Question about my Husbands Crohns

[Tiffany]

Hello everyone! My husband was diagnosed with Crohns in Aug of 2011. He was on Prednisone which helped a lot. before the pred. he was going to the bathroom 10+ times a day. He is still on a maintenance drug, but has been off Pred. for about three months. He was doing so well all this time, maybe the odd cramp or extra trip to the toilet if he ate the wrong thing. Over the last week hes been getting uncomfortable in his stomach and has started having loose stools again but not as painful or as often as he was before a diagnosis, he also said a few times he felt like he really had to go but was not able to get a lot out...sorry for the details but I'm sure everyone on this site is used to toilet talk lol.
My question is, is this normal for someone with crohns? is this a sign he's having a flare up? and should he be contacting his GI doc right away or is he alright to wait till his appointment at the end of March. Any input would be great, I just want to help him the best I can.
P.s. he's not in a lot of pain but he is uncomfortable.

 

[mikeyarmo]

Hi Tiffany,

No problem with you sharing details about your husband's condition. As you said we are used to that type of talk as it is important that we can talk openly about your symptoms here.

It is very common for symptoms to change pretty often. Some medications (like Prednisone) are quite aggressive and can start working immediately. On the flip side though, when you go off the drug some symptoms might start to come back. The maintenance drug (which is it?) might take a bit longer time to kick in.

Even without medication, people's conditions change all the time. People might be feeling fine and out of nowhere start going into a flair.

It is important that you and your husband continue to monitor his condition. If you are very concerned, maybe you can try to move his appointment to a sooner time period?

If he is able to function pretty well as it appears from your post that he is not in a lot of pain, it likely makes sense to keep monitoring for now. You can try calling the doctor, however they are used to IBD patients having pain and being in flairs so they might not have too much to offer you.

I know it is hard at the beginning to know what to do based on how you are feeling, so if you are ever in doubt you can go to the doctor or emergency room. As I said before though, you will learn over time that the Doctors will not always have a quick fix to recommend for you. They might say for example they want to wait a bit longer to see if the maintenance drug will kick in.

I know this is not the most reassuring post, but I hope it helps you.

 

[littlefreebird]

hiii i ditto what mikey said, quite often when a person who has had a flare up comes of the pred, symptoms increase, if they increase to the stage where you were at prior to taking them it's a sign your maintainence meds arn't right.

a lot of people find it hard to actually pinpoint the time when they class themselves as having a flare up and needing extra medical intervention. in my own experience i class myself as having a flare when my symptoms are increasing quite rapidly, i.e. running to the toilet more often and increased pain that will effect everyday life and my work...this is the time to act fast, leaving a flare too long can cause a lot of damage.

saying that, a typical person with crohn's that is neither in complete remission or having a flare up will experience good days and bad, similar to what you describe so for now i would just monitor.

all the best. hannah.x

 

[littlemissh]

Do you know if he had raised inflammatory markers in his blood (ESR, CRP, platelets) when he was originally unwell. If he did they are often a good sign of if a flare is occurring. Not all people with Crohn's have raised markers though even with really severe disease.
If he did then he could see his gp and get them checked and send a stool sample. He may well have something simple like gastroenteritis.
If his symptoms persist or get worse its worth speaking with your GP at least (do you have gp or similar in Calgary? please excuse ignorance)

 

[Angrybird]

Hi Tiffany, one thing I would ask is has anything changed at all with what your husband has been eating? The pred can do such a good job has sorting inflammation out that I think sometimes we slip and go back to nearly eating anything and everything because we don't get problems from it. If we then continue to do this after the pred has been stopped we eventually start to get problems. Also what is the maintainence drug, this could also be taking time to fully kick in. On the flip side to your hubby I am mostly doing normal and sometimes quite hard poops but do get the feeling it has has not all come out, it feels like I have gone loads and then I look in the bowel and it's a little thin slug (it's good to paint a picture ) Is this what he is getting? Definetly keep an eye on things and contact the GI/IBD nurse if they continue to deteriorate and pain becomes a problem again. Fingers crossed this is just a little blip and he soon feels better again :hug: