that's not many resopoohtions, but it's a good start. Especially for someone who share's Calvin's views on self-improvement. What about you, readers? Any resopoohtions of note for 2012?

Image credit: Bill Watterson/Universal Press Syndicate

Hello 2012, bring on the apoohcalypse!

2012-01-02T17:19:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year, and I hope everyone's having a fine winter so far. I can't believe it's 2012 already. I've been AWOL thanks to a business trip, finals and the holidays. Surprisingly, none of these events have seemed to spark much on the IBD front (knock on wood). Ordinarily I don't do to well with time changes, so the business trip had me a little worried since it was out West. Finals weren't that stressful because I was taking all design classes, so that wasn't a big deal. The holidays are usually the biggest risk, as I have little-to-no self-control when it comes to gorging myself on home cooking and drinking too much holiday cheer. We'll see if the piper comes to collect in the next few weeks, but for now everything's coming out nice n' easy.

...and on the topic of poop coming out, I just read over on io9 that wombat shit comes out in cube form. How weird is that?? If the world does end this year (and I kind of hope it does) I'm glad I lived long enough to learn that fun fecal fact.

The Neverending Butt Itch

2011-12-16T14:07:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry Falcor. I done you wrong. All in the name of a cheap laugh.

Let's talk about that awful sensation of The Neverending Butt Itch, a phenomenon recently highlighted on Texts From Bennett. Bennett, however, blames his butt itch on a lazy wipe. Me, personally, I find while it feels like I haven't wiped enough, on those days of The Neverending Butt Itch I actually wipe significantly more throughout the course of the day than I normally would in a week. I find myself ducking into a corner as I walk down the hall at work, or the sidewalk, so I can discreetly get a good crack scratch in, but this only serves as a temporary fix. Ten minutes later my brown eye starts to tear up again and the sensation of being bitten by mites can't be ignored. My only respite is to slip into a bathroom and wipe yet again. It could very well be that the irritation from all that wiping is doing more harm than good. In fact, I'd say that's pretty likely. But what that doesn't explain is the constant presence of poop on the paper. No matter how in-depth I get with the wiping, I still manage to come back with a streak. I might wipe a good ten times - without having even pooped - before I can get away with an acceptably clean swipe. I have yet to find a pattern (i.e. it only happens when I drink coffee, or it only happens when I'm on my period) so I'm assuming it's just the colitis itself having some fun with me. If anyone else has experienced this phenomenon I'd love to know your thoughts.

xox
Li'l Crohnsie

Do you know what today is?

2011-12-01T15:17:00.001-05:00

Get ready for company, World AIDS Day, for today also marks the start of the first ever Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week! What a busy day for people with immune disorders! Go out and get yourselves some brown ribbon and make yourself a little pin for IBD education.You can even make it hold hands with your AIDS ribbon, as pictured above.

Here are some tips - snagged directly from the CCFA website - on what you can do to take part in the fectivities (that pun might be kind of a stretch but I'm sticking to it):

Write to your House Representatives and encourage them to join the Crohn’s and Colitis Caucus, http://capwiz.com/ccfa/home/

“Like” the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ccfafb) and follow the Foundation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ccfa)
Change your Facebook status to: I’m supporting Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness week and you should too! To learn more, http://online.ccfa.org/AwarenessWeek
Use the #CCFAawarenessweek on twitter

Change your profile picture to our logo, download here.

Download our Awareness Week Poster

Reach out to anyone you know with IBD and let them know you care

Download the Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week Press Release.

Visit www.ccfa.org to learn more about the disease

I would suggest expanding your awareness or sharing your expertise by reading through the forums at the CCFA site, as well as other sites like e-patients and We Are Crohn's and contribute what you can. Do you have advice or simply words of compassion to share with others? Why not start a blog of your own? Or give some readership to the wonderful folks I've got featured on my blog roll? Go on, get to it!

xoxo
"Li'l Crohnsie"

Example: The Importance of Being a Pro-Active Patient

2011-11-30T10:47:00.001-05:00

I'm posting this somewhat hastily since I'm on the clock right now, but e-patients.net just posted a great story by a pro-active patient, Kenneth Spriggs, who created the above infographic charting his medication history since over two decades of various inflammatory issues, including IBD. (It's far more impressive than the various spreadsheets I've kept over the years, although if you ask me, it could use a few more pooh puns.)
I'm a firm believer in the importance of being a pro-active patient- your history and your data is yours and you should know it more intimately than any doctor you have or will interact with. You will always be one of many other patients and doctors are, after all, mere humans like the rest of us - even the best will make mistakes or have bad days, which is why I cannot stress enough how important it is to stay proactive!

Check out Spriggs' pet project DIYEHR to learn more about collecting your health data.

Gotta get back to the rat race,

Li'l Crohnsie

From the Archives: A Guide to Shitting Your Pants

2011-11-22T11:37:00.001-05:00

A friend on Facebook made mention of having a potty emergency, and, although I'm not sure what type of potty emergency it was, it inspired me to revisit this post from 2009:

"Last night a colleague of mine posed the question: is it possible to shit your pants with a solid poop instead of diarrhea? In other words, does self defecation necessitate the runs?

In my experience, while more often than not accidents do involve the loosies, I do recall pooping a normal poop in my pants, or at least it started coming out that way. In the end, if you're pooping in your pants it's going to get squished. This brought about a discussion on the best type of underwear to be donning at the time of an unfortunate "incident." It got me going on a bit of an advice kick, so here I present a few tips on what to expect when shitting your pants.

Obviously if you shit yourself, you'll want to get yourself into a situation where you can clean up and put the whole event behind you as fast as possible, as discreetly as a possible. Taking even the simplest precautions can better prepare you for an unlikely and unpleasant experience such as crapping your pants.

For me, I've always been wearing cotton bikini briefs. I just like the way they fit, but they're also ideal for a patient of IBD, as I find it best to be wearing snug underwear and slightly loose pants when losing my bowels. Tight undies will help contain the mess, which is important when trying to act casual. If your doo-doo does escape the first layer of protection provided by your drawers then loose fitting pants should be your next line of defense because they won't give you away with big stains (the logic being that the fabric is farther from your skin, whereas if you were wearing spandex everyone could tell from the spreading brown stain that you shat yourself).

Of course regardless of your attire it is never fun or comfortable to poop yourself. You're probably going to have to run somewhere to take care of the situation and that will just smear the poop all over your butt cheeks, genitals, and maybe even down your legs, and it doesn't stay warm for long. In addition to considering your wardrobe you should probably take care to have a wetnap on you at all times, and stow a spare pair of pants wherever is convenient. I keep pants and underwear in my desk at work, the LAST place you want to be when shitting your britches!

One last tip before signing off: the worst and most common part of the self defecation experience is shame. Don't forget, LOTS of people shit themselves, and you'd be surprised how few of them have an excuse like IBD."

In follow-up to those pointers I have an additional word to the wise: try not to panic. I know it's hard not to when you start to feel the tell-tale pangs of imminent self-defecation, but try to breathe. I was stuck on the subway the other morning and started to cramp up, but I began taking deep yogic breaths and the anxiety soon passed and with it went the cramps. There is no surefire way to avoid the pants-pooping that is bound to happen at some point in a lifetime of IBD, but I find trying to keep my stress down increases my chances of making it to the bathroom.

One more things- I cannot reiterate the importance of not feeling shamed. I've claimed "morning sickness" to use a public bathroom before because I was embarrassed to explain that I had a poop-inducing disease. It's certainly much easier for people to wrap their heads around, but I've resolved to be more honest. In the future I hope to have the nerve to say: "I have colitis. I can poop in your bathroom, or I can poop on your floor."

G2P?

2011-11-19T18:48:00.001-05:00

I'd been complaining to some folks in my graduate programs about how disgusting some of the people that go to our school are - a judgement based on the state of the campus bathrooms. There is always backsplash on the seat, more toilet paper than necessary clogging at least one of the bowls, and some of the dumbest, uninspired bathroom graffiti I've ever seen. It was like kismet, then, when I next used the bathroom and saw a flyer for a website devoted to documenting the public bathrooms of New York City. (Naturally, I had to submit.)

Have you had an NYC bathroom horror, or by some stroke of luck a luxury bathroom experience that you'd care to share? This is the place to do it. I'm hoping it gets populated to a point where it can serve as a sort of Yelp for folks like us who might need to locate a public bathroom in a pinch.

Image source: g2pnyc.com

Hey, Massholes!

2011-11-10T16:31:00.000-05:00

You gonna be in Jamaica Plain on Sunday, November 13th? YES?? Then go listen to some live music in the name of furthering IBD research. Give an extra loud round of applause for the bands Firebad and Torpedo Rodeo, featuring some wicked awesome guys I went to college with.

More info at the Facebook event page, and the Midway Cafe homepage as well.

Image Source: Dude, I think we might be fat

Daily Dose of FAIL

2011-11-08T15:05:00.000-05:00

I'm quite happy to take Lialda twice a day, but it really does crack me up that the bottle says "once daily". I just had to submit it to failblog.org. Keep your eyes out in case it gets posted!

And now I'm glad I never tried acid

2011-11-04T11:51:00.002-04:00

see more funny videos, and check out our Yo Dawg lols!

IBD Book Club

2011-10-28T14:54:00.001-04:00

Most folks with chronic illnesses have coping mechanisms. Over the years mine have included writing, painting, and activities that involve hitting things (golfing, boxing, playing the drums). As an adult I've mostly turned to rant blogging here because a) I can do it sitting down and b) I don't have as much time/discipline for my other hobbies as I did when I was younger. But enough about me, this post is actually about a girl named Sarah.

Sarah is a young girl who has been fiercely battling IBD since a very early age. Her coping mechanism is writing, which she is impressively committed to. When she can't sit comfortably at a computer, she reclines on the couch or in bed and writes with paper and pencil.Thinking back to my last flare-up, I could barely sit up in bed and I wasn't half as ill as this kid. But what's most impressive is that she's written a novel. A novel! At twelve years old! I suggest you check it out and purchase it here. It sounds like a riveting sci-fi/fantasy tale.

As you'll read over on her dad's blog, Sarah has had a hard time finding a safe medication that doesn't do more harm than good. As most of us know from experience, these treatments don't come cheap. Proceeds from buying Sarah's book will help her family pay for her medical care, as well as for her little sister Izzy, who's had her own share of medical drama. Please visit their site to read more.

Image Source: Sarah's Story

Check-up Time

2011-10-24T15:28:00.001-04:00

I had an appointment with the gastro today, since I've had some minor symptoms these past few weeks. Specifically, I feel painfully hungry then immediately full as soon as I start to eat; my poop comes out too loudly, and with occasional blood; and I've had a few bouts of morning sickness. I also needed to update my cortifoam prescription since I'm back to taking it twice a day.

It was crazy busy over there today, and I feel like the doc was having an "off" day, as I didn't get a whole lot of feedback from him. We did some new blood work to see where my white cells are at. A few weeks ago the count was "borderline" normal, meaning just below average, which means no increasing my Imuran until that gets settled. Which is fine, because I hate Imuran, but bad because I could probably use an increase. Of course, what I could really stand to do is quit drinking coffee but with a full course load and a full-time job I've come to really lean on it. Try as I might, even in the cold weather, I can't seem to give up my morning iced coffee (which is easier on me than hot coffee because the ice waters it down nicely). It would also likely behoove me to exercise more (meaning at all) and to start cutting things out of my diet, like refined sugar and preservatives. Maybe after Halloween...

Image Source: Simpsons Wiki

Romantic

2011-10-19T15:00:00.000-04:00

Today J sent me this photo with the following text: "I heart you. The two leaves represent us."
Assuming the two green leaves were the only ones in the photo, I mistook the main leaf to be a heart-shaped puddle of dog diarrhea. It's still romantic anyway.

Ploptober Musings

2011-10-17T16:07:00.002-04:00

Isn't it cute when animals poop? It's been a minute since my last post, thanks in part to full-time job, full-time school and part-time tv watching. In short, time for an update! The biggest news is that I turned 30. It's astounding to think I've had IBD for 18 years (22 if you count when I began having symptoms but was never diagnosed).Two of my besties got me an enormous blueberry crumble for my birthday. Too bad I forgot eating blueberries in excess can turn your poop bright green and gave myself a good scare the next day!

I had a pretty challenging summer - my grandmother had open heart surgery (she's fine), my brother and I were in a three car collision (we're fine) and one of my beloved aunts passed away from lung cancer (not so fine). I spent a fair amount of time contemplating mortality, moreso than usual (I'm a pretty morbid person). I was also reading Jim Beaver's memoir Life's That Way which chronicles his wife's losing battle with cancer, which left me bawling on more than one occasion, but it was very cathartic and surprisingly uplifting. Check it out if you or a loved-one is facing terminal illness, or if you just happen to have mortality on the mind.

I had a few bouts of depression and anxiety here and there, especially after the car accident. J and I took a trip to the Poconos about two weeks after the fact, and I spent most of the three-hour drive clutching the "oh shit" handle, as I so eloquently call that thing above the passenger side door, and had a killer migraine by the time we arrived at our destination.But this all passed, as most bad things do, and come September I was back in classes and happily distracted by work.

Gut-wise I could be doing a smidge better. I've been really, really bad about caffeine intake, and have even tampered with booze now and again. This wouldn't be so risky if I weren't also on a lower dose of Imuran than usual. My white cell count is not what it should be, so I've gone from 175mg to 100mg per day. There's been blood in the toilet here and there, but apparently my blood work is still less than ideal, so I'll stay at 100mg and start taking my cortifoam twice a day again. (I've been using it once daily for a few months now.) I'm pooping more than usual, and it's often mighty noisy. I'd say I run the tap at the office bathroom nine times out of ten in an attempt to drown out my trumpeting anus, but I fear running the water might just be a placebo, as I can still hear co-workers talking and typing from my position on the pot and it stands to reason they can hear me farting over the water. Hopefully they all understand this sacred wisdom: Everybody Poops.

Well, that's about it for now.

'til next time,
Li'l Crohnsie

Image source: Flickriver.com

Lets Talk Titties Updated 9/8

2011-09-02T14:48:00.002-04:00

So last weekend I managed to injure my right tit while playing wii sports with too much vigor. Whoops. I went to visit my physician today just to get it checked out, because the sore spot on the right side of my right boob felt a little thicker than usual and the pain has been bothering me for about five days now. I do happen to have PMS, which certainly doesn't help in that respect, and my I've been using Tazorac dermatological gel on them lately which could certainly be to blame.

Some history - In 1999, the summer before I left began college, I had a breast reduction which brought me from an E cup to a C cup. Unfortunately my many years on prednisone left me with thin skin so the scars have never fully faded, and I find my breast to be excessively stretch marked (which is what I use the Tazorac to combat, somewhat in vain), hence my pet name for them, "Frankentits". Per my GP they are also "the lumpiest breasts I have ever felt." Not quite the superlative I was looking for.

She didn't find any specific lumps of concern, but I'm scheduled for a mammogram next week just to be safe. I honestly should have had one shortly after the surgery, to provide a base-reference for mammograms of the future, but I never did. I'll blame it on college getting in the way. So stay tuned for an update, as I'm sure I'll be eager to share the inevitable pain of having my already aching tits pancaked into an x-ray device.

Until then,
Li'l Crohnsie

**UPDATE** The titty crushing went swimmingly! I won't say I'm in the clear until I hear it from my doctor, but the technician didn't seem to betray any sense of concern, and mentioned several times that it's normal for a woman my age to have lumpy breasts, especially if I've had reduction surgery. She was pretty tickled when I told her I assumed I injured myself playing Wii tennis, and complimented my smiling the whole time. I told her it beat drinking barium or having a rectal exam. Put it in perspective, that's my best advice. I also had the honor of breaking in a new mammography machine - Fancy!

In addition to the tit tests I had an ultrasound on my thyroid because my doc thought the right side was a bit large last I saw her. The US tech told me it seemed slightly bigger than the left side, but not enlarged - more likely a natural asymmetry, like when one foot is bigger than the other (or one testicle hangs lower, that's the first place my mind went, of course).

Image source: dvtalk.com

This Would Suit Me Pretty Well...

2011-08-31T14:46:00.003-04:00

Hopefully I won't die anytime soon, but that doesn't mean I can't plan ahead. Although I'm still pretty smitten with the idea of feeding my remains to a mushroom death suit I must say the idea of having myself flushed down a toilet seems pretty fitting, given the amount of time I've spent sitting on one over the past thirty years.

Thanks to some Scots, there is now a machine that processes your body into flushable ash via a process that is less damaging to the environment than cremation. Via CNet :

"The Resomator s750 is a 7-foot stainless steel tank. It works by immersing the body in a mix of water and potassium hydroxide, which is heated to 356 F. It's also subjected to pressure equivalent to 10 atmospheres during the two- to three-hour process.

The mortal remains are turned into ash and sterile, DNA-free liquid, which gets flushed. Bones are crushed in a separate process, and any implants including mercury fillings are recovered. There are no airborne mercury emissions.

Resomation says its alkaline hydrolysis machines cut greenhouse emissions by a third compared to cremation, and use only one-seventh the energy."

Sounds good to me! But I should probably mention that as a child I tried to flush a goldfish down the toilet, but quickly about-faced in a fit of hysterical crying, demanding my parents scoop Metsy the Fish (named after our cat, Metsy) out of the bowl.So perhaps I will stick to my plan of being eating by the mushroom death suit instead. At least that way everyone at the funeral can eat the me-shrooms and trip their balls off in my honor.

I'm not sure how I feel about this...

2011-08-24T11:00:00.000-04:00

I'm on the CCFA mailing list, although I admittedly pay it (or any of the other mailing lists I'm on) much mind. However, I was glancing at the most recent e-mail, inviting people to share their stories to compete in the IBD Icon contest (a play on American Idol, I suppose). Here's an excerpt that raised my eyebrows:

"IBD Icons are any of the 1.4 million Americans living with Crohn's or colitis who pursue their dreams without giving in to their disease."

So first off, as someone who loathes competition, I'm not keen on turning one's illness into a contest. But beyond that I really take issue with the phrase "without giving into their disease" as I feel this implies anyone has a choice in the severity of their illness and how it impacts their life. Don't get me wrong, I think it's wonderful to encourage people to follow their dreams despite the obstacle of a chronic illness, but sometimes you can't NOT give into being debilitatingly sick. I really don't feel it's right to put people in a position to feel worse about themselves because they're too ill to participate in something, or have not yet gotten to a point of remission where they can continue to pursue their dreams. And what if a patient's dream at present is to simply get better? Is that a lesser dream somehow?

But what say you readers? Am I being overly sensitive? Or do you find this strange as well?

xoxo

Li'l Crohnsie

Lab-Grown Anal Sphincter is Hilarious, Useful

2011-08-12T12:12:00.000-04:00

io9 is reporting via Discover Magazine that scientists have succeeded in growing a working anal sphincter in a petri dish. Although a lab-grown human sphincter has yet to be tested, testing on mice has been promising. I'm sure someone like Sarah Palin would roll their eyes at something so absurd sounding, but for those of us with IBD it's a huge relief to know we may very well have a back-up in place if/when our own sphincters give out for good.

Image Credit: Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine

Today in IBD Apparel - the Rainbowel T-Shirt

2011-08-11T11:08:00.000-04:00

My awesome friend Doug, an artist, filmmaker, and fellow IBDer, has designed this equally awesome t-shirt that I will be buying as soon as I get my next paycheck. I love a good pun, I love a good t-shirt, and I love me some Doug G. Williams. So hop on over to redbubble.com and check out his bitchin' designs!

Birth Control Blog Carnival (fried dough not included)

2011-07-21T14:28:00.005-04:00

So I penned this long,emotional post only to have Blogger eat it. I guess Blogger is anti-choice. That's its prerogative, I suppose. But mine is this: I support free birth control, and I'm going to tell you why.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I feel compelled to share my own troubles with various birth control methods. Condoms chafe me, lube burns me (even the sensitive kind), pills make me nuts, the ring made me suicidal and the IUD gave me a six-month long period. Despite my many personal issues with finding a safe, reliable method for my own preventive measures, I still support a woman's right to bodily autonomy and am proud to voice my support of the National Institute of Medicine's recommendation to make contraceptives free of charge. I can't say what will work for you and what won't. As with all medications you should work in concert with a health professional to find what's right for you, but having the ability to explore those options at no cost makes doing so that much easier. Here are a few more reasons I back this:

- First off, not all birth control is for the sake of preventing pregnancy. Condoms can reduce the risk of contracting an STD, and hormonal pills are used for many other reasons such as acne, hormonal imbalances and severe menstrual pain. The latter is why I began taking the pill when I was still a virgin with no prospects of getting laid on the horizon. It also provided a small reassurance that were I to be raped pregnancy would be one less concern. I know that's really dark, but I'm a deeply paranoid person and I sure as shit don't want to have a rape baby, or put myself through an abortion thanks to a rapist.

- Second, I believe firmly in population control. If you happen to believe in the Christian bible, that's fine, but let me remind you the directive to "Be Fruitful and Multiply" was given when the world population was two. TWO. There are now far more children then there are loving families for them and that's a damn shame. Not all unplanned pregnancies end badly, but I'd say most unwanted pregnancies do.

-Third, I believe in free health care in general (or paid for by our taxes, you get what I mean). Other developed countries have figured this out, why can't we? Americans aren't invincible. I never want to see a loved one suffer because they can't afford health care.

So those are my primary reasons for participating in the Birth Control Blog Carnival. If you support affordable family planning please join in. Post your own blog, Tweet with the #BCBC hashtag, and visit Planned Parenthood and the National Women's Law Center webpages.

Thanks and love,

Li'l Crohnsie

Image Source: Another Wine Blog and Web MD

Dear Supreme Court

2011-06-23T13:37:00.000-04:00

Fuck you. I mean really, is it that big a deal to require generic drug makers to put warnings on their medications when they use shit ingredients that may cause horrendous side effects? For example, when I take azathioprine instead of Imuran or citalopram instead of Celexa, I wind up running to the bathroom with bloody diarrhea 30+ times a day. No exaggeration. Over thirty times a day with a bleeding asshole. While this is problematic for anyone, it is especially frustrating when the bulk of the medications you take happen to be for an inflammatory bowel disease and are meant to STOP your runny anus from bleeding. Do you think I want to pay out the nose for name brand medications? Because I don't. But I HAVE to.

I'm sick of walking into chain pharmacies that try to advertise generics as "safe" and "just the same" as normal meds when something in the fillers and binders is obviously toxic and harmful. Do you have any idea the downward spiral a bad generic med can cause in the already horrendous trial-and-error process of finding the right medication for you? Let's say you're sick and your doctor gives you a generic prescription. You feel worse, so you think that med just doesn't work for you, but really it could just be that the generic doesn't work for you. Will your doctor draw that conclusion and offer you the brand? I doubt it. Instead they will probably give you another generic prescription for a different medication and so on and so on.

So thank you, Supreme Court, for being Supreme dickheads to the American consumer.

Yours,
Li'l Crohnsie

Image Source: MonkeyMind

"Eat Shit" may no longer be an insult

2011-06-19T13:37:00.001-04:00

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