Caroline has kindly shared her IBD story with us, in her own words, from the long, difficult road to diagnosis to what it’s really like living with chronic gut symptoms day to day. It’s honest, powerful, and a reminder that you know your body better than anyone.

Caroline also includes the small routines that help her feel supported, including choosing to take Ferrocalm as part of her everyday gut-health toolkit (not as a treatment or cure, simply as something she finds helpful alongside her wider care).

If you’ve ever felt dismissed, overwhelmed, or alone with gut issues, we hope her story helps you feel seen. 

Caroline's Story

Hello Readers, 

My name is Caroline and I was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease 6 years ago. The diagnosis process was a very long and difficult one. I realised IBD ran in my family at the age of 22 yet didn’t get diagnosed until 26. It was a very long journey of getting dismissed and feeling like my GP didn’t believe me. I took my mum to every appointment and found having an extra person there to back up my symptoms and how bad things were, did really help. I also would do food diaries and symptom diaries to show how bad things were getting. 

"My symptoms were over 15 toilet trips a day, constant diarrhoea, bleeding from my bottom, stomach agony, mouth ulcers and so much more."

I eventually found that all I needed was that one doctor to really listen to me. It can be so disheartening to be so dismissed by a doctor but I soon realised that we know our own bodies better than anyone and we know when something really isn’t right. I found it so hard to deal with the constant symptoms and it all took a toll on my physical and mental health. My symptoms were over 15 toilet trips a day, constant diarrhoea, bleeding from my bottom, stomach agony, mouth ulcers and so much more. 

Once I was diagnosed, I realised that I wasn’t alone, thousands of others are battling my illness/ stomach issues and this made me really want to speak about it and share my journey to help others. I know how alone I felt trying to get the diagnosis and I hate knowing other people are out there feeling the same way. I have now grown an amazing community where we can all support each other and give advice, kind words or just hope to carry on. 

"If someone cares about us, they won’t judge us for an illness, instead they will want to be able to help support us."

Going through such daily struggles, I found it was important to speak to people about how I was feeling. I started getting stomach problems from a very young age. I was so embarrassed having accidents and needing the loo so much that I barely told anyone. I was worried people would judge me, however, as I got older I found I needed to tell those close to me and be able to speak about it because I struggled so much.

If someone cares about us, they won’t judge us for an illness, instead they will want to be able to help support us. I found by not telling people, I wasn’t even giving them a chance to be there for me. With dating, I now mention my illness in the talking stage so I can see their reaction. If they react badly to it or judge me, I much prefer to know at the beginning so I don’t waste anytime. 

My whole illness has had such a big impact on my life. I used to work full time as a TA, however, I soon realised the job was too full on for me. I tried cutting my hours but that still wasn’t enough.
The college I worked for then fully changed my job role to an office job at the college. I now do this 3 days a week and it is so much more relaxing for me as I find having a chronic illness, I need alot of rest. This also affects my income as I can only physically do a part time office job. It can be hard living a limited life but I’m also just grateful to be alive and be able to work at all. 

"I have days where I need a nap after a shower because my body is so exhausted and that’s not what I ever expected for myself."

Having a chronic illness makes me so grateful for the good days and just makes me appreciate life in such a different way. I have days where I need a nap after a shower because my body is so exhausted and that’s not what I ever expected for myself. It made me realise how, many people are struggling silent battles without us knowing. I have had so many people tell me “you don’t need sick” when I’m actually so poorly, it’s made me very empathetic and to just not judge people from what we see on the outside. 

To anyone struggling right now, my advice is to speak up. We all have people in our life that care for us and that want to support us. It just takes that first step of telling one person and then taking it all one step at a time. 

Caroline x

You can follow Caroline's inspirational journey on Instagram and TikTok.