What are flares like for you?

[Janeysworld]

Hello everyone

I was recently diagnosed with Crohn's diasese and have been taking entocort 9mg. Recently I have been feeling better, only going to the bathroom 3x a day, almost normal stool and living with relatively low pain. I have a quite limited diet, blueberry muffin in the morning and chicken noodle soup in the afternoon.

Today I felt absolutely exhausted, awful abdominal pain, sweating, swollen and painful knee and diarrhea. Now I’m awake and can’t sleep because of the pain. I’m fearful this is the start of a new flare.

What are flares like for you? What symptoms do you have? How long do they last?

 

[cmack]

I have unspecified IBD and that sounds like either a bad day or the start of something similar to a flare. The abdominal pain concerns me. Did you eat anything you shouldn't have? That can do it, especially red meat and fatty foods for me. If it gets too painful go to the clinic or the hospital. Don't let it go too long (more than a couple days) without being checked if it keeps up. If in doubt, always get it checked by the doctor, it isn't worth getting a fistula or abscess or something else nasty. Good luck and keep in touch.

 

[Anna's Bandit]

Janey, sending you my support

 

[thike1966]

Hello everyone

I was recently diagnosed with Crohn's diasese and have been taking entocort 9mg. Recently I have been feeling better, only going to the bathroom 3x a day, almost normal stool and living with relatively low pain. I have a quite limited diet, blueberry muffin in the morning and chicken noodle soup in the afternoon.

Today I felt absolutely exhausted, awful abdominal pain, sweating, swollen and painful knee and diarrhea. Now I’m awake and can’t sleep because of the pain. I’m fearful this is the start of a new flare.

What are flares like for you? What symptoms do you have? How long do they last?

Janey,
Hang in there and try to keep calm. Stress is one of worst things to aggravate your system. It might be a flare or possibly a reaction to your medication. I had a bad reaction to Remicade that put me into a flare.

Call your doctor tomorrow and tonight try to relax. A hot bath helps along with heating pads. Tylenol is not hard on your stomach. All other pain relievers can make things worse. Make sure you keep your fluids up because dehydration really exacerbates your symptoms.

I sometimes I get the feeling in my gut that everything has stopped as I cramp up. Heating pads get things moving again.

Ask your doctor's office, which will probably take a message to the doctor, if you should take an anti-diarrhea medicine like Imodium which is cheap in generic form and over the counter.

My thoughts are with you and just know that this disease is so different for different people and advice is good to hear, but not always what you need, especially with internet searches.

You will find your own way to deal with this disorder. You are your best care giver and you may want to consult a nutritionist who knows Crohn's. You need to get your nutrition to heal, especially in flares when your body is under so much stress. My nutritionist has me put vegetable soup in a blender to make it easier to digest when I am in a flare and has me off of processed food and especially sugar.

All my best to you and hang in there.

Michael

 

[tzvia]

It important to let you dr know you are flaring while on entocort. Hopefully, since you are on the Entocort, this flare won’t last for long. How long have you been on the enticirt? For me, flares look like diarrhea up to 10-15 times a day, with extreme fatigue. Triggers for me are coffee and junk food. My flares last for months, but only because I have tended to avoid medical intervention and medications. I’m currently also on enticort 9mg and feeling 75% better than usual.

 

[Anna's Bandit]

I still don't understand what a "flare" is.

I never knew about gallbladders / bile / bile acid malabsorption/ bile acid sequestrants for the longest time. I had my gallbladder out in 1995. Yellow, watery diarrhea started in 1997. I want my gallbladder back !

 

[cmack]

A flare is what happens when your disease is not under control. It can manifest itself as fatigue, infection, pain, cramping, bleeding, abscess, upset stomach, fistula, etc. Basically whenever your disease is affecting your life negatively ... all the fun stuff. (Not)!

 

[December's flower]

A flare for me is
Running to the bathroom multiple times a day, usually within an hour after eating
Intense abdominal cramping and aching
And sometimes low grade fever

 

[ronroush7]

A flare for me is running to the bathroom multiple times (some diarrhea). Sometimes nausea, sometimes blood, sometimes not fully emptying myself. Weight loss is usually involved.

 

[Anna's Bandit]

I hate being nauseous. Zophran doesn't ever help me.

 

[Scipio]

For me a flare manifests itself as abdominal pain with or without anemia. No diarrhea.

 

[Jabee]

For me a flare is mainly abdominal pain and nausea.

 

[SB7]

A flare for me is severe abdominal pain. Depending on severity, a trip to the emergency room may be in order.
I’ve had a fistula years before being diagnosed with Crohn’s.
I truly believe in the mind-gut connection.

 

[Anna's Bandit]

A flare for me is severe abdominal pain. Depending on severity, a trip to the emergency room may be in order.
I’ve had a fistula years before being diagnosed with Crohn’s.
I truly believe in the mind-gut connection.

You are the first person who has said that they had a fistula years before being diagnosed with Crohn's. Thank you for sharing that.

I had an anal fistulectomy in 1992. I did not know anything about fistulas, I did not ask questions, I just had the surgery. I never knew anal fistulas and rectal abscesses had anything to do with an IBD.....no one told me anything and I didn't ask.

I started having yellow, watery diarrhea in 1997.
Rectal abscess surgery 2002.
I lost 60 pounds 2006.
Diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis 2006.
Rectal Abscess surgery 2009.
Crohn's diagnosis 2018.

This is off-topic. Sorry about that.

Take Care.

 

[cmack]

It happened to me too, Lynda. I really never thought to mention it though. I had multiple fistulas and surgeries for them all, before I was diagnosed with IBD. Strange but true.