A man living on chicken and rice due to his illness wants to raise awareness about his disease.
James Wilson, a TikTok star, only discovered last year that he suffered from Crohn's disease, a lifelong condition in which parts of the digestive system become inflamed. He was diagnosed in February 2022, and immediately took to TikTok to post about his experience and try to raise awareness about the condition, Manchester Evening News reports.
Still coming to terms about his condition after years of thinking his stomach pain was down to anxiety, James first learned about Crohn's disease when TV magician Dynamo publicly spoke about having the condition. Now, he is left unable to eat anything other than chicken and white rice without risking stomach cramps and digestive issues.
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He said: "I was first introduced to Crohn’s disease years ago because I used to watch Dynamo [the magician] on the telly and I saw he came out in the news saying he had Crohn's disease, and that was the only time I'd ever heard of it. I was diagnosed in February last year, basically, my whole life, I've had issues going to the toilet.
"I just put it down to general anxiety - not wanting to go in public, not wanting to go at other people's houses, but I also struggled to go physically and always felt some kind of discomfort or pain in my stomach."
Research by the University of Nottingham and Crohn’s & Colitis UK and Coeliac UK found that there are over 500,000 people in the UK living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), the two main forms of which are Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Common symptoms include sudden diarrhoea, stomach aches and cramps, blood in your poo, fatigue, and weight loss.
For most people, their symptoms flare up from time to time before going into remission. Despite so many people thought to be suffering with the condition, experts say there is a 'need for increased public awareness' of the conditions. James is hoping his TikToks will help to break down barriers.
He said: "When I was 26, last year, I got really ill and then, after a week and a half of being severely ill, fatigued, shivers, just general unwellness and stomach ache, I went to the doctors. The paramedic at the doctors felt my stomach and he said I need to go to the hospital ASAP because my appendix was about to burst.
"I rushed to the hospital and more or less immediately after a few examinations and an MRI scan overnight, I was told I have Crohn's disease.” James says he has been on an 'up and down' journey with his mental health ever since colonoscopy results confirmed his condition.
He added: "I struggle with comparison anyway, when it comes to living a lot of my life on social media and stuff. But when I was told that, the weight of comparison was otherworldly because I couldn't get it out of my head that I wasn't normal anymore.
“All I wanted was to be whatever I deemed normal and that was being a young lad in my 20s, hanging out with friends, girlfriends, social media - all this kind of fun stuff. "
James says all he wants is to be able to go to social events without being in discomfort, “have a coffee without the hell storm of cramps that come afterwards” or “have a dirty kebab and not have to worry about not being able to go to the toilet for five days afterwards.”
He said: “All these ‘normal things’, or things that I deem normal, I can't do without a constant thought in the back of my mind saying 'is that gonna cause me any kind of pain or discomfort? How long am I not gonna be able to go to the toilet for and is there any point to me doing anything other than just eating plain white, chicken, and rice, and not leaving my flat?
“It's just frustrating and upsetting to be honest."
But the actor and funny man, who boasts 348k followers on TikTok and millions of views, has decided to use his platform to help him through his journey with Crohn’s disease, in the hope of helping others. He said: "As soon as I was diagnosed, I more or less went straight to social media and immediately started talking about it.
“Every now and again, a video would come out where I was at the hospital or at the doctors and I'm lost and upset. At that time when I was filming those kinds of videos talking about my health, at each and every one of those points I was severely lost and I needed some kind of output.
“What putting stuff out there on social media does for me is gives me a voice, helps me feel heard, but also I know in the back of my mind that it's reaching people that feel the same - isolated, alone - and don't have a voice."
James says the feedback from viewers has been that “it's really refreshing to see somebody with a platform talking about it so openly and honestly” which makes him feel like some positive can come out of his diagnosis. Recently, James began to develop Alopecia which is a disease that happens when the immune system attacks hair follicles and causes hair loss.
While this was another difficult blow for him, he decided to use the experience as an opportunity to raise funds for Crohn’s & Colitis UK by shaving his head. In just under a week, he raised £12,500 for the charity, and, as the fundraiser remains open, the donations continue to mount.
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