i have managed my crohns which affects damn near my entire gi tract fro 3.5 years without drugs.
here are some tips that may help.
-switch from milk to cheese to lower lactose intake.
avoid anything with added sugar and limit you diet to low sugar fruits, but they all have some sucrose so in general you will have some issues with fruit.
-corn, barley, rice contribute to constipation.
-pure psyllium seed husk but not metamucil with added sugar, can help form a solid bowel movement and contribute to healing of the intestinal tract from good bacteria fermenting the fiber to make antibacterial/anti-inflammatory compounds. at certain times during your disease, psyllium may not help any of your symptoms, i believe this is due to accumulating too many bad bacteria, which compete for access to soluble fiber, making it harder for the good bacteria to make the good stuff, so watch out. combining psyllium with coconut oil up to one tablspoon total spread out daily between meals may be the right mix for crohns, where coconut can inhibit the pathogens, allowing only the remaining good bacteria to ferment the psyllium/soluble fiber.
in 2009 i was taking large amounts of psyllium and coconut oil and eating lots of corn, rice, and barley with almost no problmes. Like the typical inexperianced amateur, i prematurely concluded i was cured, and got lazy on the regimen i developed, then i changed it, now im trying to go back to it and it has been difficult to get the same results as now all these starchy foods just constipate me. since i didnt do any of this very scientifically or to the hightest standards, im not sure exactly how i acheived that, so i recently tried going back to psyllium and it only caused me problems, now im trying to work coconut oil back into the diet as i think that was the main variable that was keeping it all together allowing me to not only take the psyllium, but also eat all the corn rice and barley that i cannot digest now.
im not making any promises here, but these are a few ways which i have managed through the years. i have never had surgery and i have 1-2 bowel movement a day for about 3 years, actually longer then 3 yrs, i had my diarrhea under control in about the first 2 months. the worse ive ever got after those first two months was perhaps 3 bms in one day, and thats it.
my diet is based around refried beans, wheat, and oatmeal, my supplement regimen is quite complicated.
im giving myself 6 more months of systematically testing more alternatives. Then, only after i have tried everything else, will i pursue drugs. the only symptoms i deal with is low energy, brain fog, and fluctuating levels if inflammation, which i may actually be able to control soon without drugs.
hope this gives you i bit more hope and shows you you have many more options then just the drugs and surgery. i have read many scientific articles and have taken 3 years of notes documenting every step i took, i am still perfecting my regimen, but these are my own discoveries.
Just know you have come to the right place for lots of helpful info and support - we all 'get it' here and whilst it may feel like it, you are not a burden hun. Out of interest have any dietary changes been mentioned to you at all and if so does this help with symptoms? How long have you been on the Imuran exactly and at what dose? Is this the first time you have been on this? Also since your op have docs ever done any checks in your vitamin levels?
