Hello Everyone

[Bruno]

Hello,

My name is Bruno and I was diagnosed with Chron when I was 6 years old, back in 1986. Had a bad flare at that age, and spent months in the hospital. After that, I have been more or less in remission (with frequent periods of loose stools) till last December. I was admitted to the Hospital in the beginning of January this year for the first time (during one week), and last month was in the hospital for another two weeks. I had quite a bad flare, and did all type of exams: endoscopy, colonoscopy, CT Scan, MRI Scan, countless blood tests... Besides confirming the Chron diagnosis I had as a kid, I have quite a few stomach ulcers too, which is not fun at all. Currently I'm taking for the first time Prednisolone, Azathioprine, Omeprazole, Forceval, Accrete, Thiamine and special nutritional drinks. Feeling much better now (as I haven't felt in ages), but worried that now that Chron has come back with a vengeance, that I will have flares more frequently...

It's nice to meet you all and hope all of you are feeling better today

Bruno

 

[scottsma]

Hi Bruno and welcome to the forum.It must have come as a shock having a flare after all this time.We're glad you found us.There's lots of advice,support and friendship to be had.You can tell and ask anything and someone will have be along to help out.I'm glad you're feeling better now.Long may it last.

 

[Bruno]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Yes, it was quite a huge shock. I am still trying to adapt as since I was in remission for so long, for me it's almost like if the disease only started now, as my first flare was when I was very young.
I have been reading a lot of the threads here. They are full of great information! I'm sure I will have many doubts and ask for advice specially during this period.

 

[dave13]

Welcome Bruno,glad you were in remission for so long.Sorry about the recent flare.You found a great place here.Everyone has been very helpful with information and support when I've reached out.

Dave

 

[worriedboy]

Bruno,

The good news is that you responded well to the meds and managed to stabilize; hopefully you will get into a very deep remission quickly for many years as you had until rcpecently had.

Out of curiousity - do you have any thoughts about the timing ? Have you changed anything in your life recently ? Nutrition ? Meds ? Living place ? Anything ?

Feel Well

 

[Bruno]

@dave13
Thank you for the welcome! From all the threads I have read so far, everyone seems to be very helpful, and it's always interesting to read others experience with this disease, specially how they react to the strong medication doctors give us

@worriedboy
Yes, I responded very quickly to the medication, which is really good. I lost weight very quickly, and when I was admitted to the hospital in January my weight was 39 Kg. Right now, I am with 52 kg, which makes me quite happy. I had to get blood transfusions and received a lot of supplements via IV, as I had a strong anemia too.

I am from Portugal, and I moved to Scotland two and a half years ago. In this couple of years I developed lactose intolerance, for which I blame the fresh bottled milk I used to drink here (we don't have that in Portugal). My diet is also quite different from the diet I had in Portugal, as a lot of the ingredients we use there are not available in Scotland.

Before the flare attacked I had a pneumonia, for which I received strong antibiotics. I read somewhere that some antibiotics can trigger a flare, so there is that possibility too.

Also, the end of the year was quite stressful at work, so that could have helped triggering the flare too.

It's kind of a mystery what could possibly have been the trigger. I just hope that the meds I am taking right now are able to keep Crohn's at bay for quite some time.