A wife with a sick husband...

[sjm18]

Hello All

I do not suffer from Crohn's myself but my husband has since he was 19 years old. He is now 30 years old and in these 11 years he has never had a hold of it. He has had a bowel resection and has "flare ups" regularly. But this one is the worst yet. We have seen several doctors and they aren't able to tell us anything. All we know is he is unable to work, is in constant pain and is finding no relief. His currently symptoms are as follows: Constant abdominal pain, no appetite, and when he does eat he causes a very upset stomach. He is in the bathroom every 30 minutes with very mucous/bloody diarrhea. He is constantly loosing weight (50 lbs in the last 4 years). Because of his Crohns he gets kidney stones on a regular basis and also has severe arthritis in his hips.

My husband is in constant pain and i don't know what to do.

They have told us to take Prednisone but we can't afford it. I give him Tylenol for the pain but it doesn't do much. He smokes Marijuana to take the edge off but its hard to afford that as well.

What can i give him?? What can he take for his pain?? I don't know what to do, i will take ANY advice possible...please. He has fallen into a severe depression because of this, i don't know how to help him.

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

Hi and welcome to the forum!!! :welcome: I'm sorry to hear all that he has gone through all these years. I also know that it can become an ongoing battle especially at times. But, there are a whole bunch of us here for support! We have a support group for partners,family & friends and within this group is also a place for spouses. I think you'll be very happy there!

There are some things that I haven't experienced. But, am inclosing also a website about pain and IBD. I'm hoping this might help some. Also, if your husband is ever interested, we would welcome him with open arms too! Hope to see you around! :hug:

http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=90

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3264972

 

[afidz]

Hello, and welcome!
Is your husband taking anything other than MM?
In all honesty, tylenol probably won't do much, since it doesn't have an anti-inflammatory properties and its not very strong as far as pain relief goes.
Being that I live in the US I am not sure about health care and prescription costs where you live, but here prednisone is pretty inexpensive ( I think my last RX was just over a dollar). Is there a generic brand that might cost less or something cheaper that he can ask a doctor for?
For me, I have noticed that eating yogurt typically calms down my stomach, but thats just me. And (here) they put so much sugar in yogurt, you have to watch what brands you buy because excess amounts of sugar can cause problems as well.
Does your husband follow any type of diet, or does he know his trigger foods (things that make him sick)? There are some diets that have been shown to decrease the effects of IBD, but they aren't really cost effective. I will at least give you the links to the diets so you can see if there are some things that are in your budget.
http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=288
http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=284
You could also have him try the BRAT diet (Banana, Rice, applesauce, toast) and see if that calms things down at all.
It sounds like he is in a pretty rough flare, if he isn't under a doctor's care, it is advisable to do so before an emergent situation arises. What kind of doctors has he seen? Even if the doctors you have seen don't have answers that you need right now, its still best to be monitored by a doctor.
Hope he starts feeling better soon!

 

[lgpcarter]

I'm in Ontario and I know things are different here, but prednisone is one of the cheaper Crohn's medications here too.

For a while when I was on Remicade with no coverage, the Ontario government helped me pay through a program called Trillium. It looks like B.C. Has a similar program http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/pharmacare/plani/planiindex.html

I've never had to take anything for pain, so I am sorry I cannot comment on that.

It sounds like he is in a pretty serious and prolonged flare, so I would encourage you to try to get him under the care of a good GI, even if you have to travel to a bigger city.

 

[jwfoise]

You could also have him try the BRAT diet (Banana, Rice, applesauce, toast) and see if that calms things down at all.

I'm the husband of a wife with Crohn's and when she is having a bad flare she'll switch to what she calls "the white diet": plain cooked white rice, mashed potatoes, white bread toast. All very mild foods and the starch helps her absorb water (which is a problem for her - getting dehydrated).

Good luck

 

[sjm18]

Thank you all for your help it is much appreciated. Also I realised I had the name of the medication wrong. The specialist we are seeing wants him on Pentasa (its quite pricey). Nobody has suggested Prednisone for him yet so I will make sure to mention it at the next doctor visit.

Currently he isn’t following any special diet. He knows what foods really upset his system and he avoids them. But there isn’t any consistency with foods, he will eat something and it will all feel find and then the next time he eats it, it destroys him. It’s so hard to know what to give him. I have been giving him yogurt and apple sauce, but he doesn’t notice an improvement when eating them.

All he is doing for pain is MM and Cymbalta. A doctor told him its myofacial pain so they put him on Cymbalta to help with his depression as well. But again he does not notice any difference when taking this medication. He has been on Cymbalta for 4 months now.

I really like the sound of this “BRAT” diet and he agrees. So we will be giving that a try. Thank you all I look forward to getting more information on this site and having some support.