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About Edmund
I have pancolits and in 2014 had restorative proctocolectomy with ileo-anal pouch (J-pouch) surgery.
My gastro problems started when I picked upgiardiasis (infection of the digestive system) while in Russia in 2005 and when in India in 2008 I picked up amoebic dysentery. Consequently, my insides have never felt right since.
I started a new job in early 2012 and for various reasons I found this to be quite a stressful time. I started having symptoms of IBD shortly afterwards, but just assumed my insides were playing up again as a result of the previous infections. Although, with hindsight, I have since realised I was actually having flares with my UC.
My weight dropped to less than 10 stone (63.5kg) and was going to the toilet more than 10 times a day. I became anorexic because I was too scared to eat because of the consequences.
Eventually in 2012 I was diagnosed with UC.