my 19 year old son just found out he has crohn's disease 3 days ago...he was living in colorado with his dad and got sick..he lost 47 pounds in 5 weeks..i made him come home and took him straight to my doctors because he had uclers in his mouth and throat..he couldnt eat or swallow food...they gave him a mouth wash that helped get rid of the sore but as soon as the mouth wash was gone the uclers came back...so back to the doctors we went and this time the doctors said i think he had crohn's..they took 12 vales of blood and did an ultrasound of his stomach and said the stomach lining was inflamed...he has had really bad stomach pains..so bad that he was in tears...he has a doctors appointment on monday with the gi..and already had a phone call from someone about what he eats..right now he is drinking about 6 boost pluss drinks and eat noodles..we are lost and still trying to figure this all out...any advice will help thanks
19 year old son
- Thread starter lisamarie
- Start date
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Hi
My guesses and thoughts are as follows: Definitely don't let him take NSAIDs (ie. most over the counter pain relievers) as they will further aggravate the stomach. Maybe kick the sugary boost stuff, and foods in general, and seek out enteral nutrition/elemental dietary methods until his ulcers get better. EN seems to help get control of inflammation rather effectively and, since he can't hardly chew or swallow, it's just a logical choice.
If it truly is Crohn's, I would definitely seek out LDN (see the low dose naltrexone thread, under the treatment discussion) because it is a novel approach with little to no side effects which can be used with most other meds--though this may take 2-3 months before working physiologically.
A food diary becomes a necessity for most Crohn's patients to log harmful foods. Keep surfing this site for invaluable, lived experiences of patients you will find nowhere else. For long term considerations, see my post by searching the site for: MY Supps for MY Dis-ease--this may or may not apply to your son because I don't have symptoms in the stomach. Possible herbs which may or may not help or harm: DGL (a liccorice supplement) and Mastic Gum.
Good Luck!
My guesses and thoughts are as follows: Definitely don't let him take NSAIDs (ie. most over the counter pain relievers) as they will further aggravate the stomach. Maybe kick the sugary boost stuff, and foods in general, and seek out enteral nutrition/elemental dietary methods until his ulcers get better. EN seems to help get control of inflammation rather effectively and, since he can't hardly chew or swallow, it's just a logical choice.
If it truly is Crohn's, I would definitely seek out LDN (see the low dose naltrexone thread, under the treatment discussion) because it is a novel approach with little to no side effects which can be used with most other meds--though this may take 2-3 months before working physiologically.
A food diary becomes a necessity for most Crohn's patients to log harmful foods. Keep surfing this site for invaluable, lived experiences of patients you will find nowhere else. For long term considerations, see my post by searching the site for: MY Supps for MY Dis-ease--this may or may not apply to your son because I don't have symptoms in the stomach. Possible herbs which may or may not help or harm: DGL (a liccorice supplement) and Mastic Gum.
Good Luck!
mikeyarmo
Co-Founder
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- Feb 13, 2006
- Messages
- 2,515
Welcome lisamarie!
I am sorry to hear about your son's sudden diagnosis. I am sure it is a bit of a shock to you all, but hopefully this diagnosis will allow for a treatment plan to be developed soon that will get your son back to a healthy state.
I agree with mnsun that looking into an elemental diet for your son may be an effective short-term option for helping him maintain or gain weight while improving some of the symptoms of his Crohn's Disease. This can be administered at home so that your son can still engage in outside activities without others even being aware of his current treatment plan. I know people who would come to school while following an elemental diet for several weeks at a time and no one would have any idea about what was going on with this individual or how they were treating their Crohn's.
This is not the most fun treatment option in the world and it can be challenging to have to give up eating solid food and having to connect/disconnect the feeding tube each day. Based on where your son is currently at though, I can't think of anything else that could give quick results without having more side effects or long-term repercussions.
Please let us know how the appointment goes tomorrow and if you have any other questions!
I am sorry to hear about your son's sudden diagnosis. I am sure it is a bit of a shock to you all, but hopefully this diagnosis will allow for a treatment plan to be developed soon that will get your son back to a healthy state.
I agree with mnsun that looking into an elemental diet for your son may be an effective short-term option for helping him maintain or gain weight while improving some of the symptoms of his Crohn's Disease. This can be administered at home so that your son can still engage in outside activities without others even being aware of his current treatment plan. I know people who would come to school while following an elemental diet for several weeks at a time and no one would have any idea about what was going on with this individual or how they were treating their Crohn's.
This is not the most fun treatment option in the world and it can be challenging to have to give up eating solid food and having to connect/disconnect the feeding tube each day. Based on where your son is currently at though, I can't think of anything else that could give quick results without having more side effects or long-term repercussions.
Please let us know how the appointment goes tomorrow and if you have any other questions!
Angrybird
Moderator
Hello and welcome to the forum. This has all happened very quickly from the looks of it and must seem very overwelming for you both :hug: I agree about looking at foods and perhaps even going onto a liquid only regime to help the bowel calm down if nothing else. Also when you then start re- introducing foods you can then 'see' better what is a trigger for symptoms. Definetly have a chat with the doc about it. I do hope the appt goes well today, please let us know when you can how things went.
thanks everyone..yesterday we went to the gi specialist and he has a upper and lower gi scope friday...yesterday he tookimodium for the first time and the diarhea has stopped for now..and today he woke up wanting food..and as for the uclers in his mouth the doctor gave him a mouth wash call swish and swallow...it has benadryl,lydcane and something else..but it is getting rid of the uclers..he has just 2 left...he is very upset about having this..i keep telling him he will be fine once we control his diet and get weight back on him..thursday we see a nutruitionist....not sure what to expect next..
Angrybird
Moderator
Hiya, I am glad that the swish and swallow is easing the discomfort from the ulcers. The nutrionist should also be able to give some helpful hints and tips and I think it would be them who would need to prescribe the drinks if this is a route you wanted to go down. Let us know how things on Friday, usually with these tests they can give some results/findings straight away.
DustyKat
Super Moderator
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- May 8, 2010
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- 15,469
Hi lisamarie and :welcome:
You have been given wonderful advice already so I can't add to that.
I am sorry to hear about your son and I understand how you are feeling, the head spinning with how fast this happened, the questions, the fear and the uncertainty. I found myself in the same situation just over 12 months ago with my own teenage son, it was so fast and so unexpected. I also have a daughter with Crohn's but I still wasn't expecting it to happen a second time.
Good luck with the scopes! Once you have solid answers and treatment is instigated, for whatever the cause, then improvement will follow. As AB has said, with the scopes you should get some idea of what is going on straight away if there is obvious changes to the GI tract, the following pathology will take about a week.
Again good luck and let us know how your boy gets on.
Dusty. xxx
You have been given wonderful advice already so I can't add to that.
I am sorry to hear about your son and I understand how you are feeling, the head spinning with how fast this happened, the questions, the fear and the uncertainty. I found myself in the same situation just over 12 months ago with my own teenage son, it was so fast and so unexpected. I also have a daughter with Crohn's but I still wasn't expecting it to happen a second time.
Good luck with the scopes! Once you have solid answers and treatment is instigated, for whatever the cause, then improvement will follow. As AB has said, with the scopes you should get some idea of what is going on straight away if there is obvious changes to the GI tract, the following pathology will take about a week.
Again good luck and let us know how your boy gets on.
Dusty. xxx
