Hi all,
I was diagnosed with Crohn's back in January of this year. The doctors call it a mild case, with symptoms of extreme amounts of gas (including bloating and associated gas pains and really quite foul-smelling flatulence), occasional loose BMs (but nothing excessive), a fistula (literally a giant pain in the ass), and extreme fatigue. Since the actual amount of inflammation and ulceration was judged to be mild, they started me on Pentasa and nothing else.
For a month or two, it was a wonder drug. The gas was gone, the BMs were normal, and I had the energy levels of a normal human being again. Unfortunately, over the last few months, I've been spiraling back down to where I started. I'm now essentially back to where I was in January. The gas pains and flatulence are bad enough (I feel sorry for my wife), but the fatigue is killing me. It's hard to work, hard to enjoy life, all I want to do is sleep and sit and do nothing. I am mildly anemic, and the fatigue seems to be a combination of that plus Crohn's malnutrition plus just general malaise.
I have my next follow-up in two weeks. My GI mentioned he was considering putting me on Imuran at my last appointment. I have to admit I'm quite scared of this drug given some of its possible side effects and complications, but I'm so tired (haha) of the fatigue and gas problems. Even if the GI is still on the fence, I'm going to try to talk him into it, I think. The Pentasa just isn't cutting it, and I'm sure the long-term consequences of Crohn's that isn't fully under control are something I'd like to avoid. Plus I'd just like my life back.
I was diagnosed with Crohn's back in January of this year. The doctors call it a mild case, with symptoms of extreme amounts of gas (including bloating and associated gas pains and really quite foul-smelling flatulence), occasional loose BMs (but nothing excessive), a fistula (literally a giant pain in the ass), and extreme fatigue. Since the actual amount of inflammation and ulceration was judged to be mild, they started me on Pentasa and nothing else.
For a month or two, it was a wonder drug. The gas was gone, the BMs were normal, and I had the energy levels of a normal human being again. Unfortunately, over the last few months, I've been spiraling back down to where I started. I'm now essentially back to where I was in January. The gas pains and flatulence are bad enough (I feel sorry for my wife), but the fatigue is killing me. It's hard to work, hard to enjoy life, all I want to do is sleep and sit and do nothing. I am mildly anemic, and the fatigue seems to be a combination of that plus Crohn's malnutrition plus just general malaise.
I have my next follow-up in two weeks. My GI mentioned he was considering putting me on Imuran at my last appointment. I have to admit I'm quite scared of this drug given some of its possible side effects and complications, but I'm so tired (haha) of the fatigue and gas problems. Even if the GI is still on the fence, I'm going to try to talk him into it, I think. The Pentasa just isn't cutting it, and I'm sure the long-term consequences of Crohn's that isn't fully under control are something I'd like to avoid. Plus I'd just like my life back.
but the side effects were every mild for me too. Occasionally my hair would thin a little, then after a week stop for a number of months. Not that bad a trade off for a decent shot at stopping Crohn's.
