Pain? How can I keep it away?

[sl.calvin]

Hi, my name is Calvin and I've had Crohn's for 4 years. I achieved remission in 2009 with Methotrexate until May 2011 when complications came. I started to have a mouth infection and couldn't eat at all. No doctor knew what I really had. After I was treated, I started to have arthritis on my left knee and had to stay on antibiotics and IV (needless to say I also had an abcess forming near my bowels). After getting out of the hospital and feeling a bit better, in less than a week, I went back in due to severe pain. Nothing calmed my flare-ups and I had a microperforation in my bowels. I had to get a part of my intestines removed. 21cm from small intestines and 29cm of large intestines. They had to reconnect them during it was really inflammated and they WISHED it stay connected. Didn't happen. I had up to 4 litres of "feces" in hy tummy and they had to re-open me urgently. I had an ileostomy for 3 months and they connected me recently. Awful summer, missed my first semester of Cegep, and now, all I can wish for, is to feel better. I am on Remicade right now and dropping my Prednisone dose.

It's been a week since they reconnected me (Operation went really well, no flaring, good condition), I began with some diarheea but thought it was fine. But now, I'm a bit worried, I'm still having diarheea but kind of formed. What I don't like is I went to the bathroom 5 times today (not a lot of stools each time). I have a little bit of pain in my descending colon.

I'D REALLY LIKE TO KNOW HOW I CAN TREAT MYSELF WITH SOME NATURAL TREATMENT (SUPPLEMENTS OR FOODS I SHOULD TRY). I really need help... I've gone through too much and I just really want it to stop...
I'm just 17... I really want a break... and a long one.
I registered to this forum to get help... I don't know what to do anymore...
PLEASE HELP...

 

[Jennifer]

Well none of us are doctors. We're mainly here for support and to share what treatments (including natural), medications, diets etc. we've tried or are currently trying. What works for one person may not work for everyone because we're all different. You've had a different surgery than me and to be honest, having diarrhea after that type of surgery is very normal plus the surgery wasn't even that long ago. You're still on the road to recovery so you symptoms should diminish with time. For now, you can use warm compresses and take pain killers like Tylenol if your doctor said its ok. I wouldn't use anything to try and harden your stools just yet because the surgery is so recent.

You can always contact your doctor and let them know that you're in pain (and where it hurts) and let them know how frequent you have a BM and how its formed and ask them if that's normal. I think that it is but its always good to be SURE by contacting your doctor. Keep in mind that you ARE having bowel movements which so far is a plus. If you start to feel nauseous then you should contact your doctor right away and if you start vomiting a lot along with being in a lot of pain, you should go to the ER right away (as you know, infections aren't fun, mine got infected too).

As for your statement in all caps, do you mean to prevent a flare? The best way to prevent flares is to treat Crohn's with medication. Diets alone will not hold it at bay. There's nothing wrong with going on special diets (such as avoiding trigger foods which are foods that cause symptoms like diarrhea but not flares) so you experience less symptoms during remission. It's entirely up to you. I'm still in remission after my surgery and am currently only taking 50mg of 6MP for Crohn's and don't use any natural supplements or follow any trendy diets. Watch out for a lot of the diets and natural treatments out there and do your research because some of them have been known to do more harm than good (yes medication has down sides too but has a higher success rate at keeping people in remission).

Since your surgery was so recent, I'd introduce foods slowly. Smaller amounts but more meals throughout the day (kind of like snacking). Keep up your fluid intake though. And the food you start out with should be bland (low fiber/low residue diet) like chicken breast, white fish, white rice, steamed veggies without the skins etc.

I'm sorry you're going through all of this. It sucks I know. I think I was either 18 or 17 when I had my resection. Its a hard road to travel but remember that its treatable and so far you're doing a great job. Glad you're getting off the Prednisone too, that stuff is just the worst drug I've ever had to take but you gotta do what you gotta do ya know?

I wish you luck, sorry if I'm not much help. Welcome to the forum!