New and starving

[Sailorluna]

Hi all,
I was diagnosed in June with Crohns when I had a blockage and a surprise resection. I find that sometimes I just eat and eat. I am hungry - eat and then am hungry again. Sometimes its a sugar craving and sometimes its just general hunger. Anyone else have this? Is it a Crohns thing or perhaps from the resection? Also - I am on Azithioprine not sure if that is a factor.

 

[Crohn's 35]

Hi Sailorluna :bigwave: Welcome to our community! I have had two resections and eating alot of sugary stuff is a no no for Crohns, it feeds the bacteria. You could need more protein, or higher fat content foods. Aza never had that affect on me only Prednisone.. could eat my way out of house and home. How are you bowel movements? Glad you found us, great source of info on here and wonderful people to help you out.

 

[Crohns08]

Hey Sailorluna,

Yeah I've had those cravings while on prednisone, it's crazy always being hungry like that and annoying! I just feed into my cravings though but that is because I am underweight and I need to. I try to avoid things that upset my stomach so I won't be suffering too terribly later since I've been in a lot of pain as of late.

 

[Entchen]

Hi, and welcome to the forum! I've been starving hungry since my Crohn's symptoms began. We think it might be indigestion masking as hunger, but are not positive about why it's happening. Definitely not due to lack of eating or nutrition in my case -- my weight just goes up and up, even though I monitor my caloric intake carefully.

 

[Sailorluna]

Thanks guys.

Pen, you asked about my bms-they are usually liquid. I had my 3 month follow up since the surgery the other day and the GI doc put me on Cholesterine (I think?) powder. She said the endless diarreah could be due to the 10 inches of small intestine they took out. Something about bile acid not absorbing because so much of the illeum is gone. Sometimes it seems like it may be helping. It gets crazy bad if I eat too much grease. I don't even try fries anymore but pizza? burgers? sometimes its so hard to resist.

What do you guys do? Should I be asking for prednisone or something? Just buckle down and avoid the grease?

I've had lots of sugary stuff lately too... didn't realize that could be a problem.

 

[Sailorluna]

Kelly - do they know why your weight is going up if you are monitoring your intake?
That seems strange. I have been eating a lot but my weight stays in about a 4 pound range - maybe because of the constant d - it can't go up much? Indigestion masking as hunger? Interesting - are you trying anything to counteract it?

 

[Crohn's 35]

Thanks guys.

Pen, you asked about my bms-they are usually liquid. I had my 3 month follow up since the surgery the other day and the GI doc put me on Cholesterine (I think?) powder. She said the endless diarreah could be due to the 10 inches of small intestine they took out. Something about bile acid not absorbing because so much of the illeum is gone. Sometimes it seems like it may be helping. It gets crazy bad if I eat too much grease. I don't even try fries anymore but pizza? burgers? sometimes its so hard to resist.

What do you guys do? Should I be asking for prednisone or something? Just buckle down and avoid the grease?

I've had lots of sugary stuff lately too... didn't realize that could be a problem.

Hey there, you were very close, Cholestyramine, (Questran) yes I did take them after both my surgeries but within a year I was mostly doing better. It doesnt work for everyone but eating unsweetened Apple sauce (homemade is better and it is apple season now) it slows down the bowels. Bananas help too. I find that any grease is very hard to digest because it is fat and hard to break down and the Ileum is where everything is absorbed. I had 2ft total taken out. I had pizza the other night ,one the dough is heavy and hard to digest and the soft mozzerella cheese ...well that is dairy and bloats. Fries are bad for two reasons one is deep fried the other is it is the the only non dairy food that becomes lactose after deep frying. Yes it is hard but sticking to a low residue diet for the most part should help.

The other thing is if I do over eat or eat risky foods, I take about 3 digestive enzymes, alot of times they help. When you take the Questran make sure you drink lots of water , you have to replace the D and hydration. Hope this helps a bit, hope you cope better.. :hang:

 

[Sailorluna]

Thanks Pen! I appreciate the advice and will try the apple sauce. 2 feet!! Wow. Was most of that in one shot? What are the digestive enzymes and where do I get them?

 

[Crohn's 35]

Ha,no, I had 6 inches first time and the rest the second time...but the surgeon was a "general" surgeon and he did my gall bladder great because it was laproscopic, on my gut, he damned near killed me and still paying ever since...in Jan of 2003.

Digestive enzymes can be bought in any drug store and read the label to make sure it breaks down fats and protein, and some also have lactose breakdown. They are not expensive. Most are yeast free, gluten free and natural. If you need any more help pm me!

 

[Entchen]

Hiya: No, we don't know why it is happening. I haven't tried anything by way of supplements for it - ideas welcome, however! Just sticking with diet and exercise right now but certainly open to other options. My docs aren't particularly interested since this isn't an overly clinically significant symptom (unlike D, blood, etc.), although with my blood pressure also going up now, it's at least on their radar a bit more.

-Kelly