Crohn's, nausea, and inability to eat

[Carling]

Hi everyone. I'm a newly diagnosed crohn's patient (June 2016). So far after my diagnosis, i was put on 2 months of prednisone which ended at the end of august. At the beginning of September I started on 150 mg/day of azathioprine. about 2 weeks into it, I got sick with a cold. ever since then I have been feeling nausea on and off, and have had a love-hate relationship with food. Most food turns me off and I am unable to eat it, even the things I normally love. so far the only things that i am able to reliably eat are bread, crackers, potatoes and vegetable broth. Anytime I try to eat anything else, I may only have a few bites, or at most about half of the serving I can normally have. I haven't been having any of the symptoms I was experiencing during my flare-up, such as diarrhea. The other symptoms I am feeling, however, are headache, dizziness, dehydration, and fatigue. also, I got a call from my doctor about my most recent bloodwork which was done while I was sick in September (I have to go in monthly with the azathioprine, and am planning to go again this week). the bloodwork indicated that my inflammation was still very high.

Does anyone have any suggestions or any similar experiences?

 

[shamrock15]

Aza unfortunately takes a long time to work up to its full effectiveness level. I believe 3 months is the standard time quoted. Do tell your doctor about the illness. Strangely it may actually be a bit of a good sign as there is an increased susceptibility to colds when on aza so it may mean that levels are building for you. I do hope that is the case. Some of the illnesses can be treated to help you out a little or he/she may decide to change meds. In either case, here's hoping it takes care of your disease shortly.

 

[ronroush7]

Try some nutritional shake like Ensure or Boost. You mentioned fatigue and dizziness. Have you been checked to see if you are anemic? If not, you might want to ask your doctor.

 

[Carling]

My iron levels are monitored in my bloodwork, so I know I'm not anemic. The call I got the other day was to offer me more prednisone while I wait for the aza to kick in, so if this persists I may have to go that route

 

[ronroush7]

As far as the nutrition shakes , make sure they don't have carregeenan in them.

 

[Pug Gamer]

Im sorry your going through this. Im on aza too and i started feeling better after 2 months but nothing majorly tbh. Im told by my GI and IBD nurse that it kicks in at 6 months fully. Until then you cant really tell. I was on entocort steroids until friday, so 8 months on steroids, 3 months on aza. They can give you something for nausia, ive had it for kidney infections. It does work.

 

[jclynn0212]

My iron levels are monitored in my bloodwork, so I know I'm not anemic. The call I got the other day was to offer me more prednisone while I wait for the aza to kick in, so if this persists I may have to go that route

Ask them to check you feratine levels. Not sure if that's the correct spelling. It is another way of determining anemia. I went through a whole pregnancy and they told me I wasn't anemic. About a year and a half later, it got to the point that I could not wake up. I was so tired all the time. A different doctor checked those levels and determined that I was severely anemic. So much so that had I gone another 6 months like that, my organs would have started shutting down. Normal ranges are in the 200 to 300s. Mine was at 35. After 2 years on iron supplements, it's still only 76. Everytime I go see a doctor now, I have to request them to check it with my blood work. It's not something that is typically ordered.