Small bowel obstruction after weaning off prednisone

[hman51]

Good evening everyone. I am new to this forum and to Crohn's disease. My 22 year old son has recently been diagnosed but really didn't have any of the symptoms you all seem to have experienced. All he had was some right quadrant pain and occasional vomiting. They put him on Pentasa and Prednisone and he was doing fine. When he was weened off the prednisone after only a couple weeks he had an episode of vomiting lasting 9 hours and was hospitalized. Diagnosis - small bowel obstruction. He was discharged after 6 days and is back on steroids. Doctors want to start him on remicade (first choice) or 6 MP (second choice). They are giving him the choice.
I am a very concerned father. I have researched both drugs and both seem to have significant potentially devastating side effects. I am wondering if anyone out there has been taking either of these for any length of time and if so, is the cure worse than the disease? It seems to me that since this is early in his disease they may want to try some holistic or dietary approach first but they seem to be bent on pushing the powerful drugs.
Thank you all for listening. Please help.

 

[GoJohnnyGo]

My advice?

If he is having immediate obstruction issues, you don't want to start messing around. That's a very serious condition. Get the Crohn's stablized first. Alternatives can be explored later.

Hope your son gets better soon.

Take care
Johnny

 

[hman51]

Thank you Johnny. Will do. Just freakin out quite a bit right now.

 

[kenny]

yea it is scary and so incredibly painful when things just block like that. I hope he is doing ok.

Every morning I get up, look at the eggs the fridge for breakfast, then remember that obstruction and the damaged part of my gut that is still in there. It makes it easier to grab an Ensure and some applesauce instead.

When I was sent home the first time the let me go on a Low residual diet. Four days later I thought I was going the explode like Alien coming out of my guts laying on the kitchen floor. I am holding ground now eating strained soups, broth, liquid supplements and such. It is taking a lot of strain off my gut to let the meds work.

I cant help much with respect to the meds though. I feel the same way you do about them.

 

[GoJohnnyGo]

Thank you Johnny. Will do. Just freakin out quite a bit right now.

Hey, don't worry. You have every right to be "freaking out." In fact, "freaking out" is encouraged. I fully believe there would have been no advances in Crohn's treatment without there being someone, somewhere, originally "freaking out."

I'm assuming your son has a partial blockage? With a full blockage, they'd be cutting him open.

So much of Crohn's is individualized. Every patient is different. It's especially hit and miss when it comes to alternative treatment. I'm a big believer in a multi-faceted approach, and that takes time to both research and implement.

Feel free to continue asking questions and using the forum as a sounding board.

Johnny

 

[Lisa5326]

I wanted to say HI and Welcome to you!

I hope that things start to ease up for you and your son and you figure something out that works well for him...good luck and keep us posted.

 

[D Bergy]

You can take a look at Low Dose Naltrexone as a possible treatment. It is what I am using currently. It does not have any serious side effects, and quite a few side benefits. Of course, it does not work for everyone, but nothing else has a guarantee either.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/lowdosenaltrexone/

http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/

The obstruction may have to be surgically removed. There usually is not many other options other than that. I felt much better after my obstruction was removed. I am glad I had it done.

Dan

 

[hman51]

Thank you everyone for your replies. My son seems to be progressing well. Tried 6MP but only lasted a couple days then back pain and a rash forced stoppage of that. Still on Prednisone and Pentasa for now.