Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

[RobjustRob]

Hi, long story short I'm 15 and got diagnosed with crohns a few months ago. Now, I'm taking asacol and entocort. A week ago I started a liquid diet and now I just don't know what to do. The liquid diet is mentally killing me. Everywhere I go I just think of food. It becomes difficult for me to focus during school because of food, and it becomes a chore to watch TV or go on my computer because of all the ads with food.

At school during lunch I just sit there drinking my shake while all my friends have plates filled with fries. At home I keep trying to do things to keep my mind off of it, but it feels like you can only do so much and that it's impossible to not think of food. Even in class there will be posters with food(in French there's this big croissant picture), or I end up reading about food. The worst part is it feels like the finish line is ten thousand miles away and that I'm not even close.

I still get stomach cramps, and I still get diarrhea. Heck, I missed 4 days of school since starting this diet which makes it that much worse coming home and having to do homework without a snack to make it better. I tried to get my doctor to allow me to have something other than shakes or water(broth/lollipop/sucking candy) but he doesn't want me to have any of them.

On the other hand, I can go back to 6 pills a day and a plethora of side effects. Also, I can feel terrible about myself for giving up on the diet. I can get back to the same flare-ups and the feeling that everything I eat will cause them. Then, I probably will end up having other drugs I'm not crazy about like predisone.

I really just need some advice right now on what to do, I feel like no matter what it won't end well.

 

[lola99]

I don't know your whole story or how bad your crohns is. But i find it very strange your not even aloud to have a sucker. You can always get a second opinion from another doctor. When i got out of the hospital after being diagnosed I couldn't even drink water because of the pain. But i was put on prednisone to help knock out the inflammation which helped a ton and the pain went away. It helped but i did end up getting cushings. I was never told my gastro to not eat and wasnt put on a liquid diet . i was told to follow a low residue diet (low fiber). I was put on Imuran (immune-suppressant). which defiently got my crohns under control but not enough so now im on to humira . So far so good. I don't think i could go on a liquid diet for long either. I can't give you any advice since i don't know the whole story about your crohns. The liquid diet is supposed to help your bowel rest and heal. So you might want to discuss it with your doctor. If you don't want to stay on the liquid diet you will probably have to go on prednisone to get it down. But thats comes with risks and i would know i looks like a had a shellfish allergy lol . I had to get off of it because of the cushings.

 

[RobjustRob]

Well, the reason why I'm doing this liquid diet is because I really don't want to be on prednisone(moon face in high school doesn't seem fun), and I also am a bit of a needle phobic.

Anyway, right now I'm feeling a bit better and I'm going to keep going on this liquid diet. I had a rough school day(stayed after to catch up because of my absences). Thanks for the response, it really helps.

 

[sickofcrohns]

Moon face any time is not fun, but let me tell you, prednisone makes you feel a heck of a lot better. Being able to eat -- better. Having more energy -- better. You could try it for a while and see whether it works for you. The moon face, etc. does go away when you get off it, so don't let a temporary side effect put you off from feeling better in other ways.