Feeling lost

[Shannon_august]

Im 21 years old and was diagnosed with crohns 7th march.only ever heard about the condition docs never gave me info about it so relied on Google. My question is does anyone have same problem as me, trouble sleeping not being able to sleep or waking up early hours aching. Aching asif you feel like you've been beaten up. I was prescribed zopiclone which was no help so today they now prescribed me amitriptyline but when I looked them up it say depression tablets. Feeling really confused and alone. Can anyone relate to this?

 

[valleysangel92]

Hello and welcome to the forum

First off, yes, many of us here can relate to trouble sleeping, either from pain or medication, I wake up all the time. Aching is common, you may want to get some vitamin and mineral levels checked with blood tests, many vitamin deficiencies can be related to aching and even sleep problems.

While Google can be brilliant, it can also be misleading and confusing, remember that it isn't a substitute for medical advice. If you are unsure of something then ask them to explain, doctors often seem to forget that we haven't all been to medical school and need reminding that things might be new to us.

Yes amitriptyline is an anti-depressant, but many anti-depressants can be used for other conditions as well , and amitriptyline is one that is commonly used to help with sleep disruption. I'm going to tag UnXmas who is one of our members. She's had a lot of success with this type of medication.

Do you mind if I ask what symptoms your having? And what medications your on for the crohns?

 

[Shannon_august]

Okay thank you for getting back to me. I just feel all doctors do is type symptoms in a system and guess. Wel when I got discharged they gave me 3 month of steroids (entocort) 3 tabs first month 2 a day the second and one the third month but that's all. Do I just ask local doctor to be tested for vitamin levels? X

 

[Shannon_august]

As far as symptoms go I do Just feel tired all time but just feel like im bruised underneath my skin x

 

[valleysangel92]

I understand what you mean, it's difficult when we get so little time with them as well, you might find it helpful to write down a list of questions before each visit so that you always go prepared and you don't have to spend time thinking about what to ask. You could also find out if your hospital has an IBD nurse who you can contact, they can often help you understand what's happening and answer many of your questions.

Entocort could be part of what is causing your sleeping trouble, although it is one of the milder steroids used in treating crohns, and has less side effects than the more aggressive prednisolone, it can still cause insomnia, you may want to try taking it first thing in the morning and see if that helps at all.

Yes your local doctor should be more than capable of ordering the bloods and dealing with any deficiencies that you do have.

Remember I'm not a doctor but it does sound like you might have a bit of an iron or vitamin B or D deficiency to me, all of which are common with crohns and all of which can be treated fairly easily.

 

[Shannon_august]

Okay wel you've been really helpful. Thank you

 

[UnXmas]

Im 21 years old and was diagnosed with crohns 7th march.only ever heard about the condition docs never gave me info about it so relied on Google. My question is does anyone have same problem as me, trouble sleeping not being able to sleep or waking up early hours aching. Aching asif you feel like you've been beaten up. I was prescribed zopiclone which was no help so today they now prescribed me amitriptyline but when I looked them up it say depression tablets. Feeling really confused and alone. Can anyone relate to this?

As valleysangel said, Amitriptyline is an anti-depressant, but (as with many anti-depressants), it is used to treat a variety of physical and mental symptoms as well as depression, one of which is insomnia. I was first prescribed Amitriptyline to manage the insomnia that prednisone caused me. Prednisone caused me terrible insomnia - I'd be awake well into the night and then wake up hours before dawn and it was miserable.

When my doctor prescribed me Amitriptyline to deal with this it was like magic. I could sleep again!

I still take it now and I still get such a good nights sleep every night.

It doesn't work that well for everyone - Amitriptyline has a lot of potential benefits but also a lot of potential side effects. It can also be used in varying dosages - some will only need 10mg, some up to 300mg a day, depending on what it is being used for and what side effects you experience. It may be that you need to try a few different doses to see if you can find a level where it works, so if it doesn't seem to help at first, you could ask your doctor if it's ok to try a higher dose. But it's sedative effect is often very strong.

Amitriptyline will help you sleep (if it works for you), but if there are specific things disrupting your sleep, it will not fix those, just allow you to sleep through them (which in some cases is enough - if you can't find something to relieve pain, being able to sleep in spite of pain can be a perfectly effective alternative). So even if you're able to sleep well on Amitriptyline, you may still need to investigate the cause of your aching.

As valleysangel also said, steroid medications can cause very severe sleeping problems, so that could be at least part of your trouble as well.

 

[Axelfl3333]

Hi Shannon,as valley's angel said be careful with dr google,no news is good news.do you have a clinic nurse?is so get chatty with them there more approachable than consultants and can be very knowledgeable.
The aching joints and tired thing is very common,if your a gym member sauna,and jacuzzi can bring some relief,when you feel better a common thread on here is exercise helps ,it really helps me even if it's only in your mind who cares!it also helps with the blues if you,ve got them.your new to this so it's hard to get around it,just remember most people deal really well with crohns with not a lot of changes to there lives and you,ll be one of them,treatment wise there are lots of studies and treatments being researched there will be an answer.all the best good luck

 

[Pusheen]

Hi Shannon, I was diagnosed this week and recognise what you are writing, the meds make me hyper during the day, while my body is so tired, and make me wake up in the middle of the night, not being able to sleep!

I did get som info leaflets from my docter, but will have to wait with all my questions till I get referred to another specialist in the coming weeks!
I read up a bit, but as everyones story is different I have decided to write down my questions for my new dr appointment and accept things as they are for now!

I hope your meds will help you, they say some of the side effects should lessen after a week or so.. (my friends who is a pharmacist told me today..)

Wishing you well on your journey!