Depressed young celiac trapped in a dental nightmare

[LostinAus]

I'm in my early 30s now & have reached an utter demoralizing depression that has left me in a state of personal and further dental decay. For most of my pre-30 childhood i have had ridiculous issues with my teeth, but it wasnt until i was 18 when I really started to notice issues - i was diagnosed with Crohns, IBS, and started having many instances of GERD (along with a whole host of other medical issues that seem to accompany) I was taking pills left and right & no matter how much i did to take care of my teeth, the acid reflux would destory my enamel and i just kept having more and more problems. At 29, I tried to start on a goal (not a goal I ever wanted) to "take care" of the issue, i had several teeth extracted for the first of 3 steps toward some sort of peace. $3 k in debt later, I became overwhelmed with other life mishaps & decided to escape and set out on my own to Austin, TX - where I basically started over health wise. I was literally taking Vicodin daily to deal with pain, muscle relaxers to sleep, and a slew of meds for associated issues like edema, staph, etc. My new primary here put me through some tests & I was diagnosed with Celiacs. I removed gluten from my diet little by little and all that depression started to seep away and I noticed that i wasnt having as many issues with my teeth & i decided to drop meds all together.

Why all the back story right? Well I am now 33 & within the last 6 months I have been hit hard with another overwhelming depression: my personal life has shattered, and i have all but given up on a school program I started a year ago, and all of the bad symptoms have returned & much worse, the dental issues are back.

Now I need to continue onto the next part and get the rest of the extractions and dentures, what ironically is the thing i fear most. Eventually I of course would like the full implants, but even thinking about the cost puts me in a vortex of depression that I cannot even handle. I need confidence right now, it sounds petty, but I am alone and everything is suffering. I am afraid to be this young with dentures - false teeth. I already feel horrible just thinking of going out to meet people and thinking about that in the back of my brain.

The doctors from where i moved from told me that when i got older I would need to have a colostomy bag because of all of my stomach problems & having the celiacs, that causes issues with my life everyday. I still don't take medications, i stopped because i was getting addicted to the feeling of zombie that they gave me & because I would use them to forget, and that scared me to think that way. I also suffer from polyp growth in my intestines, and so everyone i have been with has to endure all of these issues.

So now I am here, after staying up another night trying to convince myself to get this taken care of before the end of the year so i can use my insurance and FSA money. The judgement from myself and what i think of others giving me, coupled with the depression, is much more than i can handle.

What I guess I hope is that i can find others that are doing this just like me, at a young age. OR maybe i just need someone to tell me how to do it. Anything will help i guess, I just need someone to listen.

 

[Mugz]

Hi and Welcome,
I'm so very sorry to hear how overwhelmed you are right now. With regard to the extractions, there are several people here who have had much success and will be happy to share their story and offer support. Some have written journals about the process that you can access on this site and those might be helpful too.

I know when you are overwhelmed and not feeling well it makes everything worse. Are there social workers/counselors available through the doctors you see for your crohns/celiac that may be able to help you? I know as a parent of a child dealing with the disease there are programs in place to help with all aspects of life, no matter your age. Perhaps that might be something to consider if you haven't already?