Dead Inside

[stormfanatic]

Hello - my name is Sandi and well I have Crohns. I have rejected the thought for many months and well, I really have no choice these days to deal with it. I am overweight and had always thought of Crohns sufferers to be skinny and it was not till I googled "Can obese people have Crohns" - did I find you all.

I am 45 and 260lbs - and have over 17 surgeries and procedures. I have been diagnosed with:
Benign Neoplasm Lg Bowel
BMI 40 or over Morbid Obesity for ages 18 - 64
Crohn's Large Intestine
Diarrhea
Dysphagia Odynophagia Difficulty Swallowing
Eosinophilic Esophagitis
GERD
Mesenteric Ischemic Colitis Enteritis Enterocolitis Ischemic Stricture Of Intestine
Personal Hx Of Colon Polyp

AND THATS JUST FROM THE GASTRO DOCTOR... the Gynecologist has done 7 surgeries for Endometriosis and ovarian polyps and other stuff... total hysterectomy in 1992 after my miracle baby. The Urologist has diagnosed me with 3 kidneys and 4 ureters and has put my bladder on remote control to control the incontinence. Oh and I have had benign tumors removed from the breasts and am Fibrocystic breasts. And almost forgot .... PULMONARY EMBOLISM one year ago September! And Asthma on inhalers and nebulizer!

Geesh I type it and think I am already 2 feet in the grave with all that wrong!

I did just quit smoking 131 days ago!!!! That's a great thing!!!

this week I think what has caused me to go back to my GI doc was the fact that when I belch - it tastes and smells like rotten eggs again!!!! THIS IS WHY THEY REMOVED MY GALLBLADDER. And of course he was going over my chart and said that word again "CROHNS" and I am like I do not have Crohns - I am not skinny!!! Hence why I googled "Can obese people have Crohns".

Does anyone here with Crohns ever have the dead corpse inside their body fighting their way out thru expelling gases??? If so how do you disquise it or what do you tell people when they smell it when you belch? I think I am starting the Zombie apocalypse from the inside of my body!!!!

I guess I will see what comes about with this site and see if y'all can help me understand my intestines!!! Thanks for having me!

:stinks:

 

[Jmrogers4]

Don't have any advice for you regarding smelly belches, my teenage son has Crohn's and everything about him is smelly of course being a teenage boy he enjoys that.
What meds are you on for Crohn's? Is it well controlled? Just wanted to say Welcome and I'm sure more will be along shortly that can answer more questions.
By the way you don't have to be skinny to have Crohn's

 

[Clash]

When is the last time you were checked for h. pylori? Rotten egg smelling belches are often a symptom of h. pylori infection.

 

[aideen33]

I'm going to 2nd Clash on that one. My late mother was checked for everything under the sun including the gallbladder for what we termed her "sulphur burps", the only thing that ever made a difference was finding and treating the h. pylori

 

[stormfanatic]

Yeah they are testing me this week for h.pylori - waiting on the call. As far as the medicine for the Crohns they have not put me on any, so I guess you could say I am non controlled.

I have had so many EGDs and so many colonoscopies... I am sick of them all!!! they want me to control my Crohns right now with monitoring my food. Heck I dont know maybe I should get a second opinion, but this man has been my Gastro doctor for 6 years and has ran every test under the sun!!!

 

[UnXmas]

Hi stormfanatic,

You can of course be overweight with Crohn's. The forum has a support group thread for it here: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=66407 (Or have you already found it? Was what came up when you searched about Crohn's and obesity?)

There's also one for people with multiple illnesses besides IBD: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=61456

I understand completely the joys of managing many medical problems, and endless surgeries, and hear you on the bladder and hormone issues particularly. There's a women only section of the Support forum if you ever want to post about gynaecological issues: http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=61

I'm not sure what to say about the gas problem! I've found that with embarrassing symptoms, with people close to you, it's best to just tell them. Having a diagnosis will make this much easier for you - people are less likely to laugh about something they know is a serious medical problem. Farts, belches, etc. some people think are funny, and may even try to deliberately make people feel embarrassed about, but somehow the social rules and conventions about that all change if they know you're seriously ill.

I have a stoma, and when I empty the bag it can make the bathroom smell so I always use an air freshener, and when staying at other people's houses, etc. I take a little spray one. Would that work for your problem? I guess it might look a bit weird if you got it out and sprayed - maybe pretend it's a perfume or something?! Or you can get sprays and chewing gums and things to freshen breath - would they help?

If you do end up monitoring your food, perhaps you could look to see if certain foods make the smell worse. There are certainly lists of foods that can cause stoma output to be especially smelly - I'm not sure whether they'd be similar for burps, but they include the obviously smelly foods like fish and eggs and smelly cheeses, and foods that increase gas like beans and some vegetables. And apparently parsley, yoghurt and buttermilk decrease stoma odours, though I've never tested them. I do eat yoghurt quite often though - maybe I should stop for a while and see if I notice a difference!

Crohn's would usually be controlled with medications rather than food. In fact I've seen quite a few posts on this forum by people who wish their doctors would approve of them trying to manage their disease with diet rather than medication! But I think the current conventional medical view is that diet cannot stop or prevent a flare (other than in exceptional circumstances, e.g. Enteral Nutrition http://www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/Enteral-nutrition , but it doesn't sound like that's what your doctor is suggesting). However, many people do find that various dietary changes can help their symptoms - i.e. while diet won't affect the disease (inflammation, etc.) itself, it may help ease the diarrhoea, bloating and other symptoms you may experience. So paying attention to your diet may be beneficial, but you should probably ask about medication next time your see your doctor. The only reason I can think of delaying putting you on medication is that he may be waiting until he's done some more tests, to know the full extent of the disease before you're on anything to treat it. Unless you're already completely in remission?

This post turned out a lot longer than I was planning it to! Congratulations on quitting smoking, and on your miracle baby!

 

[scottsma]

Yes,I wanted to say well done on quiting the cigs and congrats on your miracle baby,although in his/her 20s now,still your baby I know.Also I detect a sense of humour behind your post,even though you've been through so much.I just wanted to welcome you to the forum and I really hope you're going to feel better very soon.