• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Not rocket science

C

carrerasgurl

New here, but been on the planet for awhile.:smile: I haven't technically been diagnosed by a "Doctor" aka=specialist yet, but I did just have a hands on, in the trenches medical professional do the right thing with me....she is a charge nurse at a major county run hospital who gets beat up every day by ungrateful lower socioeconomic patients who feel entitled to abuse her because they get free services. I too, am in that lower socioeconomic range, but my empathy for her situation got me an hour of private one on one time with her. Unethical of her? Maybe. Risking her job to break protocol? Maybe. Either way, I didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know that my kindness plus her willingness to "ask" me if I ever heard of Crohn's was a path I needed to pursue. I have had brutally severe symptoms of this disease for 4 years and not one Dr has had the good sense to suggest it to me. So here I am, loud mouth and all to join the club. What I've learned in 2 days has been my malnutrition can be addressed by eating baby food for awhile. It has the proper nutrients to sustain life and in quantities I can handle. (my body doesn't tolerate suppliments nor am I all that interested in taking a grip load of pills) I am keeping an intake/ output diary to see what my trigger foods/liquids are. I saw someone question the sun exposure....here's my thought....I am heavily tattooed and have been for over 8 years so no sun till now. With a good sunscreen, I really don't think a 1/2 hour or 45 minutes a day will give me cancer or kill me any faster than if I didn't do it. My family and I spent the day at the beach a few weeks ago followed by a huge dinner out on the way home and nothing happened to me. So, figure that one out. And again, natural sun vs a hand full of pills? Sun it is! I quit eating fast food 10 months ago and my 40lb weight loss has stabilized but I haven't found a good energy source yet. I want to try honey, but I'm not big on sweets. Any other ideas? I don't smoke and anything with caffiene and plain WATER, really mess me up. Still researching it, but I can tolerate "a" beer no problem. Biggest fear, away from home accidents. The only pills I take are an enzyme my sister bought for me and I only use it to stop the abdominal pain(cramps from inflamed intestines)....crazy I know...but it usually works.

On the brighter side, I am a professional behavioral/ motivational strategist (aka=consultant) and because I now belong to this club, this is where I will be most charitable. Greetings to you all.....let's dance!
 
David

David

Co-Founder
Location
Naples, Florida
C

carrerasgurl

Hi David and thank you for the reply....
...Sorry love, hate to burst your bubble, but only one small piece of my 3/4 body paint-job is black and grey. All the rest is vividly colored. I'm not one to hang out at the first garage available to sling me for free. After all, we get what we pay for don't we? I was an active participant in "my" ink selection as at the time of my first large piece, I was also an apprentice. Moving on, yes, you are correct about the holistic or natural or even simple way to heal myself. Let's see...Thursday I became better informed and began a dietary journal. Today, I can already see a trend and now I also see that I may have an issue with certain proteins. My weight has gone from 180 to 135 in 7 months and based on the condition of my skin and body tone it seems clear that I am in starvation mode and am eating myself from the inside out. Without protein, I can't sustain myself soooooooo, it's going to be protein in, no matter what the price. Onward ho!! Anyone know a good link for easily digestible protein rich foods/liquids?

And david, I don't have a specialist yet or I would post him/her. There is a Loma Linda resident who has taken a serious interest in my case though. He works at Riverside County Regional Medical Center as a resident mentor. Dr. Ludi
 
mish2575

mish2575

I know you adverse to taking pills but the low energy could really be due to low Iron levels both from malnutrition and internal bleeding. Unfortunately a lot of high Iron foods are also high fiber foods that are not good for flares.

I take an extra iron suppliment (in addition to my daily multi vitamin) whenever I feel drained. It really seems to help within an hour.
 
C

carrerasgurl

Thank you Mish2575...I'm always grateful for the support of others and I'm going to use your comment as inspiration to continue to pass my own experiences forward...:)...Paige
 
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