Hey everyone, long time lurker, new poster 
So I was diagnosed with Crohns in 2006 after watching Oprah (yes my specialist found that hilarious) and took mesalazine twice a day for years with no issues. My symptoms were only diarrhoea and nothing else. Maybe once a year I had a flare and took prednisone for a few days and was fine. Throughout this I was a lacto-ova vegetarian with no issues at all.
When my marriage broke up in 2012 I had a bloody bowel movement for the first time but then went back to normal. Then in 2014 I moved to New Zealand and had problems pretty much from the start. My diarrhoea increased to the point I was having t take prednisone every other week. I flew home and saw my specialist who was greatly concerned and wanted me to see one in NZ asap. I let him know I was on a wait list... Finally get a letter to see one at the end of January this year. Unfortunately ten days before this I woke up in immense pain. I had no idea what was going on, I could barely walk. I managed to get to work only to double over and burst into tears. I was helped to the sick room and ended up going to hospital via ambulance with suspected appendicitis. I was put into ER, then surgery ward, then assessment ward, then surgery ward. For three days I saw groups of surgeons and gastro specialists while they tried to diagnose me. I was pumped full of steroids and antibiotics with no food (not that I was hungry). Then I had a CT scan(?) which showed a large inflammation in my colon - where I didn't previously have Crohns and diagnosed with a severe flare.
Since then I've been changed onto asacol and advised by the gastro specialists and nurse to add fish to my diet. The dietician I saw told me she couldn't help as diet has absolutely no impact to my Crohns (yup, that's what she really said). The nurse reviewed my results and agreed I should go gluten free, keep dairy (while I can tolerate it) and cut out onions, eggplant, legumes, lettuces, brown bread/rice, spicy/fatty food.
Since January I've been doing well and finished a tapered prednisone course in March. Learning to cook and eat fish after 17 years vegetarian has been interesting and challenging to say the least. All was good until today. I was in the supermarket when the stomach pain started and then I had to go. I rushed to the toilets and they were both in use. After hopping around for a couple of minutes I rushed across the road to a beauty parlour and begged to use their loo. So. Embarrassing. Now I'm sitting at home in pain and wondering if I've gone down hill again. I have no idea how to recognise flare symptoms early on. Have I pushed my diet too much? Am I too stressed? Has the medication stopped working? My confidence has plummeted again and I'm almost too scared to move
So I was diagnosed with Crohns in 2006 after watching Oprah (yes my specialist found that hilarious) and took mesalazine twice a day for years with no issues. My symptoms were only diarrhoea and nothing else. Maybe once a year I had a flare and took prednisone for a few days and was fine. Throughout this I was a lacto-ova vegetarian with no issues at all.
When my marriage broke up in 2012 I had a bloody bowel movement for the first time but then went back to normal. Then in 2014 I moved to New Zealand and had problems pretty much from the start. My diarrhoea increased to the point I was having t take prednisone every other week. I flew home and saw my specialist who was greatly concerned and wanted me to see one in NZ asap. I let him know I was on a wait list... Finally get a letter to see one at the end of January this year. Unfortunately ten days before this I woke up in immense pain. I had no idea what was going on, I could barely walk. I managed to get to work only to double over and burst into tears. I was helped to the sick room and ended up going to hospital via ambulance with suspected appendicitis. I was put into ER, then surgery ward, then assessment ward, then surgery ward. For three days I saw groups of surgeons and gastro specialists while they tried to diagnose me. I was pumped full of steroids and antibiotics with no food (not that I was hungry). Then I had a CT scan(?) which showed a large inflammation in my colon - where I didn't previously have Crohns and diagnosed with a severe flare.
Since then I've been changed onto asacol and advised by the gastro specialists and nurse to add fish to my diet. The dietician I saw told me she couldn't help as diet has absolutely no impact to my Crohns (yup, that's what she really said). The nurse reviewed my results and agreed I should go gluten free, keep dairy (while I can tolerate it) and cut out onions, eggplant, legumes, lettuces, brown bread/rice, spicy/fatty food.
Since January I've been doing well and finished a tapered prednisone course in March. Learning to cook and eat fish after 17 years vegetarian has been interesting and challenging to say the least. All was good until today. I was in the supermarket when the stomach pain started and then I had to go. I rushed to the toilets and they were both in use. After hopping around for a couple of minutes I rushed across the road to a beauty parlour and begged to use their loo. So. Embarrassing. Now I'm sitting at home in pain and wondering if I've gone down hill again. I have no idea how to recognise flare symptoms early on. Have I pushed my diet too much? Am I too stressed? Has the medication stopped working? My confidence has plummeted again and I'm almost too scared to move
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