The summer before seventh grade was life changing for me, but not for the better. I was having terrible abdominal pain, was in the bathroom about 20 times a day, and was losing weight rapidly. By the end of that summer, I was severely malnourished and only about 65 pounds; I was a 12-year-old wearing child’s size eight clothing.

This went unnoticed for a long time because it was my first major flare-up. What my family and I didn’t know until the end of that summer was that I have a chronic health condition called Crohn’s disease.

For those who don’t know, Crohn’s disease is a digestive condition that causes inflammation through the lining of the digestive tract. Its major symptoms are the ones that I already mentioned, but it affects so much more; in addition to my digestive symptoms, I get joint pain, fatigue, and so much more. Crohn’s is incredibly similar to a condition called Ulcerative Colitis, which only affects the colon, but has the same symptoms.

My gastroenterologist diagnosed me easily because my illness progressed to the point where it was fairly obvious; the blood work he did showed some red flags and when he did a colonoscopy and endoscopy, he found some very obvious ulcers and inflammation.

Unfortunately, some of the millions of people worldwide who have been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease or Ulcerative Colitis are unable to receive a diagnosis for months, or even years. For cases like this, the search for a cure and new medication options are all reasons that the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America has declared December 1st through December 7th Crohn’s and Colitis awareness week.

It’s important to note that there’s no “one size fits all” treatment or diet for Crohn’s and Colitis. You could meet one person who takes medication and one who manages everything through diet and exercise, one person who can consume dairy and another who isn’t able to. The list could go on because there’s so much variation.

For me personally, the past seven years have been interesting; I’ve personally tried immunosuppressants, anti-inflammatories, corticosteroids, nutritional therapies, antibiotics, and biological treatments. All of these have worked for a couple of months at least, but my immune system is like that kid in middle school gym class who just gets way too into dodgeball and will do anything to win.

So first up I’ll talk about the immunosuppressants, corticosteroids, and anti-inflammatories. These are commonly put together because the combination works. Corticosteroids are used for a short period of time—usually a month or two—and help to reduce inflammation fast. Paired with another long-term anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressants, they’re usually very effective. For me personally, I was on all of these medications most of my first semester of college. Unfortunately, though, the immunosuppressant that I was taking was damaging my liver at a high enough dose, but not helping with my Crohn’s symptoms at a lower dose. I’m currently on a different immunosuppressant right now, which I’ll write about a little later.

Second, I’ll talk about nutritional therapies. I’ve gone through two nutritional therapies in my life. The first was the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I was drinking ten bottles of nutritional formula a day and could only drink plain coffee, tea, or water along with it; no eating and no drinking anything else. The next one was my senior year of high school. I could eat 350 calories a day and was tube-fed 2,040. The purpose of these nutritional therapies is bowel rest. By doing this, you’re essentially just making it easier for your body to absorb nutrients and heal itself. (Nutritional therapies are often coupled with medications as well.)

Next up, I’ll talk about biological treatments. I’m sure you’ve all seen commercials for Humira on TV. Humira, plus a list of other treatments, fall under this category. Biological treatments block the production of certain cells. The one that I’ve tried is called Remicade. Remicade is an IV infusion that you go in to receive every eight weeks. I tried this one my junior year of high school, and it worked well until I developed antibodies for the medication and was unable to continue taking it.

Last but not least are antibiotics. Antibiotics suppress the intestine’s immune system by reducing the amount of bacteria in the intestines. I’m currently taking an antibiotic along with an anti-inflammatory and an immunosuppressant called Methotrexate, which I take weekly with an anti-nausea medication. I also take a few different vitamins and drink nutritional shakes daily. This is obviously a lot, but so far it’s worked and hopefully it will continue to work for me.

The common theme among all of these, though, is that no matter who you’re talking about, none of these treatments last forever. Many people need to have surgery on the damaged parts of their intestines because they’ve exhausted all of their treatment options. While I haven’t had any surgeries yet, I know that it’s a very real possibility in the future.

With all of this said, I hope that I’ve shed some more light on Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis. If you would like to learn more about the two diseases or donate towards Crohn’s or Colitis research, please go to ccfa.org.