I am 39 male (5foot 9) and have had crohns for over 20 years now….three surgeries and also the gallbladder was taken out. Recently I have been looking into what I can do to put on weight (i havent been over 60kg since I have had crohns) and also looking at fatigue and what I can do about it.
I found a doctor in Australia who has helped a lot.
Firstly, with the fatigue…
He looked at my bloods for the last ten years and we noticed that the liver function is elevated across all three levels - this is probably due to Infliximab, but it could be aiding the fatigue.
He also looked at my cortisol levels, as I had taken cortisone for many years, he wanted to see how my body was going in making cortisol now….he did this with a 24 hour urine test (where you keep all your urine for 24 hours) and that showed my levels are below average, ie I am not making quite enough…this can also cause fatigue. So, he suggested heavy Vitamin C injections to try and stimulate, naturally, the cortisol production…i am yet to try this, but I will be trying it soon enough. If that doesnt work, I might have to take 0.5mg of cortisone daily.
Under Weight and fatigue.
The doctor got me to collect my stool for 24 hours in a tin, basically a paint tin….not very nice to do, but I did do it….they sent that to the lab to test for bad bacterias and also for fats…what fats are in the stool. fortunately i didnt have loads of bad bacteria, but what was interesting is that I have 5 times the amount of fats in my stool, than a healthy person….this means the fats I am eating are not getting absorbed, they are passing through…….from there, what he can do now is send another stool sample to the US (from Australia) and they can test what fats are in your stool and in what quantities….from this they can tell you which fats you DO absorb well and which ones you dont….once you know which ones you DO, then he can prescribe foods that have those sorts of fats and you can begin to absorb them and gain weight.
The other thing I found interesting is that if they find bad bacteria, they can culture it in a petri dish and they can then work out what herbs, or combinations of herbs can kill that bacteria and then prescribe those herbs to you, rather than taking a nuke/anti biotic.
Aside from that he said it was just common sense to be on the SCD diet, i.e. simple carbo hydrates and definitely no sugars, processed foods….i have taken to this and it has made a difference and it feels right….it is a nice diet to be on.
He also prescribed curcumin tablets and fish oil tablets.
I myself have taken to eating gurana powder in the mornings and sometimes in the afternoons, for extra energy. (it does not affect my digestion like coffee does)
He also basically said if you have had that terminal ileum part of the gut removed AND the gallbladder, then questran is your friend and I take questran twice daily and it has helped the bowel motions immensely.
I hope there are some people who find some clues to their health in this thread and that is why i wrote it.
Good luck everyone.
Andrew in oz
I found a doctor in Australia who has helped a lot.
Firstly, with the fatigue…
He looked at my bloods for the last ten years and we noticed that the liver function is elevated across all three levels - this is probably due to Infliximab, but it could be aiding the fatigue.
He also looked at my cortisol levels, as I had taken cortisone for many years, he wanted to see how my body was going in making cortisol now….he did this with a 24 hour urine test (where you keep all your urine for 24 hours) and that showed my levels are below average, ie I am not making quite enough…this can also cause fatigue. So, he suggested heavy Vitamin C injections to try and stimulate, naturally, the cortisol production…i am yet to try this, but I will be trying it soon enough. If that doesnt work, I might have to take 0.5mg of cortisone daily.
Under Weight and fatigue.
The doctor got me to collect my stool for 24 hours in a tin, basically a paint tin….not very nice to do, but I did do it….they sent that to the lab to test for bad bacterias and also for fats…what fats are in the stool. fortunately i didnt have loads of bad bacteria, but what was interesting is that I have 5 times the amount of fats in my stool, than a healthy person….this means the fats I am eating are not getting absorbed, they are passing through…….from there, what he can do now is send another stool sample to the US (from Australia) and they can test what fats are in your stool and in what quantities….from this they can tell you which fats you DO absorb well and which ones you dont….once you know which ones you DO, then he can prescribe foods that have those sorts of fats and you can begin to absorb them and gain weight.
The other thing I found interesting is that if they find bad bacteria, they can culture it in a petri dish and they can then work out what herbs, or combinations of herbs can kill that bacteria and then prescribe those herbs to you, rather than taking a nuke/anti biotic.
Aside from that he said it was just common sense to be on the SCD diet, i.e. simple carbo hydrates and definitely no sugars, processed foods….i have taken to this and it has made a difference and it feels right….it is a nice diet to be on.
He also prescribed curcumin tablets and fish oil tablets.
I myself have taken to eating gurana powder in the mornings and sometimes in the afternoons, for extra energy. (it does not affect my digestion like coffee does)
He also basically said if you have had that terminal ileum part of the gut removed AND the gallbladder, then questran is your friend and I take questran twice daily and it has helped the bowel motions immensely.
I hope there are some people who find some clues to their health in this thread and that is why i wrote it.
Good luck everyone.
Andrew in oz
Mandy
