# How to help..?



## Sarahjaynegreen (Jun 23, 2015)

Hello, I'm not sure if I'm posting to the right place but basically my partner was diagnosed with Crohn's disease around two years ago, he currently takes colazide tablets after every meal and also is on a weekly humira injection, but nothing seems to be working. He is constantly in severe pain and constantly on and off the toilet all day and night. I hate seeing him like this and the last two days he seems to be worse with pain and is very pale and drowsy. The problem is he won't talk to anyone about it and when I mention it he gets very grumpy and snaps at me. He refuses to go to the hospital as he says there is nothing anybody can do to help. Does anybody have any suggestions to try and help him? As I hate seeing him suffer like this  

Thank you xx


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## Jennifer (Jun 24, 2015)

Hi Sarahjaynegreen and welcome to the forum! 

Do you know how long he's been on Humira? For some people it can take many months to start working. If he's been taking it over 6 months then he may want to talk to his doctor about increasing his dose if possible or switching to another medication if he's already on the max dose. 

Colazide is a mesalazine medication which is topical. It's great for treating Ulcerative Colitis but Crohn's can cause inflammation deeper in the intestinal lining which mesalazine medications cannot reach. Has his doctor suggested any other medications? 

Has he had any blood work done recently to check and see if he's low in iron or B12 since he's pale and drowsy? Having these tested and properly supplemented if they are low may help with some of his symptoms. 

It's important that he informs his doctor about his current condition so his doctor can adjust his medication accordingly or switch him to something else like Remicade if he hasn't tried it. In the meantime what he can do is go on a low residue diet and eat smaller meals more often that are soft along with increasing his fluid intake. Doing this may help to reduce some of his abdominal symptoms. If his pain becomes severe then going on a liquid diet may also help as it's shown to be almost as effective as taking oral steroids yet it's important to get enough nutrients which you can do with supplement drinks and even by making your own soups and just drinking the broth. He should always inform his doctor if he's going on all liquids so they can help monitor him and so they know how bad his symptoms really are. If things start to get worse then definitely continue to suggest going to the hospital as they can run tests there and give him much needed fluids.

Hopefully he'll get the help he needs soon. He's lucky to have you looking out for him.  Keep us posted on how you're both doing.


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