Convincing parents
- Thread starter Jlwatson1
- Start date
Help Support Crohn's Disease Forum:
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- Feb 20, 2012
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I'm not an expert, but i've been in your situation before.
Both Prendisone and Entocort are drugs known as cortosteroids. These drugs are used to decrease inflammation, but also can have side effects of their own. Insomnia, anxiety, and depression are all side effects of prendisone. The side effects can stick around for a while, depending on how long you were on the drug to begin with. Body pain in general is pretty common from prendisone. One thing to remember with both these drugs are they work like a bandaid. They work to fix what's wrong for a while, but they aren't a long term fix for what's really wrong in your body.
The reason why you're having the pain with eating most likely is your crohn's disease - being in and out of the hospital sucks! We've all been there. When things calm down in your body, things will get easier. Have you discussed a treatment plan with your doctor? A lot of the medications that can be prescribed for maintenance of crohn's disease will do a lot to help with inflammation, which is where a majority of the pain and general annoyance comes from.
Also, you can ask your family doctor or GI doctor to prescribe you other medications to help with the nausea or pain. There are a lot of options that aren't controlled substances, are non addictive and inexpensive which can really help your issues. It might be a lot easier to talk to your doctor about some really common medications to help with the side effects of your medications. The side effects are very common, and it seems a lot easier to just go through that method of getting help.
I'm completely on the fence about medical marijuana for myself, but I don't feel I have the right to judge anyone else's usage. With that said, if you are having issues with depression, it really might be worth talking to a counselor about. When I was in the hospital, I found a lot of the resident doctors were very easy to talk to because they were closer in age to me. Most university hospitals have teams of residents and attending doctors, so there's a good chance there will be someone you can connect to and talk about getting the treatment you need for your crohn's.
Marijuana can work as either a stimulant or depressant depending on the person. If you're already dealing with depression - having crohn's alone is enough to make anyone depressed - and as much as I'm sure you don't want to hear it, there's always the chance that smoking might not be the best way to go. Not only because your mental state directly effects your disease activity, but the anxiety of having to sneak around to stay undetected could actually make you feel worse. Honestly, the people I've known that started to rely on staying home and smoking to make themselves feel better really weren't doing themselves a favor. Instead of finding treatment to heal, they just sat around and complained about being in pain, being broke and trying to find someone to sell them weed.
One thing to remember: the goal is to get yourself healing and well, not just to hide all the symptoms. Covering up all the pain and side effects actually could prevent you from getting the care which will make you go into remission. And people can stay in remission for years.
Good luck!
Both Prendisone and Entocort are drugs known as cortosteroids. These drugs are used to decrease inflammation, but also can have side effects of their own. Insomnia, anxiety, and depression are all side effects of prendisone. The side effects can stick around for a while, depending on how long you were on the drug to begin with. Body pain in general is pretty common from prendisone. One thing to remember with both these drugs are they work like a bandaid. They work to fix what's wrong for a while, but they aren't a long term fix for what's really wrong in your body.
The reason why you're having the pain with eating most likely is your crohn's disease - being in and out of the hospital sucks! We've all been there. When things calm down in your body, things will get easier. Have you discussed a treatment plan with your doctor? A lot of the medications that can be prescribed for maintenance of crohn's disease will do a lot to help with inflammation, which is where a majority of the pain and general annoyance comes from.
Also, you can ask your family doctor or GI doctor to prescribe you other medications to help with the nausea or pain. There are a lot of options that aren't controlled substances, are non addictive and inexpensive which can really help your issues. It might be a lot easier to talk to your doctor about some really common medications to help with the side effects of your medications. The side effects are very common, and it seems a lot easier to just go through that method of getting help.
I'm completely on the fence about medical marijuana for myself, but I don't feel I have the right to judge anyone else's usage. With that said, if you are having issues with depression, it really might be worth talking to a counselor about. When I was in the hospital, I found a lot of the resident doctors were very easy to talk to because they were closer in age to me. Most university hospitals have teams of residents and attending doctors, so there's a good chance there will be someone you can connect to and talk about getting the treatment you need for your crohn's.
Marijuana can work as either a stimulant or depressant depending on the person. If you're already dealing with depression - having crohn's alone is enough to make anyone depressed - and as much as I'm sure you don't want to hear it, there's always the chance that smoking might not be the best way to go. Not only because your mental state directly effects your disease activity, but the anxiety of having to sneak around to stay undetected could actually make you feel worse. Honestly, the people I've known that started to rely on staying home and smoking to make themselves feel better really weren't doing themselves a favor. Instead of finding treatment to heal, they just sat around and complained about being in pain, being broke and trying to find someone to sell them weed.
One thing to remember: the goal is to get yourself healing and well, not just to hide all the symptoms. Covering up all the pain and side effects actually could prevent you from getting the care which will make you go into remission. And people can stay in remission for years.
Good luck!
I've recently started using it and it works wonders for the symptoms you mentioned above. There are studies that you'll find links to on this forum that support the use of MJ for the reduction of inflammation and for healing of the gut lining (Cannabinoid receptors in the gut.. google it) in additon to the acute relief that it provides.
I also think I know what you mean with the depression. Just sick of being sick.. tired of this illness being such a central part of your life. That's how I was and found that MJ definitely helped with it, giving a short repreive from the illness at the very least.
With regards to the information provided by the previous poster, refering to MJ as a stimulant/depressant is kind of a misnomer in this case. These are terms used to assess the physical side effects of drugs such as MJ and aren't related to the mental depression that often accompanies chronic illness. With MJ, certain strains make you just want to go to sleep, while others offer a more "cerebral" or mental high (the former is generally considered better for crohn's).
In terms of your parents, this site might be a good place to start. Show them the forum, and how many people have found great relief from MJ use, might be better than jus providing a bunch of studies. Like I said, I recently started using MJ regularly for my Crohn's (never been much of a recreational user) and have had some really good results. If you (or you parents for that matter) have any questions feel free to PM me.
I also think I know what you mean with the depression. Just sick of being sick.. tired of this illness being such a central part of your life. That's how I was and found that MJ definitely helped with it, giving a short repreive from the illness at the very least.
With regards to the information provided by the previous poster, refering to MJ as a stimulant/depressant is kind of a misnomer in this case. These are terms used to assess the physical side effects of drugs such as MJ and aren't related to the mental depression that often accompanies chronic illness. With MJ, certain strains make you just want to go to sleep, while others offer a more "cerebral" or mental high (the former is generally considered better for crohn's).
In terms of your parents, this site might be a good place to start. Show them the forum, and how many people have found great relief from MJ use, might be better than jus providing a bunch of studies. Like I said, I recently started using MJ regularly for my Crohn's (never been much of a recreational user) and have had some really good results. If you (or you parents for that matter) have any questions feel free to PM me.
