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[pdenning2011]

I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease about 10 years ago, i started having severe stomach pains and was drinking pebto bismol breakfast, lunch and dinner, when i went in for a checkup where they were going to put a camera up my stomach i ended up waking up to find out they removed 10cm of my small intestine. Since the surgery i rarely have any symptoms of stomach pains. I have the usual issues with bowl movements, other than that there is luckily no pain for me. My doctor never put me on any medication, when i rarely had a flare up i was prescriped Cipro antibiotics and the pain quickly resided. My concern is that i hear of all these cases where people live with crohns daily and always have symptoms, is it possible that i will have to have another surgery in the future, or is the disease just dormant at this time? I have not had any stomach pains from Crohns in the last 3 years. My motabolism has also slowed down and i went from 160 to 205 lbs in the last couple of years. Let me know what you think? I have never had the chance to speak with anyout about my disease that could relate.

Thanks,
Patrick

 

[mickey]

If you have improved your diet and are careful to avoid getting your digestive system inflamed, then you should be okay. However, many people will find bad food in, bad result out.

 

[pdenning2011]

I seem to be able to eat just about anything without having real reprocussion, for example i know that i should not eat spicy food or anything with seeds, however when i do, i do not seem to have any problems afterwards besides possibly diarhea which comes natural with eating spicy food even for someone without CD. I am just afraid one day it will catch up with me. Is there a test that can be done to see if any of the crohns has come back or is starting to come back? When they had to remove my small intestine i did not have any pain until about 4 weeks before the surgery ended up occuring.

 

[mickey]

Generaly, the doc will do a follow up colonoscopy at some point. When I was diagnosed (thru colonoscopy) I then had the next one 8 years later. I was then given a clean bill of health and showed no sign of Crohns.

in my experience, keep regulating diet (to what you can tolerate) and that will not cause inflammation, No inflammation, no progession to disease. Hope that helps!

 

[Angrybird]

Hi there, I would say given the nature of our disease to try and avoid foods that you know will give you diarrhoea. If your tummy is settled you don't really want to then irritate it. I am not aware of any tests that indicate the crohns is flaring up, usually you will need to wait for some symptoms to develope and then they can check your bloods for any sign of inflammation. Also ask about having a full vitamin check if you haven't already. Us crohnies tend to be deficient in things like B12 and D and these can bring their own problems along. Otherwise I would say that you are in a good place and just watch your diet.

NB Welcome to the forum :bigwave:

 

[xJillx]

Hi Patrick & welcome! Unfortunately, Crohn's is never cured. However, some people experience very, very long remissions or dormant states as you said. So, the goal is to keep your Crohn's in remission as long as possible. To do that, you need to take care of yourself by eating well, exercising, and reducing stress.

There is no way to know what the future will hold. All you can do is be as healthy as possible in hopes it will keep you well.

I hope you have many, many more years of blissful remission!