I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease when I was 11 years old, after a year of symptoms of headaches and diarrhea. This was around the time that my family and I moved from Argentina to USA that could have caused a bit of trauma for my young life. Also the colonoscopy that finally diagnosed the Crohn's disease was administered without anesthesia and which caused another trauma in my young life.
Soon after being diagnosed I was treated with Prednisone and diagnosed to be lactose intolerant. I was in the hospital once at the age of 12 for dehydration and after that everything seemed to be pretty under control.
I had periods of taking prednisone if the symptoms were more severe and I was also controlled by flagyl from time to time. Around the age of 16 I got put on 6MP and never took prednisone again. Around this time I also made some changes in my diet, mostly eating more vegetarian and less processed foods.
I had a flare up when I was 22 and it was the first time I chose to control it by going on an elemental diet. This is when I began to see a naturapath and got on a stricter diet pretty much gluten free, lactose free and close to macrobiotic. I was getting body work(zero balancing) and I was able to maintain on this path for a number of years. I was also still on a very low dose of 6mp. At the age of 26 I had another flare and I again chose to treat it by going on an elemental diet and being super careful about my diet. Though this method helped me get better I was still having more frequent pain. After a few months of still following diet and receiving energy work things seemed to get better. I started to get acupuncture and take chinese herbs. I also started to see an Ayurvedic doctor and also take ayurveda herbs, and around this time at the age of 27, 2 years ago I finally stopped taking the 6MP. I went traveling to Asia for several months,did yoga,meditation, and of course continued with acupuncture.
After returning to the states for a few months I decided I needed to go to Latin America and I lived there for 9 months. I was feeling great and with a lot of energy. However I was not following such a strict diet anymore, allowing some alcohol, gluten and fried foods in. This change in diet added with stress drove me to have symptoms again. I started with consistent symptoms this January that I again tried to take care of it with diet and acupuncture. It was months of ups and downs.
Finally when I came back to the states in April I went back to the protocol I had done for my last two flares, I started on the elemental diet, and started to incorporate very mild foods in. Also was receiving acupuncture and zero balancing 2 to 3 times a week. For the first month all of this seemed to work.
Then things just started to get worse, more pain front and back, more trips to the bathroom, extreme fatigue.
Finally it was time to consult with a GI doctor again. That is when I got a CT Scan done and they found strictures and fistulas and rushed me to the hospital. They also found that I had become extremely malnourished. I was put on an IV and antibiotics. For the first few days I was on complete bowel rest, hardly any water even. Then they decided to insert a PICC line and was put on TPN. I automatically started to feel better with the added nutrition I began to receive through my veins, that I had not been able to absorb in months, and the antibiotics they said were acting as antiflammatories and to treat any infections that might have occurred because of the fistulas. And they started to talk about surgery.
For me this was a very traumatic time, my worst nightmares coming true.
I really had believed that I could treat my condition holistically without the invasive procedures I was undergoing. The IBD team told me that surgery is necessary because of the areas of permanent scarring that will only get worse if the inflammation rises again. So the plan they put me on was to go home for a month continue the intravenous nutrition, the antibiotics, iron, and to start eating mild foods little by little. Hopefully after this month my body will be ready enough to get surgery without any complications. My healthy intestines will no longer be inflamed and I will have enough nutrients in my body to make for a healthy recovery. After the surgery we would start talking about maintenance medication.
I am now feeling better than I have felt in months. But I am terrified of the surgery and wish I could trust it more.There is still a part of me that wonders if I could avoid it though it seems that there is no way out of it now. I also am afraid of the medicine I will be put on after the surgery. I really believe in alternative medicine and my ultimate goal is to be able to go fully back to that kind of healing. I don't mind not drinking alcohol ever again or not eating fried foods, if that means that I can be more in control of my own healing process.
If you read my story I would love to hear from you, advice, opinions?
Thanks!This is my first time in a forum ever.
Soon after being diagnosed I was treated with Prednisone and diagnosed to be lactose intolerant. I was in the hospital once at the age of 12 for dehydration and after that everything seemed to be pretty under control.
I had periods of taking prednisone if the symptoms were more severe and I was also controlled by flagyl from time to time. Around the age of 16 I got put on 6MP and never took prednisone again. Around this time I also made some changes in my diet, mostly eating more vegetarian and less processed foods.
I had a flare up when I was 22 and it was the first time I chose to control it by going on an elemental diet. This is when I began to see a naturapath and got on a stricter diet pretty much gluten free, lactose free and close to macrobiotic. I was getting body work(zero balancing) and I was able to maintain on this path for a number of years. I was also still on a very low dose of 6mp. At the age of 26 I had another flare and I again chose to treat it by going on an elemental diet and being super careful about my diet. Though this method helped me get better I was still having more frequent pain. After a few months of still following diet and receiving energy work things seemed to get better. I started to get acupuncture and take chinese herbs. I also started to see an Ayurvedic doctor and also take ayurveda herbs, and around this time at the age of 27, 2 years ago I finally stopped taking the 6MP. I went traveling to Asia for several months,did yoga,meditation, and of course continued with acupuncture.
After returning to the states for a few months I decided I needed to go to Latin America and I lived there for 9 months. I was feeling great and with a lot of energy. However I was not following such a strict diet anymore, allowing some alcohol, gluten and fried foods in. This change in diet added with stress drove me to have symptoms again. I started with consistent symptoms this January that I again tried to take care of it with diet and acupuncture. It was months of ups and downs.
Finally when I came back to the states in April I went back to the protocol I had done for my last two flares, I started on the elemental diet, and started to incorporate very mild foods in. Also was receiving acupuncture and zero balancing 2 to 3 times a week. For the first month all of this seemed to work.
Then things just started to get worse, more pain front and back, more trips to the bathroom, extreme fatigue.
Finally it was time to consult with a GI doctor again. That is when I got a CT Scan done and they found strictures and fistulas and rushed me to the hospital. They also found that I had become extremely malnourished. I was put on an IV and antibiotics. For the first few days I was on complete bowel rest, hardly any water even. Then they decided to insert a PICC line and was put on TPN. I automatically started to feel better with the added nutrition I began to receive through my veins, that I had not been able to absorb in months, and the antibiotics they said were acting as antiflammatories and to treat any infections that might have occurred because of the fistulas. And they started to talk about surgery.
For me this was a very traumatic time, my worst nightmares coming true.
I really had believed that I could treat my condition holistically without the invasive procedures I was undergoing. The IBD team told me that surgery is necessary because of the areas of permanent scarring that will only get worse if the inflammation rises again. So the plan they put me on was to go home for a month continue the intravenous nutrition, the antibiotics, iron, and to start eating mild foods little by little. Hopefully after this month my body will be ready enough to get surgery without any complications. My healthy intestines will no longer be inflamed and I will have enough nutrients in my body to make for a healthy recovery. After the surgery we would start talking about maintenance medication.
I am now feeling better than I have felt in months. But I am terrified of the surgery and wish I could trust it more.There is still a part of me that wonders if I could avoid it though it seems that there is no way out of it now. I also am afraid of the medicine I will be put on after the surgery. I really believe in alternative medicine and my ultimate goal is to be able to go fully back to that kind of healing. I don't mind not drinking alcohol ever again or not eating fried foods, if that means that I can be more in control of my own healing process.
If you read my story I would love to hear from you, advice, opinions?
Thanks!This is my first time in a forum ever.
