Hi guys,
I've been lurking for a few weeks now. I was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2006 at the age of 20. Bounced back pretty quick with prednisone for a short time and remained on asacol for a few years. Switched to sulfasalazine in 2008 or 2009 as it was cheaper. In 2011 I had the bright idea to stop taking medicine and adopt a primal/paleo diet as I had read that those could put crohn's into remission. I would go months eating right and then fall back into bad eating habits. Did this on and off for a few years with no noticeable flares.
In October of 2013, my crohn's flared up as bad as it had been since I was first diagnosed. Resumed taking my sulfasalazine and took prednisone for a short bit. Had a colonoscopy in November and inflammation was present throughout, but not super bad. Continued to eat whatever I wanted and combined with stress from work, my crohn's continued to flare. Took some more prednisone in January of 2014.
Then in mid February, I had a painful BM and blood. Didn't think much of it since I probably had anal fissures every few years. This went on for a week. The blood stopped but something didn't feel right down there. Was very sore anytime I moved. A few days after that I was in intense pain after every BM. Throbbed so bad I had to lay down after every BM (luckily it was the weekend) and I couldn't even fall asleep the pain was so intense. Had to just lay there and suffer for a few hours. I was worried it was hemorrhoids.
I went to my GI and after taking a look he said it was a fissure. Gave me some steroid suppositories. Felt pretty good a few days later. Then I started noticing some leakage in my boxers when I'd go to the restroom at work. Wiping after a BM would take longer than usual, it seemed like there was extra liquid coming from somewhere else. In my head I'm thinking, "you're crazy, there's only one hole, it's probably just leaking down from the fissure or stuff left over from the suppository." Then I hit up google, read about fistulas and abscesses, and thought, "fuck, this is me."
Went back to the GI. They were able to get some liquid to come out and told me yep there's a fistula and referred me to a surgeon. So last week I go the surgeon. It felt like an assembly line. I was really put off my the whole experience. He attempted to do a rectal exam but I was so inflamed down there I couldn't tolerate the pain. He aborted after a minute or two but did say that he saw the fissure, abscess, and a fistula. Scheduled me for a seton placement three weeks from the visit (I had work commitments this week, so I scheduled for early April). He also prescribed me some Cipro. The cipro came with two pages of literature about side effects and possible death. No thanks to that.
I'm on day 2 of the SCD intro diet. I will be committed to this. I'm wondering if there is any harm by holding off on the seton placement and not taking the cipro. It's a hassle being a man wearing a woman's pad, but I'm getting used to it. There is occasional pain when having a BM (can't tell if there is something in the fistula or if it's just the skin stretching where the abscess/fistula is, sometimes it's dull, sometimes it stings badly, sometimes I feel nothing after a BM). I don't like the idea of surgery, but will do it if necessary. I don't want to get a crazy infection down there. The cipro literature scares me even though I see plenty of people on here saying they take it with no problems. I guess I just want to give this diet a month or two to see if my Crohn's improves at all (and I'm aware that I'll need to adhere to it strictly for years before expecting huge results).
Am I taking a stupid risk by not taking the cipro and considering delaying the seton placement even longer than I already am (3 weeks from surgeon visit)?
I've been lurking for a few weeks now. I was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2006 at the age of 20. Bounced back pretty quick with prednisone for a short time and remained on asacol for a few years. Switched to sulfasalazine in 2008 or 2009 as it was cheaper. In 2011 I had the bright idea to stop taking medicine and adopt a primal/paleo diet as I had read that those could put crohn's into remission. I would go months eating right and then fall back into bad eating habits. Did this on and off for a few years with no noticeable flares.
In October of 2013, my crohn's flared up as bad as it had been since I was first diagnosed. Resumed taking my sulfasalazine and took prednisone for a short bit. Had a colonoscopy in November and inflammation was present throughout, but not super bad. Continued to eat whatever I wanted and combined with stress from work, my crohn's continued to flare. Took some more prednisone in January of 2014.
Then in mid February, I had a painful BM and blood. Didn't think much of it since I probably had anal fissures every few years. This went on for a week. The blood stopped but something didn't feel right down there. Was very sore anytime I moved. A few days after that I was in intense pain after every BM. Throbbed so bad I had to lay down after every BM (luckily it was the weekend) and I couldn't even fall asleep the pain was so intense. Had to just lay there and suffer for a few hours. I was worried it was hemorrhoids.
I went to my GI and after taking a look he said it was a fissure. Gave me some steroid suppositories. Felt pretty good a few days later. Then I started noticing some leakage in my boxers when I'd go to the restroom at work. Wiping after a BM would take longer than usual, it seemed like there was extra liquid coming from somewhere else. In my head I'm thinking, "you're crazy, there's only one hole, it's probably just leaking down from the fissure or stuff left over from the suppository." Then I hit up google, read about fistulas and abscesses, and thought, "fuck, this is me."
Went back to the GI. They were able to get some liquid to come out and told me yep there's a fistula and referred me to a surgeon. So last week I go the surgeon. It felt like an assembly line. I was really put off my the whole experience. He attempted to do a rectal exam but I was so inflamed down there I couldn't tolerate the pain. He aborted after a minute or two but did say that he saw the fissure, abscess, and a fistula. Scheduled me for a seton placement three weeks from the visit (I had work commitments this week, so I scheduled for early April). He also prescribed me some Cipro. The cipro came with two pages of literature about side effects and possible death. No thanks to that.
I'm on day 2 of the SCD intro diet. I will be committed to this. I'm wondering if there is any harm by holding off on the seton placement and not taking the cipro. It's a hassle being a man wearing a woman's pad, but I'm getting used to it. There is occasional pain when having a BM (can't tell if there is something in the fistula or if it's just the skin stretching where the abscess/fistula is, sometimes it's dull, sometimes it stings badly, sometimes I feel nothing after a BM). I don't like the idea of surgery, but will do it if necessary. I don't want to get a crazy infection down there. The cipro literature scares me even though I see plenty of people on here saying they take it with no problems. I guess I just want to give this diet a month or two to see if my Crohn's improves at all (and I'm aware that I'll need to adhere to it strictly for years before expecting huge results).
Am I taking a stupid risk by not taking the cipro and considering delaying the seton placement even longer than I already am (3 weeks from surgeon visit)?
