I needed the toilet 30 times a day – doctors told me I was a hypochondriac but they couldn’t have been more wrong
A NURSE who needed the toilet 30 times a day was dismissed by doctors as a hypochondriac.
Katie Harpur, 25, constantly felt the urge to run to the loo and ended up unable to eat without throwing up.
Her weight plummeted to just five stone and she had so little energy she could barely walk.
Eventually, she saw a GP who took her seriously and she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2014 aged 16.
Katie was told it was inevitable that she would one day need a stoma bag, and was fitted with a temporary one in 2019.
In June last year, she had the op to make the bag permanent – and she credits it with changing her life.
Katie, from Belfast, said: “I used to need to go to the toilet up to 30 times a day and I couldn’t go out and socialise for fear of there not being facilities nearby.
“It was incredibly limiting, and I was in a lot of pain to the point where I didn’t even want to go anywhere.
“I’d always wanted to travel but it was impossible for me to do so until I got my stoma bag fitted.
“Now I’ve booked my first long-haul flight to Japan, something I never would have been able to do before the op.”
Katie first started experiencing pain and nausea at the age of 14 but said doctors found it difficult to diagnose her.
“At first, they suspected that I was bulimic because my weight dropped,” she said.
“I lost a dangerous amount and weighed just five stone, but I didn’t have an eating disorder, it was just too painful for me to eat and if I did eat, I would vomit.
“I remember one doctor told me I was a hypochondriac, but I knew something wasn’t right.”
Persevering with medical appointments, Katie said her health deteriorated until she was admitted to hospital.
Unable to walk, the “weak” then 16-year-old spent two weeks on a ward where she had a colonoscopy.
When the biopsies came back, they confirmed she had Crohn’s disease – a lifelong condition where parts of the digestive system become inflamed.
Symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach aches and cramps, blood in your poo, fatigue and weight loss.
Katie was put on medication and later had a stoma bag fitted.
I used to need to go to the toilet up to 30 times a day and I couldn’t go out and socialise for fear of there not being facilities nearby.
Katie Harpur
She said: “Going into it, I obviously had body image concerns because I’m still quite young and people tend to have a false idea that stoma bags are dirty.
“I knew I would end up with a giant scar too and that made me nervous.”
Despite the bag being the solution to Katie’s painful symptoms, she suffered complications which led to her having the procedure reversed.
Battling infections and prolapse, her stoma was removed in January 2020, before a permanent one was fitted two years later.
Katie said: “Because there were so many issues with the first one, I was really nervous, especially as this stoma couldn’t be reversed.
“But my condition had gotten so bad and I was in so much pain, that this was really the only option for me at this point.”
As she approaches 12 months since her op, Katie said it has “changed her life”.
With no complications or symptoms, she is now able to travel and socialise with friends.
BREAKING THE STOMA STIGMA
“It’s honestly the best thing I’ve ever done,” she said.
“Growing up, I was so excited to travel but Crohn’s made it impossible.”
Katie has since booked a three-week trip to Tokyo for September this year.
She said: “Not being able to speak Japanese, I would have found it very hard to find a public toilet so wouldn’t have been able to do the trip before.
“But now I’m planning to go to Mount Fuji and Super Nintendo World, which I’m really excited for.”
She is raising awareness of Crohn’s disease on World IBD Day and hopes to break the stigma around stoma bags.
“A lot of people think having a stoma is the end of the world,” she said.
“I was so young getting mine done and I was nervous about how my body would change but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done – I wish I’d done it sooner.
“I hope people can see my experience and know that stoma bags aren’t scary.
“Mine has greatly improved my life and enabled me to start enjoying life again.”
What is Crohn's disease?
CROHN’s disease is a lifelong condition where parts of the digestive system become inflamed.
It is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which, along with ulcerative colitis, affects almost half a million people in the UK.
Symptoms usually start in childhood, but the disease affects people of all ages.
These include:
- Diarrhoea
- Stomach aches and cramps
- Blood in your poo
- Tiredness (fatigue)
- Weight loss
There is no cure, but treatment can help reduce or control symptoms.
Some people take medication to lessen inflammation in the digestive system, while others might have surgery to remove a small area.
The exact cause is unknown, but genes, problems with your immune system, smoking, stomach bugs and gut bacteria imbalances are believed to play a part.
Source: NHS