I need some serious help.I feel like I am being pulled in every direction!I just recently in Dec 2009 was diagnosed with Crohn's.I was a very sick 32 year old mom of 4.Dr's put me on Asacol,Prednisone and Flagyl.Within a week, I felt like superwoman!!!Well, I have since then been weined off of the prednisone, and took off the Flagyl because i was expierencing some side effects.Now I am in the middle of a flare up! Oh hell,I cant leave the house without a change of clothes in my purse!I have a great support system of family and friends that all wants whats best for me.Some of them are telling me to call the dr, get back on the prednisone,increase meds.Well, others are telling to me to take the natural approach.Go to the health food store...get probiotics..go gluten free, take peppermint.UGH!I am so confused.All I know is that I want to quit pooping so much!I want my life back.It is really hard just to maintain my daily activities.I just got my 2 year old potty trained and now I am thinkingthat i am goingto have to start wearing diapers..LOL.Anyhow....if anyone has any advise, I would welcome it with open arms! thank you
Flare ups!
- Thread starter ang_gen
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Help Support Crohn's Disease Forum:
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Hey, welcome to the forum! Yeah i reckon you need to get back on the phone quick smart to your doc, its clear that weaning off prednisolone has flared you up again and you arent being controlled by the asacol....think its good to think healthy and look at supplements and probioitics but thats not gonna work unless you are a bit healthier too. Think its probably best to get checked because the longer a flare goes on for the harder it is to bring it back under control...i never let a flare get past a few days without calling it in and getting some treatment or advice for it...its not worth it in the long run or the changes of clothes!
Hope you get somewhere and begin to feel better real soon xx
let us know how you get on x
Hope you get somewhere and begin to feel better real soon xx
let us know how you get on x
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Hi ang gen, welcome to the forum. I have to agree with gibby. Definitely call your doctor - even if it is just to let him/her know what is going on. There isn't any sense him thinking you are doing great with the med changes if it's not true. The sooner you can talk to him, the sooner you can get better.
Good health and best of luck.
Good health and best of luck.
Hi ang gen,
I agree with gibby as well. Try to get back to your dr asap! Sometimes it takes a bit of time and trial and error to see what meds will work best for you and what meds you can cope with. Hang in there!!
As for the natural approach I think it is best to wait until things are under control a bit better before trying things out..... make sure you do your research!!
I have found a gluten and dairy free diet works for me, while others don't see any benefit. It can be the same with natural products as well.
Hope things get better for you soon.
I agree with gibby as well. Try to get back to your dr asap! Sometimes it takes a bit of time and trial and error to see what meds will work best for you and what meds you can cope with. Hang in there!!
As for the natural approach I think it is best to wait until things are under control a bit better before trying things out..... make sure you do your research!!
I have found a gluten and dairy free diet works for me, while others don't see any benefit. It can be the same with natural products as well.
Hope things get better for you soon.
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- Aug 27, 2009
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I agree to definitely call the doctor immediately with the symptoms going back out of control. Natural remedys in the form of probiotics help so much for the everyday digestion - but are not needed if you are taking the cipro/flagyl combo because they will regulate you whether you llike it or not LOL. Best of luck to you!! Hoping for less diapers in your future
Crohn's 35
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Welcome to the forum Ang gen... after my resection I had D all the time the only thing that worked for me was Questran (Cholestyramine) and had a better life. I was dx at 32 and had A 4 yr old, I can't imagine having 4 at once! Change in your diet will help, avoid dairy, coffee , wheat while you are flaring. I lived on Flagyl and Cipro. What about any of the biologics? Remicade, Humira or Cimzia? Hope you can get your doctor to write a script for Questran.. good luck let us know how you get on.
Hi Ang gen.. welcome.
It sounds to me like the meds your doctor has you on aren't holding the crohns, you def need to call your doc and get checked out, you may need another style of drug all together. As for natural way it is a good idea to try and adjust your diet to suit as we all know certain foods can make us worse so if you can figure out what is your trigger food you will go a long way to helping with the big D. Also I think you need to be on some sort of meds if you are having the issues you are experiencing as I don't feel natural meds will help at this point until you actually get the crohns undercontrol. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be still looking into taking the right supplements and probiotics etc.
Im currently going the natural route seeing what happens, so far not too bad but I had my crohns pretty much undercontrol and it seemed all the meds they put me on to keep me in remission was only making me worse as I keep reacting to them. I have been off meds for 7 weeks but I do find every couple of weeks I have a couple of bad days which I seem to gain control thru diet etc, but during these days I am generally depressed and low scared Im going to have another huge flare.
Good luck hun hope you can get on top of it soon without any major issues.
It sounds to me like the meds your doctor has you on aren't holding the crohns, you def need to call your doc and get checked out, you may need another style of drug all together. As for natural way it is a good idea to try and adjust your diet to suit as we all know certain foods can make us worse so if you can figure out what is your trigger food you will go a long way to helping with the big D. Also I think you need to be on some sort of meds if you are having the issues you are experiencing as I don't feel natural meds will help at this point until you actually get the crohns undercontrol. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be still looking into taking the right supplements and probiotics etc.
Im currently going the natural route seeing what happens, so far not too bad but I had my crohns pretty much undercontrol and it seemed all the meds they put me on to keep me in remission was only making me worse as I keep reacting to them. I have been off meds for 7 weeks but I do find every couple of weeks I have a couple of bad days which I seem to gain control thru diet etc, but during these days I am generally depressed and low scared Im going to have another huge flare.
Good luck hun hope you can get on top of it soon without any major issues.
I would just start taking the Prednisone if it were me. But you should always speak to your Doctor before doing anything. But from my 2 plus years experience I know for me I would start it because if its left unchecked you will be in worse shape and will take a lot longer to get to feeling better. Just the nature of the beast.
Ulcerative Colitis 2 1/2 years.
Prednisone (40mg), Calcium (1,200 units), Vitamin D (1,000 units)
:ybatty:
Ulcerative Colitis 2 1/2 years.
Prednisone (40mg), Calcium (1,200 units), Vitamin D (1,000 units)
:ybatty:
Astra
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Hi ang gen
I too, agree with everyone else about seeing your doctor, only because this happened to me this week after weaning down/tapering from Pred. I became quite ill, all symptoms came back with a vengenance!
I'm down to 15mg from 40mg over a 6 week period, so I phoned the clinic and was advised to stay on 20mg until my consultation on 8th April when we will be discussing Remicade.
And will probably have to stay on 20mg til Remi kicks in.
And within days, of going to 20mg, I'm pain free and happy again, I'm ok
and I hope you don't mind me saying this, but non Crohnies, with the best will in the world, and as loving and as helpful as they are, god love them, have no idea what your day to day life is really like behind closed doors, so you dont have to take their advice about changing your diet etc, do what's best for you, you're the Crohnie!
good luck
Joan xx
I too, agree with everyone else about seeing your doctor, only because this happened to me this week after weaning down/tapering from Pred. I became quite ill, all symptoms came back with a vengenance!
I'm down to 15mg from 40mg over a 6 week period, so I phoned the clinic and was advised to stay on 20mg until my consultation on 8th April when we will be discussing Remicade.
And will probably have to stay on 20mg til Remi kicks in.
And within days, of going to 20mg, I'm pain free and happy again, I'm ok
and I hope you don't mind me saying this, but non Crohnies, with the best will in the world, and as loving and as helpful as they are, god love them, have no idea what your day to day life is really like behind closed doors, so you dont have to take their advice about changing your diet etc, do what's best for you, you're the Crohnie!
good luck
Joan xx
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I plan on calling the Dr tomorrow.I am doing a little better today, but I am still running back and forth to the bathroom.I am running short on reading material...lol.I did find a wonderful book at a health food store yesturday called self healing colitis and crohn's by david klein.Im not sure the vegan diet is for me, but the book is helping me understand better how the digestive tract works and how much toxins i really do put into my body.Thank you all very much for the advise.It is very nice to have someone to talk to that understands what you are going through.My last dr's visit he told me he wanted to put me on remicaide.I had to get a TB test and hep B test before they could start it.He plans on starting it in May, But i am thinking maybe i should start sooner.I have a fistula that will not heal up and it drives me crazy.I feel like I am deformed!I am just ready to kick this crohn's ass!
Something that helped me a lot is cabbage juice. In a flare, drink it several times a day. Organic.
Also I eat a lot of sweet potatoes in flarea nd it helps.
Reduce the diet, I take out so much...even salt. Literally, it's bananas, sweet potatoes and cabbage jiuce. And fish.
Also I eat a lot of sweet potatoes in flarea nd it helps.
Reduce the diet, I take out so much...even salt. Literally, it's bananas, sweet potatoes and cabbage jiuce. And fish.
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- Mar 13, 2010
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- 51
Hi Ang,
Gibby and the others are right in regards to getting in contact with your doctor. There is no benifit it letting the flare up take control. But when you do get in contact with your doctor it would be good if you had done some research for some treatments. If thats not possible, its good to research the prescribed medication before taking it. Always helps to know whats going on.
Diet is also an important part with managing Crohns, as JettaLady said, it would be greatly beneficial to stay away from dairy, wheat and sugars (sucrose not fructose).
A good wau to determine your trigger foods and your reaction to certain meals as mention by Tanya is to get a little notepad or diary that you take with you everywhere.
Everything you eat and drink you should write it down along with the time you had it. Also write down the time you went to the toilet and the formation of your stool etc. Writing everything down not only eliminates forgetting the details, but it doesnt allow you to procrastinate and convince yourself of things otherwise.
True, this is not fun, but it is a great helping aid to give you an indication of trigger foods and what effects you. You will soon form a habit of doing it and then you will be able to know what you can and cant eat to avoid flare ups in the future.
Hope that helps.
Fou
Gibby and the others are right in regards to getting in contact with your doctor. There is no benifit it letting the flare up take control. But when you do get in contact with your doctor it would be good if you had done some research for some treatments. If thats not possible, its good to research the prescribed medication before taking it. Always helps to know whats going on.
Diet is also an important part with managing Crohns, as JettaLady said, it would be greatly beneficial to stay away from dairy, wheat and sugars (sucrose not fructose).
A good wau to determine your trigger foods and your reaction to certain meals as mention by Tanya is to get a little notepad or diary that you take with you everywhere.
Everything you eat and drink you should write it down along with the time you had it. Also write down the time you went to the toilet and the formation of your stool etc. Writing everything down not only eliminates forgetting the details, but it doesnt allow you to procrastinate and convince yourself of things otherwise.
True, this is not fun, but it is a great helping aid to give you an indication of trigger foods and what effects you. You will soon form a habit of doing it and then you will be able to know what you can and cant eat to avoid flare ups in the future.
Hope that helps.
Fou
