Hello!
I had a colonoscopy a year ago just because I'm 50 and you're supposed to have one. Afterwards, my gastro doctor said I had a lesion on my small intestine that looks like what people with Crohn's disease has. I had no symptoms so my doctor said there is nothing to do.
Fast forward to this past summer I noticed I was getting very mild stomach aches during the day that didn't last long. Then in September I went to my doctor to get my blood pressure pills refilled/check up and a routine blood test showed I was anemic. My doctor recommended iron pills. In October, I started getting bad stomach aches in my lower right abdomen that would last hours, and sometimes all day. Some days I also had back aches and was cold a lot. I also got nauseous and threw up several times after eating. I lost my appetite, couldn’t eat much at each meal and started losing weight. I had night sweats many nights. I was tired and felt fatigued most of the time. I couldn’t go out on the weekends or the evenings during the week and struggled at work, calling in sick several times. I knew something was wrong. I went to my gyno to rule out ovarian cysts or cancer since I had pain in what felt like my right ovary area. I also went to urgent care one day because I thought maybe I had a urinary infection.
I googled my symptoms and crohn's disease was one of the illnesses that showed up. Also, iron pills can give you stomach aches and nausea. I went to my doctor at the beginning of November and she told me to stop taking the iron pills for a while, we would eliminate that first. But within days after my appointment, I had a very bad stomach ache at night where I thought I might need to go to the ER. I called my doctor the next morning, crying, telling them I KNEW something was terribly wrong with me. The doctor ordered an ultrasound. I had to drink 32 oz of water and not use the bathroom. While the tech was performing the ultrasound, my lower right abdomen hurt so bad, I was crying out in pain, thinking something inside was going to burst! After I was allowed to urinate, the pain subsided. The doctor's office called the next day saying they found nothing so let's wait and see. I started crying and told them about the excruciating pain and that I KNEW something was terribly wrong with me so my doctor referred me to the gastro doctor. I saw him, told him about my symptoms and said it looks like crohn's disease. He ordered an upper and lower barium x-ray and a blood test and I got that scheduled right away. After the barium x-ray, the radiologist doctor asked if I knew of anything going on. I told him about the colonoscopy a year ago and what the gastro doctor said. He told me I definitely had crohn's disease with some stricturing of the small intestine. My gastro doctor recommended a low residue/low fiber diet, gave me a referral to a dietician and put me on Asacol.
I googled low residue diet and started following it, for the most part. But I still had stomach aches most days. (I took pain pills off and on through these couple of months of pain.) Finally the dietician called to make my appointment which ended up being a month after my diagnosis of crohn’s disease.
When I met with the dietician, she told me about things I was still eating that was probably causing the problems, that I didn't realize, like yogurt with fruit, tomato sauce, possibly milk (lactose), peach preserves, salad, etc. I finally got it - NOTHING with skin, seeds, nuts and even food that leaves "residue" in the intestines. The low fiber/low residue diet had to be followed strictly to slow down the intestines. I followed everything to a T (including switching to lactose-free milk just in case) after that appointment (Dec 21) and started feeling better immediately! All of the symptoms disappeared within days of following that special diet up through now and I couldn't be happier!!! I feel pretty "normal" again and am very grateful for that! I have read quite a bit on this forum for the past month and see how bad crohn's/IBD can be for many people!! How awful!!!!!!!!!!
My question is - have all of you that still have problems tried the "low residue/low fiber diet" faithfully??? I assume the reason I'm feeling better is only because I'm on ASACOL and following the diet 100%. But, I keep reading that this disease is different for everyone so maybe that diet doesn't work for everyone? I don't know.... just very curious about it.
Another question, is it possible that I will be able to eat some of the foods again or will I always have to be on a low residue/low fiber diet? I want to wait another month or so before trying some food not on it to see if I can tolerate it. Or will that put me back into a flare?
This forum has lots of great information and I look forward to sharing and supporting all of you fellow crohn's/IBD people. :heart:
I had a colonoscopy a year ago just because I'm 50 and you're supposed to have one. Afterwards, my gastro doctor said I had a lesion on my small intestine that looks like what people with Crohn's disease has. I had no symptoms so my doctor said there is nothing to do.
Fast forward to this past summer I noticed I was getting very mild stomach aches during the day that didn't last long. Then in September I went to my doctor to get my blood pressure pills refilled/check up and a routine blood test showed I was anemic. My doctor recommended iron pills. In October, I started getting bad stomach aches in my lower right abdomen that would last hours, and sometimes all day. Some days I also had back aches and was cold a lot. I also got nauseous and threw up several times after eating. I lost my appetite, couldn’t eat much at each meal and started losing weight. I had night sweats many nights. I was tired and felt fatigued most of the time. I couldn’t go out on the weekends or the evenings during the week and struggled at work, calling in sick several times. I knew something was wrong. I went to my gyno to rule out ovarian cysts or cancer since I had pain in what felt like my right ovary area. I also went to urgent care one day because I thought maybe I had a urinary infection.
I googled my symptoms and crohn's disease was one of the illnesses that showed up. Also, iron pills can give you stomach aches and nausea. I went to my doctor at the beginning of November and she told me to stop taking the iron pills for a while, we would eliminate that first. But within days after my appointment, I had a very bad stomach ache at night where I thought I might need to go to the ER. I called my doctor the next morning, crying, telling them I KNEW something was terribly wrong with me. The doctor ordered an ultrasound. I had to drink 32 oz of water and not use the bathroom. While the tech was performing the ultrasound, my lower right abdomen hurt so bad, I was crying out in pain, thinking something inside was going to burst! After I was allowed to urinate, the pain subsided. The doctor's office called the next day saying they found nothing so let's wait and see. I started crying and told them about the excruciating pain and that I KNEW something was terribly wrong with me so my doctor referred me to the gastro doctor. I saw him, told him about my symptoms and said it looks like crohn's disease. He ordered an upper and lower barium x-ray and a blood test and I got that scheduled right away. After the barium x-ray, the radiologist doctor asked if I knew of anything going on. I told him about the colonoscopy a year ago and what the gastro doctor said. He told me I definitely had crohn's disease with some stricturing of the small intestine. My gastro doctor recommended a low residue/low fiber diet, gave me a referral to a dietician and put me on Asacol.
I googled low residue diet and started following it, for the most part. But I still had stomach aches most days. (I took pain pills off and on through these couple of months of pain.) Finally the dietician called to make my appointment which ended up being a month after my diagnosis of crohn’s disease.
When I met with the dietician, she told me about things I was still eating that was probably causing the problems, that I didn't realize, like yogurt with fruit, tomato sauce, possibly milk (lactose), peach preserves, salad, etc. I finally got it - NOTHING with skin, seeds, nuts and even food that leaves "residue" in the intestines. The low fiber/low residue diet had to be followed strictly to slow down the intestines. I followed everything to a T (including switching to lactose-free milk just in case) after that appointment (Dec 21) and started feeling better immediately! All of the symptoms disappeared within days of following that special diet up through now and I couldn't be happier!!! I feel pretty "normal" again and am very grateful for that! I have read quite a bit on this forum for the past month and see how bad crohn's/IBD can be for many people!! How awful!!!!!!!!!!
My question is - have all of you that still have problems tried the "low residue/low fiber diet" faithfully??? I assume the reason I'm feeling better is only because I'm on ASACOL and following the diet 100%. But, I keep reading that this disease is different for everyone so maybe that diet doesn't work for everyone? I don't know.... just very curious about it.
Another question, is it possible that I will be able to eat some of the foods again or will I always have to be on a low residue/low fiber diet? I want to wait another month or so before trying some food not on it to see if I can tolerate it. Or will that put me back into a flare?
This forum has lots of great information and I look forward to sharing and supporting all of you fellow crohn's/IBD people. :heart:
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