New to the sight -old to crohns

[Allibrit]

New to the site -old to crohns

Hi I'm Alli. Been diagnosed with crohns for 20 years, but the symptoms came long before that. Seems to run in family, two of my cousins have it and Granny had all the symptoms but was never diagnosed, just puton low residue diet. Does anyone else have it running in their families?

On at moment
Azathroprine 50mg
Remicade (Revellex) 8 weekly infusions
have tried
Salazopirine
Humira
Perdisone - NO MORE EVER!

Surgery
Partial colectomy
Hemicolectomy
Haartmans procedure
3 x bowel blockages in 9 weeks in 2009
have around 23cm of small intestine and a small amount of sigmoid left of Colon.

Remicade is keeping fistulas under control, but still have flare ups.

 

[Guest]

hi Alli, welcome to the forum

i have no known relatives with a Crohn's diagnosis, but many of my family members have/had stomach problems... and like you there was someone a couple of generations back who had a life-long stomach condition but in those days it went undiagnosed..

i think you'll find that many of our members here do have siblings or close family members with Crohn's... and i've always been told it can be hereditary..

 

[pleite82]

Hi Alli,
I too am new to this site, just joined a few days ago. I have always been told that Crohns was hereditary but no one in my family has it and the only person that we think my have had it was a 3rd cousin of my grandmother. I did the low residue diet as well but only when I start to flare but I do try to keep away from most of it. I am also on Remicade but I get it every 6 weeks and have been on it for a bit over 4 years.

 

[hunniebunn88]

I am the only one who was "diagnosed" with Crohn's, but my mom, and two cousins (Dad's side) are having symptoms. My dad's cousin had colitis, and my great aunt had colon cancer.
So I can definately say that it runs in the family *no pun intended*

 

[Sandy]

It definitely seems to run in families! I have a cousin who had a brief bout with Crohn's, and my father had a lot of stomach problems that he called "allergies" but I suspect were undiagnosed colitis of some sort. My brother has peculiar arthritis problems, and I suspect ankylosing spondylitis. I think these diseases (along with rheumatoid arthritis, and maybe others) are all related and have something to do with the body's balance to keep germs (that are foreign) away and keep cancer (that are "self") away. It's a delicate balance that sometimes goes awry.

Unfortunately we're the ones who suffer! Oh boy.

So let's hope our relatives don't get it, or if they do, get mild cases, or if not, can benefit from some better treatments.

Sandy

Dx 1963
Now on:
Asacol
Azathioprine
Rowasa
Budesonide (sprinkled lightly in Rowasa, shaken, not stirred)
Folic acid