Hello so for the last few years I have complained on and off to my doctor of a very bad pain in my right hand side, so bad most evenings I cannot even lie on my side. I have already been diagnosed with NAFLD (About 4 years ago), but was told by the liver specialist that the pain was not coming from my liver, at that time I spoke to her about the crippling tiredness, brain fog I experience etc she basically said when the pain is very bad consult with your GP but apart from that just get on with it. I left her office very confused and disillusioned. I have had episodes where the pain is unbearable but just carried on there were a few times that my GP gave stronger pain killers etc I was finally referred to a gystro and for the first time in years I actually felt someone listened. He performed a coloscopy last week and confirmed lleitis of the Terminal Ileum he is almost 100% sure that it is Crohns but will confirm when tall the tests are back I was a bit shocked but now on reflection I am not surprised and I believe that I have had many a "flare up" over the last number of years. I am just trying to gather information on Crohns to see what is the best course of action for me in relation to diet etc I would love to be able to increase my energy levels. Any advice welcome.
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Hello
Sorry I haven't replied sooner, I've been pretty sick and haven't checked in for a while. Have you had any of your test results back yet?
IBD can vary a lot from person to person, because of this, treatments vary in success too. For some people, the first treatment they try will work really well and they may stay on that treatment for decades, for others it takes a lot of trial and error to get to the best treatment. Some doctors like to start at the less aggressive treatments, such as anti-inflammatory type drugs and immune suppression, others will use more aggressive treatments from the beginning such as infliximab (remicade etc) which is a biologic known as an anti-tnf therapy. These therapies work on specific parts of the immune system to dampen down the immune response and therefore calm inflammation. It all depends on how severe your symptoms are, how advanced your disease is and the preferences of your specific doctor and yourself. A common starting point is to use steroids to calm the immediate flare and then move on to one of the other medications to keep you as flare free as possible.
In terms of diet, this is also very individual. I would recommend keeping a diary of what you eat for a few weeks and making a note of how you feel before and after, this will help to show any specific foods that are causing your symptoms to get worse and may also give you an idea of what your "safe " foods are (foods less likely to cause symptoms).
Unfortunately fatigue is a known issue in many chronic illnesses, but there are some things that can make it worse. IBD patients often have difficulties absorbing enough nutrition from the food that we eat, this can result in deficiencies that can have all sorts of affects on the body including lack of energy. If it hasn't already been done, I would recommend asking for some blood tests to check iron levels, vitamin B12, folic acid or folate, vitamin D levels and potassium.
Sorry I haven't replied sooner, I've been pretty sick and haven't checked in for a while. Have you had any of your test results back yet?
IBD can vary a lot from person to person, because of this, treatments vary in success too. For some people, the first treatment they try will work really well and they may stay on that treatment for decades, for others it takes a lot of trial and error to get to the best treatment. Some doctors like to start at the less aggressive treatments, such as anti-inflammatory type drugs and immune suppression, others will use more aggressive treatments from the beginning such as infliximab (remicade etc) which is a biologic known as an anti-tnf therapy. These therapies work on specific parts of the immune system to dampen down the immune response and therefore calm inflammation. It all depends on how severe your symptoms are, how advanced your disease is and the preferences of your specific doctor and yourself. A common starting point is to use steroids to calm the immediate flare and then move on to one of the other medications to keep you as flare free as possible.
In terms of diet, this is also very individual. I would recommend keeping a diary of what you eat for a few weeks and making a note of how you feel before and after, this will help to show any specific foods that are causing your symptoms to get worse and may also give you an idea of what your "safe " foods are (foods less likely to cause symptoms).
Unfortunately fatigue is a known issue in many chronic illnesses, but there are some things that can make it worse. IBD patients often have difficulties absorbing enough nutrition from the food that we eat, this can result in deficiencies that can have all sorts of affects on the body including lack of energy. If it hasn't already been done, I would recommend asking for some blood tests to check iron levels, vitamin B12, folic acid or folate, vitamin D levels and potassium.
