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DML30

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hello all,

I feel lik I am the only one that has crohns with constipation. The majority of crohnies are constantly in the bathroom, not me I'll be happy with going twice a week. Anyone else like this??

Also I was taking Pentasa for year to no avail, got a new dr, who took me off and put me on entocort (to no avail again) now I refuse to go on Remicade so he put me on Azathiaprine. He is really pushing surgery, but I'm so confused and scared. If the Aza doesn't work in another 2 months I might consider surgery. I am so confused, depressed, and stressed.
 
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1st. Welcome DML30. I hope that we can help you here.
2nd. While it is not as common, there are people who suffer from Crohn's Disease and constipation. I should know... I was one of them :).

I was going 1-2 a week (at the worst time it was about once every 6 days, or maybe twice every 11 days.... all I can say about that time was OUCH). Through some changes I was able to go a bit more (about twice a week or 4-5 times every two weeks), but I still was not able to improve totally. I now can look back though and say there were things I did not try and could have.

I can sum up the changes you need to make as saying you need to change/improve your intake and also exercise. For intake this involved drinking a lot of water, and making improvements in your diet. You need to drink a lot of water to improve constipation. A general rule I heard is divide your weight (in pounds) in 2. That number is the number of ounces of water you should drink a day. Take that number and divide it by 8 to get the number of glasses of water you should drink a day (your weight / 2 /8 =# of glasses of water to drink daily). 250ml =1 glass, which is about half of a store-bought bottle of water. Anyways you should attempt to drink quite a bit more than that. I have heard of people drinking 1 Litre (or 4 cups of water) when they wake up and before each and every meal (so at four times during the day). Throughout the day they would also continue to drink water. Try this and you may see improvements rather quickly.

For food, it is important to get a good intake of fibre. You should try and get sources of fibre that will not cause you further health issues. I know that whole grain toast would give me cramps, so even though it has health benefits it was not for me. Bran is high in fibre, but may cause cramps/pain or other symptoms. Eat sources of fibre that you have eaten successfully in the past. If fruits and vegetables are usually upsetting for you, try peeling the skins off before you eat them. For your diet try to avoid processed foods, and those with sugar. This can work against you in trying to get your bowels moving.

Exercise is very important. Cardiovascular I believe is the best to get more consistent bowel movements. If you are not able to run/jog, then some longer walks would also be beneficial.

As for surgery: Azathioprine usually takes at least 6 weeks to work, but can take 3 months to show positive signs. Then of course it just might not work at all. With a doctor highly encouraging surgery it may help to have a second opinion by a different doctor to see what they think or recommend (especially if it is something other than surgery).

Do not let your situation depress or stress you (which actually is likely to make your symptoms of your disease worst). You may be in what looks like a bad situation now, but many people have experienced the point you are at now and came out great. Whether surgery, a new medication, a different type of treatment or some form of spontaneous recovery, you will get through this. Everything is scary now because it is new. But I can tell you that there is nothing to worry aobut. Do not stress or be depressed. It may seem hard to believe, but your situation now is much better than a lot of people have. In the past even people with your symptoms would have trouble, as IBD was not even known as a disease. Children died from what was then a mysterious illness as they were not absorbing their food and were losing weight. They were told that they had a psychological problem or were anorexic. There kids and their parents were lead to believe that they were responsible for the situation... and it was all in the childs head. This is totally absurd as we now know, but that was what was believed then. We have a disease now that is not only treatable, but is practically non-life threatening. This is more than a lot of other people can say with the diseases they are facing.

So keep your head up and stay focused on a future where you will be healthy and happy.
 
hello, I wish you all the best, hope your new medication works for you. I can't help you with any ideas on reliving constipation as I go the other way , can't stay out of the bathroom
~~~HUGS~~
:panda:
 
Hi and welcome. Before I had my illeostomy I used to swap between D and C. When I was constipated I could go maybe 3-4 days without going at the most and even when I had D I would only go to the bathroom maybe 10 times in a day at the most. The difference was though, I would sit on the loo for ages, I mean until I felt the urge to go disappear if you know what I mean. Sometimes I would sit there for 45 minutes, don't miss those days I tell ya. I agree with Mike that you need exercise the right diet and plenty of water and if all else fails have you tried something gentle like Lactolose to help you go? its not a laxative and its not addictive it just helps to move things along like Senna. Hope this helps


Ruth
 

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