New-ish Crohn's grrl taking control of my health

[Ani9]

Hello all, I was diagnosed with small bowel Crohn's in May 2014. Two month course of Enticort, but now expressing a month of my health and body in chaos and reeling from the drugs. Mostly that it has killed my good gut bacteria and created flow on effects.
I'm keen to rebuild my gut bacteria, learn about my body, learn from the research but mostly from others with IBD so that I can make the best decisions about treatment (that hopefully involve little if any drugs).

Thankful for this forum. And all the experiences and knowledge shared.

 

[DJW]

Hi and welcome.

Is there a treatment plan going forward?

Sending you my support.

 

[Hope345]

so sorry to hear you are dealing with all of this but your willingness to learn and face it head on is great

Inflammation in the small intestines means malabsorption as you probably already know.

have you been tested for vitamin deficiencies?

 

[Ani9]

Hi Hope345
Thanks for the welcome.
Looking forward to hearing from people like you who have opted out of mainstream medication. I understand it may be needed in some treatment, but integrating good gut health and empowering people with IBD to make decisions themselves must be part of it.

My Crohn's has been diagnosed as mild. What I am currently going through since coming off the steroids has been in many ways far worse than the initial flare up it was treating.

Interested to hear what you have learned about natural and other remedies.

Cheers.

 

[Ani9]

And yes, have been tested for vitamin deficiencies prior to the steroids but will get tested again.

 

[Ani9]

Hi Dave
My GI is on leave currently. Seeing a locus GI - has not been a satisfying experience. He has asked me to consider immunosuppressants but has not made clear alternatives. Also has failed to respond to my need to treat the consequences of the Entocort. Needles to say I am now here looking for support and knowledge, and will be finding another GI in the meantime.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

Welcome. There are many great probiotics to replenish your gut flora. I never heard of entocort harming the flora since it's a steroid not an antibiotic but maybe it also plays a role?

 

[Orchid]

There's limited evidence of glucocorticoids changing gut flora in rats but nothing human scale for the GI tract. They may not apply to humans as the rat immune system uses glucocorticoids differently than the human immune system. There is evidence of it causing infections in burn victims but once again, nothing GI.

 

[Ronald]

Welcome! I definitely don't plan on sticking to mainstream medicine forever, but for now I need to get my symptoms under control and research what other options I have.

I really don't like the sound of immunosuppressants - it's controlling a disease by opening the floodgates to more disease. I completely understand them in people who have autoimmune diseases that affect the whole body, but not just one localised area such as the bowel.

The symptoms of IBD are bad...but weakening my body further doesn't sound great either. There must be a treatment that boosts the bodies ability to fight off these diseases, not knock it down to the point in which it can't function enough for disease to exist.