yep, its not easy.
is the fight worth it? yes its worth it.
and good for you for asking for help.
everytime i feel that urge to cry or give up, i give myself no other choice but to try something new or find something new that might help.I tell myself, im not quitting nor giving up, im here to stay and figure this one out, i have a burning vengeance to defeat crohn's, maybe i can pass that on to you.
since we are so incapacitated and disabled mentally physically, we DO need someone to helps us figure things out, but its a journey most people have never been on and very few would like to share or even know how to deal with, but if you have this website, we are the people who have been there sometimes as bad as you, and even some have made it out of that place. some of the answers may be here on this website, you never know.
here's my tip: diet changes can contribute to less symptoms, combine those with the right drugs and maybe there's hope. some have tried alternatives and have some decent improvements like boswellia and turmeric, and i will testify to turmerics power to help and suppress some symptoms, although turmeric is not something i recommend long term, but it could help you out untill you find something better, i have not tried boswellia yet. some of these have been scientifically proven to induce remission, also bilberry(proven), psyllium(soluble fiber/proven), Conjugated linoleic Acid(proven), although most proven for Uc and not crohns but the diseases are so similar. i also use a Resveratrol supplement which is derived from a plant traditionally used for gastrointestinal illnesses in traditional medicine, studies in mice show it can supress colonic tumor formation by 80%
http://www.iherb.com/Doctor-s-Best-Best-trams-Resveratrol-100-100-mg-60-Veggie-Caps/7593, this supresses alot of my symptoms, more then turmeric.
if you havent tried lowering your lactose and sucrose intake yet, which is partly what the SCD diet is, then try adding that to see if it helps your symptoms. having said that, learn about the SCD diet or buy the book Specific Carbohydrate diet, its not required that you follow everything strictly. also, we are highly sensitive to yeast in commercial bread and almost all commercial wheat, i had had good luck with gold medal whole wheat flour i make my own unleavened bread products, i have tried 2 different brands of wheat and the difference is striking, bloating loose stools, its unbelievable how much better gold medal whole wheat flour is for people with crohns disease, i should write to them one day.
if you decide to follow the scd diet, making your own yogurt is hard, i suggest buying lifeway brand plain kefir, it is fermented 16 hours instead of 4 hours like most yogurt and contains multiple strains of probiotics, so it contains very low lactose, very much like scd yogurt which is fermented 24 hours to remove most lactose.