Completely overwhelmed by it all

[wispy_moon]

well, let's see....where to start... I've had bouts of diarrhea for about 2 years and during that time I told my doctor I thought I had IBS or something and he said "yup, probably." and it was left at that for quite awhile. Then my daughter who was 2 at the time tested positive for C.Diff and I thought MAYBE that was my problem. I had my doctor test me, negative. I dropped it again. Then one day, I ended up in the ER with outstanding abdominal pain. I had ovarian cysts. 2 weeks later, back in the ER with the same pain, told it was still the cysts. 1 week later, back in the ER, wasn't the cysts, wbc count over 16,000. CT showed inflamed ileum. Scheduled to see GI doctor in 2 months! Found a surgeon to do my scope in a week. 2 days before scope back in the ER for pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and general malaise. Admitted for dehydration and scoped next day. Positive for Crohn's Disease. Prescribed pain meds and budesonide and sent home. 3 weeks later get to see GI. Put on prednisone (40mg) and continue the budesonide. Tomorrow I start my prep for my 2nd scope because of the findings of my 4th CT.

I am really hating all this drinking bad tasting stuff. lol. As of 3 weeks ago, I now have thrush, staph on my left breast, cramping still in my belly, I can barely eat anything without pain, but I am still gaining weight (thank you prednisone) and my hemorrhoids are the size as topeka kansas and hurt like someone is running concertina wire up my butt! I saw a surgeon for the hemorrhoids and he said he would do surgery on me if I didn't have crohn's but since I do and crohn's patients don't heal he won't touch them. I cannot take any med in a coated form because it passes whole. Is that normal for this? I have even noticed in my once a week stool that I am now passing the little beads from the capsules. Do they make anti-depressants in liquid form and how about budesonide? If it isn't coated or time released, I don't seem to have a problem, or at least that I can tell. my blood pressure is still good and that is an uncoated tablet.....Some good things aboout me. I am married to the man of my dreams for 4 years in Dec and we have 2 beautiful children ages 2 and 3. boy and girl. I guess that is all I have for now.....feel free to offer up and advice, criticisms, or salutations.

 

[motheroftwins]

Hello wispy_moon, welcome to the forum My heart goes out to you and sounds have been through so much. What kind of pain meds where you sent home with? None of my antidepressants are in liquid form so I can't answer that question.

 

[wispy_moon]

Thank you, I was sent home with Vicodin but after 2 weeks I had to be taken off of them because they actually caused me more abdominal pain. Now I take Tramadol and T-3 as needed. Luckily it wasn't daily until recently again. I wasn't sure if I should have listed all my meds or just the GI ones.

 

[motheroftwins]

I was also admitted to the hospital around seven days ago for dehydration and a flare up. So they ended up putting me on 60mg of pred and did way to many tests on me too. I can honestly say, I can't stand hospitals. What kind of diet have you put yourself on. What has worked really well for me is the low residue diet. (hopefully I spelled that right) Oh, it is normal for some of the beads from the medicines we take to come out in our stool. Boy that didn't sound right...:eek2:

I am married and boy/girl twins that are now 15. The family sure grows up fast. Please keep us posted.

 

[wispy_moon]

I put myself on a low residue diet too plus no dairy. I drink almond milk, eat rice ice cream, and do gluten free almond crackers. My main meal is quick farina and white toast. I did see a nutritionalist and she told me every thing i already knew except for the b12. Boy did that help with the fatigue, I don't even have to nap anymore....but now i can't sleep at night either. If it's not one thing it's another. I wake from continuously breaking out in sweats. I do it all day and night. It's disgusting and embarrassing in public. I thought that too, but it is a lot of beads. I will bring it up to my GI when I get my scope on thursday. Gotta love this disease, it's all about poop. :lol:

 

[jenyb62]

All I can say is welcome to the world of Crohn's...I was diagnosed clinically back in 1994 due to a peri-rectal abscess which has turned into a fistula and my now my constant companion...IBS symptoms along with other unexplained ailments in my 20's....I did Remicade for over 10 years which was truly a blessing, gave me my life back, unfortunately you cannot stay on such meds you entire life as they do have possible and very serious side effects, such as lymphoma.......it's a risk. Last year I decided to stop it as I turned 50 this year and by doing so, got a really nice bowel resection and ileostomy just in time for my 50th birthday, but, as traumatic as it was (done emergently) I survived and am glad I had it done......Did I just say that!!!

You are lucky that your GI prescribes any pain medication, in the 20 something years that I have been with my GI, she would never prescribe pain meds, always wanted me to go on prednisone, which again, you cannot keep taking as it also has nasty side effects....Regarding the narcotics, they will slow your digestive system and cause constipation, therefore you need to drink plenty of water and even take a stool softner if you can....On the gluten free products, watch yourself, the will do a job on your stomach, they are high in fiber and roughage...gas, bloating....I got an organic cereal last week and did not realize it was gluten free, did not understand why my stomach felt like a battlefield and then my chiropractor pointed out the "gluten free" issue with my stomach. All I can tell you is watch the raw veggies, make sure they are cooked, a good greek yogurt is always good for the probotics but stay away from nuts and seeds and stick to a low residue diet.

Good Luck.

 

[David]

Hi there and welcome I'm sorry you're struggling at the moment Hopefully things calm down for you soon. And hopefully you get some more insight after this next colonoscopy.

You may want to look into elemental/enteral nutrition to see if that might help get you in remission a little quicker as well and possibly help with your constipation.

We're here for you.

 

[wispy_moon]

Thanks for the welcome. My colonoscopy came back with no new news. Which is a good thing and a bad thing. No explanation for my continuing pain, but it hasn't narrowed, no fistulas, fissures, or obstructions. I am to continue my taper of prednisone and will increase my azathioprine when I see him on the 16th. He also said that we will start looking at my IBS symptoms. Speaking of which does anyone know if beano our something like that would help with my gas and bloating?

 

[Beatit]

Thanks for the welcome. My colonoscopy came back with no new news. Which is a good thing and a bad thing. No explanation for my continuing pain, but it hasn't narrowed, no fistulas, fissures, or obstructions. I am to continue my taper of prednisone and will increase my azathioprine when I see him on the 16th. He also said that we will start looking at my IBS symptoms. Speaking of which does anyone know if beano our something like that would help with my gas and bloating?

Gas X helps with gas. I remember prednisone giving me gas as the stools got harder. Tapering off that and once your off it you should feel alittle weak thats normal. Just keep finding new foods and healing. Good Luck

 

[David]

Where specifically, in relation to your belly button, is the pain?

 

[wispy_moon]

Today is cramping from hip bone to hip bone under the belly button with stabbing pains on my lower right (exactly where my ilieum is and where my crohn's is)

 

[David]

With all your symptoms, I wonder if maybe you have small intestine bacterial overgrowth. It's quite common in people with Crohn's.

 

[wispy_moon]

How do they check for that? Wouldn't surprise me, I have an never ending staph infection on my left breast. I've had it for almost 2 months and I'm finishing my third round of antibiotics for it.

 

[David]

Some places do a breath test but the best method if via endoscopy.

 

[wispy_moon]

I'll talk to my doc about it monday. Thanks for the idea.

 

[PollyH]

How do they check for that? Wouldn't surprise me, I have an never ending staph infection on my left breast. I've had it for almost 2 months and I'm finishing my third round of antibiotics for it.

You are more susceptible to staph if your cholesterol is too low. One reason for low cholesterol is yeast. The yeast create a substance called acetaldehyde which lowers your cholesterol.

Natural progesterone inhibits the growth of staph. You may want to try a small amount on the affected area. Most health food stores carry the cream. Emeritas Progest cream is one of the better ones in my opinion. The other one I like is an oil. It is Kenogen's Progest E complex. The natural progesterone can also be used as part of a treatment plan for the PCOS that you mentioned. One of Dr. John Lee's books on menopause or pre-menopause has a lot of information about natural progesterone. You will need sulfates and methyl groups for your body to handle the natural progesterone and your other hormones.

Ten years ago, I wrote 7 ebooks on natural therapies for getting rid of yeast, bacterial overgrowth and parasites. They are available for free at curezone. Book 2 is the easiest, and perhaps one of the most useful of the books. Book 4 is on hormones. Here is a link to book 2. You can find the other books by using the forward and back arrows at that link.

http://curezone.com/ig/i.asp?i=31465

However, I've learned some things about getting rid of yeast since writing those books. I've shared a lot of that information in this Crohn's thread.

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=46555

There is a definite link between yeast and Crohn's. If you can get the yeast under control, it should help. In a mouse model, anti-fungals reduced the severity of the disease.