Slugglish Belly

[mzlateah]

Recently I have noticed my gut is very sluggish. Seems like my food dosent empty or is very very slow doing so. I'm about to have my third round if remi. Sometimes I can hear my stomach trying to move food but to no avail....I have bm sporatically and when I do its very little. Is this normal?

 

[Jennifer]

Hi mzlateah, sorry for the late reply.

It sounds like you may be dealing with a stricture. It's normal for Crohn's in the sense that it causes inflammation and scarring which can create a narrowing/stricture but its not something we want and should be prevented if possible. Remicade can take some time to start working so hopefully you're mainly dealing with inflammation and that the Remicade will reduce it and prevent it. Did you have your third infusion? How are you feeling now? Keep us posted.

 

[mzlateah]

I have had my 3rd infusion already and the first two seem like they were working but now it seems like everything is coming back. I'm starting to feel bad again no real bad pain but I can tell by the discomfort. I can hear my belly making noises and it seems like it takes forever for food to go through. also I am experiencing bad joint pains especially in my ankles and knees. Thank you for your response I will call my doctor and have it checked on

 

[ce1210]

I am tapering off of Entocort at the moment and am beginning to have some symptoms again. Whenever I have a flare I have issues with inflammation causing constipation more so than D being a problem. If I go to the bathroom 3-5 times a day I feel much better than if I just go once or twice. Lately I have been using high "doses" of probiotics, and it seems to help my digestion rate quite a bit. Without the probiotics, I have slow gastric emptying, gas pain, and much smaller bm's. But I am taking VSL#3 everyday now and drinking a bottle of inner-eco coconut water kefir every 3 days as well as trying to take in as many prebiotics as possible. Ginger and lemon juice also help stimulate the digestive system. Celestial Seasonings makes a kombucha tea that is designed to aid digestion that has lemon, ginger, prebiotics, and probiotics in it that really seems to get things going in my guts. Maybe any of that may help you as well. Hope you feel better soon...

 

[ronroush7]

Sometimes, I feel like it is hard to completely empty.

2

 

[mzlateah]

What probiotics are you on ce 1210? Im going to get some of that tea today. Ill let you know how it works

 

[ce1210]

VSL#3 or garden of life colon care are the probiotics I have been taking. I like the colon care because it has 34 strains and contains digestive enzymes which I've found to be helpful I have been taking 30 min-1hour before each meal. Also the coconut water kefir is awesome too. I get most of that stuff at whole foods grocery store, but the VSL#3 I have only been able to find at 1 pharmacy in my area where they wouldn
t have to special order it...

 

[ronroush7]

I also take VSL3.

2

 

[mzlateah]

I have tried the tea and it made me feel better. Ill see if i can find the vsl3 here. Thanks

 

[ce1210]

If u were by any chance in north georgia, access pharmacy in hixson, tn carries VSL#3 but if you can't find it in your area there are other good probiotics. The Garden of Life ones I mentioned have a relatively high number of CFU's (colony forming units) their critical care has 100 billion per capsule which is only a little bit less than the VSL#3. Glad to hear that the kombucha helped mzlateah! Probiotics really do seem to help me with my sluggish belly as much as anything....