Stress Attack - Flare Up

[DougUte]

My Crohns has flared up its ugly head and it is no secret what has set it off.

My wife has been diagnosed with Epilepsy. She has been suffering from seizures almost every day for the last 6 weeks or so, 4 of which were bad enough to warrant a 911 call and ambulance ride to the hospital. Her neurologist has been adjusting her meds and adding new medications, but so far we have not been able to achieve a balance that controls these seizures.

On December 1st we had a large wind storm that wreaked havoc in our area. Wind gusts were over 100 miles per hour. We had over 1/3rd of the roof of our house torn off, including the sheathing. Exposed rafters! Some of the sheathing came down and crashed onto our Honda Pilot. We have been dealing with insurance company, contractors, auto body shops, etc.. At least we will get a new roof on the house out of this.

Stress has triggered my Crohns!!!!!!

 

[Crohn's 35]

OMG that is so rotten! Yes, stress triggers crohns, I have learned that.

All this before xmas??? You guys in a really cold climate? The main thing is you are all safe. Try and calm down, I know it isnt easy. So sorry your wife is going through all this hell! I know a few who have epilepsy and everyone has warnings prior but hopefully they can get it under control. All the best! xx

 

[DustyKat]

Oh man Dougie, I am so sorry to hear this.

I so hope they hit on the right combination and soon mate. Keeping my fingers, toes and everything else crossed for your wife!

Ugh! and a storm to boot! Good luck with the insurance companies, I hope they don't make you jump through too many hopes!

Ah hell Dougie, sending loads of love, luck and the very best of wishes that all settles down very soon for you both...:hug:

Dusty. xxx

 

[Dexky]

Wow Doug! When it rains...

I don't know anything about epilepsy. Jessi's husband has it. She may have some advice. Good luck with all of it!!

 

[DougUte]

@Pen, Now you know why I don't have my Christmas shopping done , Sandy can't be left alone right now. Makes it difficult to get shopping done for her.

Yes we live in a cold climate. Maybe not quite as cold as Canada, but we hold our own in that category. The day of the storm we had our power out for over 30 hours. We had generators running - attached to a light and to the furnace to keep the house warm during the night - but ran out of gas during the night. The gas stations were unable to pump gas due to the power outage and I was unable to siphon gas from our car fuel tanks. (note to self - store at least 5 gallons of gas for emergencies in the winter). We lit a fire in the fireplace and slept in the living room in sleeping bags. It was just like camping.

@ Dusty, Thanks as always. I hope things are going well with you.

@Dexky, Jessi and I have been talking. We know Jessi and James - they live about 15 miles away from us so we get together in real life every so often. They have been wonderful during all this. First Utah Support Group get together Sandy and James realized they had the neurological stuff in common, and we realized our IBD group was going to be something more. In fact, Jessi suggested I post this to the board.

Yesterday the neuro suggested that she would get Sandy admitted to a hospital where they can do a continual EEG monitoring - to get a better idea of what exactly is going on, and a better targeting of meds to get her seizures under control. It is a very scary thing we are going through right now. And to have the storm damage to the house and car on top of this right now........ crap.

I have an appointment with my G.I. for tomorrow afternoon. I am having bad cramps, the "D", and runs to the bathroom. How much you want to bet it will be hello to the Pred!

 

[DougUte]

Update: Sandy has been admitted to University of Utah Medical Center and put on the constant monitoring. Of course, since she was put on the device yesterday she has had no seizure activity. She had 3 seizures yesterday before they put her on the device!

I had my G.I. appointment yesterday afternoon. My last colonoscopy showed inflamation at my surgery site, and although I have been on Humira for several months now I still have not eliminated the "D". I have now been prescribed Budesonide. 9 mg 1 once a day. Hopefully this will get the inflammed area down and stop my symptoms. Not the Pred, but it is a steroid.

 

[Jessi]

Hey Dougie. Big hugs for you and your wifey. :hug:

James and I want to visit her if we're allowed to. (And if we can afford the trip. We have spent all our money on Christmas.)

Each time James was hooked up at the hospital, no seizures happened. We went through that for years. So it became a giant guessing game for medication. I am really hoping that Sandy has a seizure. It's a bitter-sweet hope, but nevertheless.... If she has a seizure on the EEG monitor, we'll get some answers.

Good luck. Let me know if you need anything at all. I love you both.

 

[Jessi]

Hey. just a thought... if your CD allows it, this would be a good time to get Sandy a gift.

 

[DougUte]

Thanks... Absolutely go see her. See my PM

Hey Dougie. Big hugs for you and your wifey. :hug:

James and I want to visit her if we're allowed to. (And if we can afford the trip. We have spent all our money on Christmas.)

Each time James was hooked up at the hospital, no seizures happened. We went through that for years. So it became a giant guessing game for medication. I am really hoping that Sandy has a seizure. It's a bitter-sweet hope, but nevertheless.... If she has a seizure on the EEG monitor, we'll get some answers.

Good luck. Let me know if you need anything at all. I love you both.

 

[Chuck2008]

Stress definitely affects me- in my case I am in remission but have always been on low dose prednisone. When I experience something stressfull in my life, I start experiencing the exact same symptoms as I do when tapering prednisone- then its back to normal again within about 3 or 4 days of the stress being gone. My guess is that either the cortisol levels in your body decrease during stress (which seems counterintuitive) which would have the same effect as tapering your prednisone. But who knows.

My point is that if my crohns were active, I could very well see it getting a lot worse during periods of stress.