Crohn's advice: Do I need to see my doctor?

[justina614]

Hello everybody, this is my first post in the forum here. I was diagnosed with Crohns Disease when I was 12 and put on Remicade which took me right into remission. I stayed on Remicade until I was 17 and got to the point where I spread out my IV infusion to every 12 weeks. My mother and I made the decision to take my off of my medication because we weren't sure what potential long term side-effects there would be. The past 4.5 years I have been managing with my diet and I have stayed in remission. When I was 18 I had a mental breakdown and drank a lot, started getting pain and seeing blood in my stool frequently so I stopped and reevaluated my choice. Since then I have been fine. The past few days I have been seeing blood when I wipe but not in my still which makes me nervous because every now and then I see this but try to ignore it. Where do I draw the line between having symptoms and being in remission? I am nervous to go see a doctor because I am scared that they will try to medicate me again and I believe that, for now, I can manage it through diet. Is this fear somewhat irrational? Just looking for somebody else who has some person experience with the disease to talk to. Thanks for yalls time

 

[Scipio]

Hi Justina. The blood is not a good sign. You are right that the docs may try to medicate you if there are signs of a Crohn's flare. But ignoring it won't make it go away. You are better off knowing what your actual condition is and making informed choices of how to deal with it (diet or medication or both) rather than just ignoring the signs and hoping for a good outcome.

You can always refuse medication and stick with just diet if you so choose. You can't be treated against your will. But as I said, it's always better to know what you are up against rather just guessing and hoping.

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

Hi and welcome! We have a saying here that if you're asking if you should be seen, it's time to go be seen. Usually that's for the ER, but I believe that's for this too.

I totally understand about not wanting medication. At one point I too went medication free, but I'd never do that now. Best thing to do would be to talk with your doctor or even the office about your fears. I hope things can get taken care of for you soon. Please keep up updated.

 

[ronroush7]

I agree with all the above.

 

[justina614]

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to me yall! I think I am going to wait to see if there is another incident before going to the doctor because a few hours after I posted this I started my period. Its hard to distinguish which blood is which but (sorry if explicit) it was the morning and although it was 100% clean when I wiped in the front perhaps because I was sleeping blood trickled down and I thought I was having GI bleeding when it was just period blood. Again, really not sure but its plausible.