logo
Chloe Meadows so ‘scared' she ignored ulcerative colitis symptoms for a decade

Chloe Meadows so ‘scared' she ignored ulcerative colitis symptoms for a decade

The former star of The Only Way Is Essex, 33, first discovered blood in her stool, a symptom of ulcerative colitis, when she was 16.
'I went to a college where I boarded when I was 16. I was staying away from home and I was living in a student house and there was blood down the toilet', she told Dr Oscar Duke's Bedside Manners podcast.
'I remember I told my mum and I was like, there's quite a lot of blood down the toilet. I'm not really sure what's going on.
'She was of course like, go to the doctors. I went to the doctors, and they said that I would have to have a colonoscopy, which is a camera into the bowel.'
Meadows added: 'At this point in my life, I had never really ever been to the hospital. I'd never been sick.
'I'd never had any procedure or operation. I'd never been sedated. I'd never had anything and the doctor referred me and I got this letter, and this is awful, but I got this letter and I just never went to the appointment because I was terrified.
'Then I ignored it and what would happen, which is what I realise now, is that I can go into remission, I can go into a flare-up in remission.
'It would stop for periods of time so that the blood would go away. I'd be like, 'Oh, cool, it's gone away, I'm better. There's nothing wrong with me'.
'I'd go through years where it wouldn't happen and then it would happen again, and then it would stop again.
'I would probably lie to my mum about how much it would happen because she always pestered me about it and I was like, 'No, it's fine'.
'I just got on with it and ignored it. I think I was scared of having any procedure done.
'I was also scared of what they were going to tell me … I was just terrified, which is not really a reason not to go to the doctor, but I think that's just what I thought.
I was just terrified, which is not really a reason not to go to the doctor, but I think that's just what I thought
Chloe Meadows
'I was young as well, so I would forget when there wasn't blood down the toilet, I would completely forget.'
Ulcerative colitis is a long-term condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed, according to the NHS website.
Symptoms include recurring diarrhoea, which may contain blood, extreme tiredness, loss of appetite and weight loss.
Meadows said she had some health checks aged 26, 10 years after her symptoms first appeared, after she went on a diet at a time where she was also losing a lot of blood.
Her mother intervened and said she should go to the doctors and get a blood test as she looked 'grey'.
While she was out filming, after she had the blood tests, Meadows received a number of missed calls from her father who then texted her to say a doctor had advised her she should got straight to A&E because her 'blood was so low'.
'I went to the hospital. I had to have all of these checks and these iron infusions and that was where it started,' she said.
Meadows also revealed that she had 'probably my longest flare-up' after filming a nerve wracking scene on Towie.
Some people with ulcerative colitis may go for weeks or months with very mild symptoms, or none at all (remission), followed by flare-ups and relapses, according to the NHS website.
Treatment options include corticosteroids, immunosuppressants and surgery.
Charity Crohn's And Colitis UK says there are more than 300,000 people in the UK living with colitis.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Parents call on HSE to make breakthrough peanut allergy treatment available
Parents call on HSE to make breakthrough peanut allergy treatment available

RTÉ News​

time14 hours ago

  • RTÉ News​

Parents call on HSE to make breakthrough peanut allergy treatment available

Parents of children with severe peanut allergies are calling on the HSE to make a breakthrough treatment available in Ireland. Palforzia is a medicine for treating peanut allergy in children from one to 17 years of age. It has been authorised for use in the EU by the European Medicines Agency, but currently there is no planned timeline to roll it out in Ireland. It works by gradually exposing children to higher doses of peanut to help lower the risk of severe reactions, including anaphylaxis. This method is called oral immunotherapy. There are more than 20,000 children in Ireland living with a severe peanut allergy. The current approach is to avoid peanuts in the diet and carry emergency medication in case they are eaten. Some parents are now taking their children, at their own expense, to the UK, US or other European countries to access the Palforzia treatment. Catherine Dolan, from Greystones in Co Wicklow, is among a group of parents who want the HSE to make Palforzia available here. Her six-year-old son has a severe peanut allergy that puts him at risk of anaphylaxis. Ms Dolan said it creates a great deal of anxiety as the family navigates daily interactions. She has considered accessing the treatment abroad but said the logistics are difficult. "We've always had healthcare in our own country, and it does pose a risk when you go outside of the Irish system. I would consider it, we are talking about it, but I'd be really, really cautious about it," she said. Ms Dolan said she feels it is unacceptable that the treatment is available under the NHS in the UK, and other European countries, but not here. "We need to know when, and why. It has to happen. I'm balanced in my view - I know the healthcare system is really stretched, but I know the consultants are there, the care is there, and the expertise is there. We just need a national plan now to roll it out," she said. The HSE said it makes decisions on which medicines are reimbursed by the taxpayer on "objective, scientific and economic grounds". In November 2023, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics made a recommendation to the HSE that Palforzia "not be considered for reimbursement unless cost-effectiveness can be improved relative to existing treatments". Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Children's Health Ireland Dr Jonathan Hourihane said cost-effectiveness of medicines is usually calculated based on whether the amount of money needed to treat a condition can be recouped through demonstrated savings based on hospital bed use or emergency departments attendances. Dr Hourihane said this metric does not apply to peanut allergy. "This condition is a community-based disease characterised by anxiety and isolation, not by having to go to a hospital every two weeks. So, it's been unreasonably rejected. I think it's disappointing for us as a country, as a country that recruited children to get the licence for the product. And I think it's insulting to the families who have this condition," he said. Dr Hourihane said he attends international conferences and is told by allergy doctors that they are treating Irish children in the US, France, Italy and the UK, among others. He believes it is "a sign of desperation" that parents are willing to travel at their own expense for "care that they should be able to get locally". He added that Irish doctors are not supporting people to access treatment abroad because they are not involved in those programmes and cannot stand over them. Dr Hourihane said: "We are aware of children who've had to attend the emergency hospitals in Dublin having had allergic reactions during their treatment courses, and we don't know what they've reacted to because we're not involved. "So, I think it's putting doctors in allergy clinics in Ireland in a difficult position. They're having to treat children who are having complications of treatment being supervised remotely." Dr Hourihane believes the true impact of peanut allergies has been disregarded. He said: "It's not a trivial illness if you think your child might die tomorrow while you're at work. I think a fundamental problem with the way it's been evaluated is the impact hasn't been fully accepted in the way that families want it to be accepted. "As a clinician I find it frustrating and disappointing that the state-of-the-art treatments that we helped develop internationally [are not available here], and Ireland is a major international player in this area. We're now the laughing stock of the international allergy community." The HSE said the company that has applied to make Palforzia available through the HSE in Ireland has now paused the application until the end of this year. The HSE added that it "is committed to providing access to as many medicines as possible, in as timely a fashion as possible, from the resources available (provided) to it". "The HSE robustly assesses applications for pricing and reimbursement to make sure that it can stretch available resources as far as possible and to deliver the best value in relation to each medicine and ultimately more medicines to Irish citizens and patients," it said.

How many steps a day do you really need for improve your health? It's not 10,000
How many steps a day do you really need for improve your health? It's not 10,000

Irish Times

timea day ago

  • Irish Times

How many steps a day do you really need for improve your health? It's not 10,000

Walking more could reduce your risk of dementia , depression and dying from cancer , as well as being good for your heart , according to research. And you may not need to walk as far as previously thought to reap those benefits. The UK's NHS recommends a brisk 10-minute walk every day. Many people aim to walk 10,000 steps, but struggle to achieve it. Now researchers have calculated that even 7,000 steps could be enough to protect health. Scientists examined data from more than 160,000 adults and found that walking 7,000 steps a day was associated with a reduced risk of a number of serious health conditions and death. Whereas previous studies have mainly examined the links between step count and heart health or overall death rates, this systematic review and meta analysis, published in the Lancet Public Health, sought to comprehensively examine how taking more steps per day could reduce the risk of a range of other health conditions as well. READ MORE Compared with those who walked 2,000 steps a day, the researchers found that achieving the 7,000 daily step target was linked to a 37 per cent reduction in risk of dying from cancer, while the risk was 14 per cent lower for type 2 diabetes, 38 per cent for dementia, 22 per cent depression and 28 per cent for falls respectively. It was also associated with a 25 per cent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 47 per cent reduction in overall risk of dying. Although step count does not measure the quality or intensity of exercise, the findings underscore the importance of being active. There is a 'return on investment' with every additional 1,000 steps taken and even 4,000 steps per day reduced the risk of disease, compared with very low activity levels, the researchers observed. Although the risk continues to decrease above 7,000 steps, the rate at which it reduces that risk starts to slow. Melody Ding, professor of public health at the University of Sydney and lead author of the research, said that those who already walked 10,000 steps should not go back to 7,000, but that 7,000 was a more practical target for those who were currently inactive. 'Those who are currently active and achieving the 10,000 steps a day, keep up the good work – there is no need to modify your step counts. However, for those of us who are far from achieving the 10,000 targets, getting to 7,000 steps/day offers almost comparable health benefits for the outcomes we examined,' Prof Ding said. [ I walk to work in Dublin every day... daydreaming can't be done on a bus Opens in new window ] Responding to the findings, Dr Daniel Bailey, reader in sedentary behaviour and health at Brunel University of London, said the research helped debunk the myth that 10,000 steps per day should be the target for optimal health. 'The real-world implications are that people can get health benefits just from small increases in physical activity, such as doing an extra 1,000 steps per day,' Dr Bailey said 'To achieve the best reductions in risk, aiming for 5,000-7,000 per day can be recommended, which will be more achievable for many people than the unofficial target of 10,000 steps that has been around for many years.' Dr Andrew Scott, senior lecturer in clinical exercise physiology at the University of Portsmouth, pointed out that not all activity was captured by step counts. 'The steps per day is useful when people's exercise is weight-bearing, however cycling, swimming and rowing are not well-represented by the steps-per-day model.' June Davison, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: 'We know that regular walking is one of the easiest ways to help maintain a healthy lifestyle and reduce your risk of heart disease. 'Adults should aim to build up to a total of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week, but getting active isn't always easy. Incorporating activity snacks, such as walking while taking phone calls, or taking a brisk 10-minute walk during your lunch break, can all count to reduce your chances of developing heart disease.' – Guardian

Jesy Nelson says she could not 'enjoy' her pregnancy due to health complications
Jesy Nelson says she could not 'enjoy' her pregnancy due to health complications

RTÉ News​

time2 days ago

  • RTÉ News​

Jesy Nelson says she could not 'enjoy' her pregnancy due to health complications

Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has said she could not "enjoy" her pregnancy due to a string of health complications. The 34-year-old singer gave birth birth to twins Ocean Jade and Story Monroe in May, after documenting pregnancy complications on her social media including twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). According to the NHS, TTTS affects 10% to 15% of identical twins who share a placenta and "can have serious consequences". Speaking on ITV's This Morning, Nelson said: "I couldn't believe the percentages and what could potentially happen to them. "I almost felt like, from that point, I couldn't really enjoy my pregnancy because I was just constantly worried that something was going to happen. "I actually had a threatened miscarriage quite early on as well and from then I was like, I don't even want to announce it (the pregnancy). "When I think back to it now it makes me feel so sad because its like, when you're pregnant, that should be like the happiest time of your life." TTTS is caused by abnormal connecting blood vessels in the placenta which leads to an imbalanced blood flow from one twin to the other, leaving one with a greater blood volume than the other. One treatment involves using a laser to burn away the blood vessels in the placenta that are causing the unequal flow. Nelson said she was scanned weekly and monitored closely, but within a matter of days her symptoms had changed drastically and she had to undergo the emergency procedure. She said: "There were symptoms to look out for, it was like, if your belly gets really tight, like a drum, if you're struggling with your breathing. "And two days after my scan, we'd gone to the park, and I couldn't even walk because I was just so out of breath. But it's so hard when you're pregnant with twins as well, because what is normal and what's not? "I was just like, well, I've got twins, of course I'm going to be out of breath and of course my belly is going to be really tough, I am growing two humans. "And then it was thanks to Zion, actually, that I said to him, 'Can you feel my belly? Because I've actually got so used to feeling like this, I don't know what's normal any more'." The twins' father, musician Zion Foster, said: "It felt like overnight we literally went from pre-stage to like, you have to have the procedure now. And that procedure is not even guaranteed to work. And I think that was another thing that was terrifying." After spending more than 10 weeks in hospital after the procedure, Nelson gave birth to the twins 31 weeks and five days early on 15 May. The singer is best known as a former member of pop group Little Mix, rising to fame after winning The X Factor in 2011. The group, which included Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall, were behind chart-topping singles including Cannonball, Shout Out To My Ex and Wings. Nelson left the band in December 2020 and has since released two songs as a solo artist – Boyz, which featured US rapper Nicki Minaj, in 2021 and Bad Thing in 2023. She will feature in a new Prime Video docuseries, Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix, which will follow her through her pregnancy and take a closer look at her decision to leave the girl group.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store