Hi everyone! I'm a 37yo male and was just diagnosed with Crohns (had the colonoscopy etc). I've been healthy all my life and up until 3 months ago I was lifting weights, fencing, running, and had no complaints whatsover except for occasionally bouts with irritable bowel syndrom every few months.
But 3 months ago a lot of strange symptoms came all at once and got progressively worse. The back of my knees were sore and stiff, then my ankles, then my elbows, wrists, thumbs, etc. Arthritis everywhere- some days I would have to crawl up the stairs! At the same time I got a mysterious cough, and stomach aches every day. 3 months of diarhea and/or loose stools. I lost 25 pounds too.
I didn't want to go to the doctor because I didn't want to look like a hypochondriac and I figured he would tell me it was just stress and that I was wasting his time. But crawling up the stairs and having my wife threaten (semi-seriously?) to move out because of my terrible gas problems put me over the top.
I had a blood test done at the hospital and they quickly diagnosed crohns and put me on 50mg/day prednisone for 5 days then 40mg/day prednison which I'm on now. That was a week ago.
The VERY SAME DAY I started taking prednisone ALL of the arthiritis vanished as well as the constant farting. The cough disappeared the next day, and the stomach aches/cramps got better over the course of a few days. Had a colonoscopy and saw a specialist a few days ago and they confirmed the diagnoses of Crohns.
I am now 100% without any symptoms and feel great again for the first time in 3 months. So I can't tell you how glad I am for being diagnosed with Crohns disease. Putting a name to this nightmare is great because now I know where to look for treatment.
I'm a little worried about the prednisone side effects everyone talks about on these boards- hopefully they aren't as bad as they seem. Reading forums on the internet is usually dangerous because everyone reports their terrible side effects but not so many people take the time to write about their good experiences. Not looking forward to a moon face, mood swings or unusual fat deposits!
Anyway just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. Merry Christmas!
But 3 months ago a lot of strange symptoms came all at once and got progressively worse. The back of my knees were sore and stiff, then my ankles, then my elbows, wrists, thumbs, etc. Arthritis everywhere- some days I would have to crawl up the stairs! At the same time I got a mysterious cough, and stomach aches every day. 3 months of diarhea and/or loose stools. I lost 25 pounds too.
I didn't want to go to the doctor because I didn't want to look like a hypochondriac and I figured he would tell me it was just stress and that I was wasting his time. But crawling up the stairs and having my wife threaten (semi-seriously?) to move out because of my terrible gas problems put me over the top.
I had a blood test done at the hospital and they quickly diagnosed crohns and put me on 50mg/day prednisone for 5 days then 40mg/day prednison which I'm on now. That was a week ago.
The VERY SAME DAY I started taking prednisone ALL of the arthiritis vanished as well as the constant farting. The cough disappeared the next day, and the stomach aches/cramps got better over the course of a few days. Had a colonoscopy and saw a specialist a few days ago and they confirmed the diagnoses of Crohns.
I am now 100% without any symptoms and feel great again for the first time in 3 months. So I can't tell you how glad I am for being diagnosed with Crohns disease. Putting a name to this nightmare is great because now I know where to look for treatment.
I'm a little worried about the prednisone side effects everyone talks about on these boards- hopefully they aren't as bad as they seem. Reading forums on the internet is usually dangerous because everyone reports their terrible side effects but not so many people take the time to write about their good experiences. Not looking forward to a moon face, mood swings or unusual fat deposits!
Anyway just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. Merry Christmas!