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Joined
Jun 15, 2015
Messages
6
Location
East Kent,
Hi everybody, although I have had Crohn's diagnosed in 1996 following an emergency resection I have never been on any medication and have since managed to control symptoms by controlling what I eat and by now I know what does and does not agree with me. I do have what I suppose are flare-ups where I get pain, lethargy, cramping, for about 24 hours, which then goes away again.
Is there anybody else here who has never been on any medication and has managed to "stay off the radar", so to speak, of the medical profession? I am now 64 and feel generally well and have normal energy levels. As a matter of fact, I am a lot fitter than some people of my age. There are things I cannot eat, fresh milk and cream etc. are a total no-no, but that seems a small price to pay for being medication-free.
I would be really interested to hear from anyone in a similar situation.
 
Hi grumpyoldwoman, I'm probably in a similar situation with a few twists and turns over the years. I was diagnosed at 22 years of age and had my first bowel resection then. Went home and forgot about it until exactly 5 years later when my second resection was necessary. At that time there really weren't any drugs [other than steroids] available to those of us with Crohn's disease who had mostly small bowel involvement. I was offered Lomotil and told to take it with every meal to prevent diarrhea, but it left me feeling foggy so I didn't use it. Fast forward to 2023 when my third resection became necessary. I was experiencing lots of diarrhea just prior to and during the pandemic, but otherwise felt fine. The only drug I'm on is Colestipol which controls the diarrhea caused by losing my ileo-cecal valve to surgery. My doctor would like me to be on one of the biologics to prevent another flare, but since I had such a long remission before, I'm counting on another flare free 30-40 years by which time I'll be dead as I'm now 65 years old so no biologics for me.
Since my most recent surgery, I can eat anything. I try to eat a healthy diet and find that relatively high fiber intake works well for me. My biggest problem lately is that I've gained quite a bit of weight as I'm not very good at saying "no" to food after years of trying to gain weight!
I feel very lucky after reading some of the stories on this forum. I was able to have a career, a healthy daughter, a wonderful 43 year marriage [so far], and now a retirement with lots of travel with my husband.
I wish you continued good health and my best regards.
 

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