5 days .. since they confirmed. It is Chrohn's

[gd11_be]

Hi All,

I am completely new here, but I am glad I can read up. Here is a bit of my story. I am 44 years old and I live in Brussels, Belgium.

Since last summer 2011, I have been suffering from hemorrhoids on and off. End of January, it was again like: hemorrhoids and bleeding on a regular basis. So I went to my doctor. I told my story and I also explained that my dad passed away from coloncancer at 68 (now 7 years ago).

The doctor immediately recommended to a colonoscopy and that took place on Tuesday last week. Normally as the age of 40 - 45 they do recommend to do colonoscopy if your close relatives had colon cancer at a relative young age. And yes, after the colonoscopy, sadly, it was confirmed that apparently I have Chron's disease. So although I am not really suffering from the typical severe conditions, it is still confirmed that I have Chron. I am now on Pentasa since a couple of days.. so it all still a lot to take in, and to see how it will all work out.

People do say that the last 6 to 8 months, I look very tired. I do hope that the Pentasa will keep me stable the way I am right now.

Of course, I will have to do a number of additional checkups over the next couple of weeks & months and more doctor visits. I also don't like that I might have to be on drugs like Pentasa for the rest of my life. .

A lot to take in at this moment ..

Regards from Belgium, Brussels

 

[Jessi]

Hello there and :welcome: to the forum.

It really IS a lot to take in. We all understand that. :hug:

Pentasa is a mild anti-inflammatory for the bowels. I hope you respond well to it. It really is a good thing that your disease was caught so early.

If you've noticed that you've been tired lately, it's likely that you are not absorbing enough vitamins through your intestines. This is very common in Crohn's. Be sure to be taking a good vitamin D3 supplement. It may also be good to take some others. Check with your doctor and ask him/her to do some labs for deficiencies. It will make a world of a difference.

I look forward to seeing you around the forum.

 

[Angrybird]

Hello and welcome to the forum :bigwave: It is definetly a lot to take in but it does sound like it has been found quite early and hopefully the Pentesa will keep the inflammation at bay - check out the treatment forum for more info/advice about this.

As Jessi has mentioned it is definetly worth having you vitamin levels checked for deficiencies especially your B12, it is common for us chronies to be low on this and you will see from our signatures that a fair few of us are on shots for this.

I hope you start to feel better soon and please have a good nosy around the forum, there is a lot of support and advice here for you whenever you need it

 

[David]

Greetings and welcome

I'm glad they were able to get to the root of the problem without too much difficulty and that's great that you're now on treatment.

We're here for you anytime and I wish you all the best!

 

[kjhngisd]

Hi and welcome.
As mentioned, Pentasa is pretty common. I'd say most of the Crohn's sufferers I've chatted with are on it or have been. As far as I've heard, it's pretty safe and common.

Lots of people with chronic diseases have iron issues, so maybe have that checked. If you're dealing with anemia, that could explain the tiredness.

Good luck. Keep us posted.
--kevin

 

[MendyVarner]

Hey there! I just got my confirmed diagnosis this month as well. I was put on Asacol HD (which I hear is the US equivalent of Pentasa). It is overwhelming and I'm still learning to cope too.
I have learned everyone on this forum is wonderful, and answer any question you may have!
Good luck to you!!!!