From Diet Advice to Crohn’s Diagnosis: One Woman’s Fight Against Misdiagnosis

Jamie Harris (right) with her mother (left). Photo Jamie Harris

Jamie Harris was in her 20s when she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. She shares her journey from symptoms and diagnosis to finding effective treatment to help raise awareness. Harris wants others to know that persistent symptoms like frequent bathroom trips, fatigue, or abdominal pain aren’t always due to diet.

Early Symptoms and Misdiagnosis

In 2010, Jamie Harris was living her best life in her 20s. She was in graduate school pursuing her teaching certificate and dating the love of her life. “It was a fun time in my life…I went on a trip to London with my boyfriend, who now is my husband,” she told Healthline. “I went to the bathroom, and I didn’t know if it was from travel, but I had blood in my stool.”

When she returned from the vacation, her symptoms continued, including an intense stomachache. After seeing her general practitioner, he advised Harris to add more fiber and psyllium husk to her diet. However, the sharp pain in her stomach persisted for a year. She also started losing weight.

At this point, Harris was student-teaching and shared her concerns with one of her own teachers, who urged her to go to the emergency room. “They ran the blood tests and were like, ‘Wow, your white blood cell count is way elevated,’ and then they ran further tests, and then that’s when I got referred to a GI doctor,” Harris said.

Crohn’s Disease Diagnosis

The GI doctor officially diagnosed her with Crohn’s disease, a chronic, relapsing inflammatory condition that can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract.

“Crohn’s disease can present as superficial or deep ulcers (canker sores), and if left untreated, it can progress to bowel damage, including a buildup of scar tissue—what we call strictures or fistulas—which are connections between one loop of bowel and another loop of bowel or a connection from the bowel to the skin,” Emanuelle Bellaguarda, MD, Gastroenterologist and Associate Professor at Northwestern University, told Healthline.

Harris’s first year of navigating the diagnosis was difficult physically and mentally. “It was like I kind of went into a little depression. I’m supposed to be at the peak of my life, and it wasn’t that anymore,” she said.

Diet Misconceptions and the Role of Food

While food matters, it’s not the only factor. When Harris began experiencing symptoms, her mom, who was a registered dietitian for 40 years, suggested that she may have an intolerance to gluten.

“I started cutting back on [certain] foods, and my mom told me to keep a food journal, which I did, but I felt like everything was hurting my stomach,” said Harris. She also tried the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) for a while.

“And then I was just so limited because every time I ate, I felt like I would have a stomachache, so I did try to manage through diet, and then it’s kind of bad, but I just stopped eating because it was so painful, and that’s when I lost 20 pounds,” Harris said.