Anybody is experiencing this?Bleeding question Crohn's

[Deadstar]

I have been diagnosed for about a month now with Crohn's. My GI started me on 30mg prednisone daily which I have been taking for about a month. Since I started the prednisone (which I have tolerated fairly well, except for the fact that I want to eat all the time lol!) my stools went back to normal or at almost normal and my latest CRP level dropped to normal levels. To be honest with you I feel pretty good. No pain, no nausea, nothing really. Except for...Bleeding..

Since I started the prednisone I see daily blood on my stools, or the toilet paper, or the toilet. Eight out of ten times is insignificant. A couple of times was a bit more (the toilet water turned pinky!) but I never got to the point to feel like I am passing out huge amounts of blood or anything. Talked to my GP about it a couple of weeks ago and he did not seem concerned at all. He actually told me that "At the colonoscopy we saw that all you colon is inflamed but no strictures, no fistulas. Also you colon is 1.5 meters long. It will take time to heal. Don't be concerned with bleeding"

My two questions are the following:
A)Does anybody else experience this when NOT in a flare?Is bleeding even minor smth that you might have in Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis even if you are on remission?Of course at the moment I am on cortisone so I don't have either a flare nor I am at remission.

B)Is it possible a certain food type or coffee or alcohol to cause ONLY bleeding immediately the next day after consuming? So far I have never had any problem with food causing me diarrhea, pain or nausea but I am wandering if food can cause bleeding in Crohn's?

Your advice will be really appreciated. Moreover, doctor is putting me on azathioprine in about ten days from now so I will be having blood tests as a part of this to check my levels of inflammation and haemoglobin so I will know I guess if I am losing really blood or not. In any case though your advice is really important guys because you live with this condition daily and you know it better than all the GPs of the world. Sorry for the long post!

Cheers
Dead star

 

[ronroush7]

Concerning food, personally, I know there are foods like gluten and dairy that can aggravate my system. I am not sure about the bleeding. I hope you get answers soon. Keep us updated.. Don't worry about the long post.

 

[ronroush7]

It seems like when people are in remission they can still have bad days.

 

[Clash]

If you were in deep, stable remission there should be no symptoms. This type of remission includes clinical, endoscopic and histological with mucosal healing.

Pred can knock down inflammation but does not induce mucosal healing.

Think of pred like a rescue med (similar to an inhaler for asthma) it gets the inflammation knocked down so that a maintenance med can take over.

Most GIs will start maintenance med along with pred so that when you taper off pred the maintenance med has had time to build up to therapeutic levels.

Since CRP or other inflammation markers in the blood may not pick up simmering inflammation then it is possible with your colon being so affected that there are still some areas will ulceration. Sometimes fecal calprotectin stool test is used since it detects inflammation in the bowels only.

Is there a maintenance med you are also on? Or is the GI planning to place you on a maintenance med at some point? When you taper off pred the inflammation generally quickly returns.

 

[Bunty]

Bleeding is and always has been my main symptom, often my only symptom. I don't ignore it and neither does my GI, as it obviously means something isn't right.
I'm not talking about losing loads of blood or enough to to make a person anemic, but enough to be able to see it either in your stools or on the paper when you wipe.
Bleeding means it's active and needs treatment, no matter how little blood. For me, foods don't make any difference.
Bunty x

 

[scottsma]

I was on Prednisone for one month,tapering,during the summer.I started bleeding during the third week and it lasted for almost five weeks.It happened during the first two B.Ms in the morning and I had to flush twice to clear the bowl.Because I had no bleeding after subsequent B.M.s during the day,it seemed to me that blood was backing up during the night.As I felt quite well,I chose not to worry to much.

 

[Deadstar]

Thank you all for your comments. This forum has been my sanctuary during those last weeks!
Bunty and scottsma my situation is kinda like a mix of what you both describe. I see bleeding only once a day, not crazy bleeding but still I think it should not be there. Other than that I feel perfect. My GI told me pretty much what you all are describing, that I am just diagnosed and I should use the rescue drug cortisone before I go to real maintenance healing therapy with azathioprine. Foods so far don't seem to affect me (but maybe its still early and cortisone masks the symptoms maybe?).
Clash regarding your question, since I have just been diagnosed my doctor started me on the rescue drug cortisone 30 mg daily(its actually a great term to describe it). I have been taking it for one month and my GI on our appointment that we had last week told me that I will start on azathioprine soon (after I have some blood tests and vaccinations done for obvious immunity reasons). Therefore, my first maintenance therapy drug will be azathioprine and as you said he told me that I will start it along with the pred in order for it to build some therapeutic level and after that taper the cortisone.

He also mentioned that I will need around 2 or more for the azathioprine to really work and that we will have another colonoscopy assessment on a 6 month mark. He also mentioned that he has a timetable of 7-8 years for achieving a deep stable, biochemically and scientifically proved remission. I hope that all these make sense! He is probably the most renowned GI in Greece but still getting some reassurance and advice for you guys is really important.
Love you all!