A sick woman has revealed how she spent three years waiting for a diagnosis from doctors and how she now needs a feeding tube and spends most of her time in and out of the hospital.

Chloe Dixon, 21, who is an operations and compliance administrator from London, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when she was just 18 years old - completely changing her life forever.

But the road to her diagnosis has not been easy, with Chloe claiming she spent years begging for answers from doctors after suffering with symptoms since 2016.

The-then-teen was battling with painful mouth ulcers, cracked lips and even began losing weight and passing out due to her inability to eat food - despite this, she claims doctors told her “It was all in her head."

In December 2019, Chloe was finally diagnosed with Crohn's disease, which led to her needing a feeding tube - however, the years of waiting for answers severely impacted her life.

"People would pick on me for my appearance because my lips were so crusty and cracked. They would call me the joker," Chloe told NeedToKnow.Online.

"I did struggle a lot mentally with the lead-up to my diagnosis. I was still in school, studying for my GCSEs.

"During this time I had a lot of teachers not understand what was wrong because I couldn't get a diagnosis so in their eyes nothing was wrong.

"I had a lot of time off school, and I was often told I wouldn't pass my GCSEs and the pressure really mounted up which really didn't help my symptoms.

"I had a lot of doctors tell me it was in my head and I had nothing wrong because the testing they were doing was coming back clear.

"I lost a lot of friends during this time because I couldn't go out because I felt too unwell.

"I became very low, and isolated. I left like no one understood me and I wasn't being listened to.

“There were a handful of teachers who really had my back though and took me under their wing especially the school nurse.

“They made the rest of my school experience so much more bearable; they became my friends.

“Looking back now my journey would be so different without those teachers. I truly believe without them I wouldn’t have any GCSE or A-Levels.”

After her symptoms began in 2016, Chloe underwent numerous rounds of testing by doctors and dentists to try and figure out what was wrong with her.

In February 2018, after a mouth biopsy on her ulcers, she was diagnosed with orofacial granulomatosis - which is a very rare disease that attacks the mouth.

She was placed on a special diet to try and help, but after six months there were no improvements and Chloe's symptoms only continued to get worse.

More than a year later, Chloe says she had to beg doctors to let her have an endoscopy and colonoscopy and it was these tests which confirmed that she had Crohn's disease, at just 18 years old.

She said: "I was so relieved to hear my diagnosis because of the length of time it took, but it has been a struggle since.

"Crohn's has really affected my joints, so I find it hard to do some day-to-day activities like running, walking far, opening jars and lids, and even typing.

"It has also affected me mentally because I have always felt like an outsider.

"I never understood my disease, whenever I googled Crohn's, it was always to do with diarrhoea, bowel movement and blood and I never had any of that.

"For months I struggled to accept I had Crohn's disease, I thought I was misdiagnosed."

Crohn's disease also caused damage to Chloe's oesophagus, which is why she now needs a feeding tube.

She continued: "I had a feeding tube placed in October 2020 because my ability to pass anything through my oesophagus became impossible.

"I couldn't eat anything or even drink water. I had an endoscopy done and they confirmed I had a stricture that had completely closed.

"The doctor's described my oesophagus as smaller than a newborn babies.

"So I now live with a feeding tube to help me maintain weight and get nutrients.

"I also have regular endoscopies and oesophageal dilations to open the strictures up."

More than two years after her diagnosis, Chloe is now wanting to raise awareness of the invisible disease with the hopes of educating others.

She regularly posts about her condition on her TikTok account and says the support she receives is "breathtaking".

"It is SO important for more people to understand and know what Crohn's disease is.

"The most challenging thing is Crohn's disease is invisible and no one knows what you're going through.

"There are some days where I stand on a packed train with all my feeding equipment crying the whole way home during the rush hour and people just look at me like I'm crazy.

"But it is because they can't see the pain I am feeling or what I am going through.

"The amount of kind, inspiring, and helpful people I have been able to network with is incredible.

"I receive the best advice - doctors are amazing but they don't live with the disease so by talking to others that do, they are the true experts.

"Just to see others going through the same/similar things to you makes your journey a whole lot easier to live with because you're not alone."

ENDS

EDITOR'S NOTE: Video Usage Licence: (EXCLUSIVE) We have obtained an exclusive licence from the copyright holder. A copy of the licence is available on request.

Video Restrictions: None.