A young woman has spoken about her life with an incurable disease.
Eireann O’Toole, 21, was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis in March and faces uncontrollable pain which can leave her in floods of tears and unable to walk.
Her first symptoms started as a young child, when she had constant stomach pains and vomiting which left her off school for weeks.
The charity Guts UK say chronic pancreatitis is a long-lasting inflammation of the pancreas that causes severe pain.
There are 6,000 and 12,000 new cases are diagnosed in the UK every year and it says this could be an underestimate.
The condition does not heal or improve and gets worse over time.
The pharmacy sales advisor from Leitrim, Belfast told BelfastLive : "From consultant to consultant, they couldn’t understand what was wrong with me until they finally came to the conclusion it was a stomach migraine, which I later found out wasn’t the right diagnosis.
"As the years went on and I started growing up, my pains came and went, getting more frequent every time, but with no warning of when I was going to take bad again.
"These pains consisted of stomach pains which felt like someone was stabbing me – they would radiate into my back and shoulder until I physically couldn’t stand or walk anymore. I'd be left in bed and in a flood of tears with the uncontrollable pain.
"It progressively got worse and in January 2021, I ended up in A&E hooked up to machines trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I was sent home as they could only see ‘a fit and healthy young girl’ when deep down I was in constant pain.
"After many A&E visits, hospital stays, MRIs, CT scans and endless blood tests, in March 2021 after suffering for many years, I was finally diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis along with gallstones in my pancreas duct and a cyst on my pancreas."
Eireann was off work for eight weeks after her diagnosis as she was unable to handle the pain it was causing.
She also explained the effect it has had on her social life in her early 20s.
"I was losing more weight and in just over a month I lost over a stone. I was trying to control it but couldn’t, ending up in hospital every week trying to figure out what this condition meant to me and how I could try to help it.
"Never at 21-years-old did I think I was going to be told that I have an incurable condition and that I wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol ever again. As you can imagine it affected me not only physically but mentally.
"I couldn’t go out anymore with the fear I was ready to take another attack and I struggled to think about a social life. While all my friends were going out, I was in bed sick. It hit me hard.
"It was a constant battle to think positive but I knew if I didn’t, I was just making myself worse. I knew that there were many other people like me and some people's stories could help me on my path."
Now she wants to raise awareness and fundraise to help others out there who are also suffering from chronic pancreatitis.
Eireann has explained how much it had changed her life and thanked her family for their support through such a difficult time.
She added: "Over the past couple of months I've been able to control my condition more.
"I've a very limited diet to try not to take a flare up. I’m taking endless tablets which I will be taking everyday for the rest of my life.
"I'm trying to think very positive about my condition for the hope that it can make other people speak out and get checked, the faster you find this the quicker you can control it and make it more manageable.
"My next step forward is to research my condition more and find out what is best for me. This is why myself and my family have started a fundraiser this month to help raise more money for Guts UK - to help research conditions like chronic pancreatitis. We have so far have raised just over £1,500.
"Maybe one day they will have a cure for my illness and with research, more people can try to live with this condition."
