My 6 yr old recently diagnosed - Nov2011

Hello
My daughter, Sydney, was diagnosed with Crohn's just a few short weeks ago. (November 2011)
As for the road to discovery...she was an assumed healthy, active child with no bowel or GI problems until diarrhea hit in August. It continued every day (about 3x a day) and we were referred to a Gastro Specialist.
After ruling out Celiac, Lactose Intolerance, Upper GI problems, etc the doctor did a colonoscopy and confirmed it was moderate Crohn's.
We had several options of medicine but went with...
25mg Prednisone for 4 weeks then lower dosage each week by 5mg after that.
She prescribed some zantac like acid reflux meds to counteract that prednisione side effect.
And 2 weeks into taking the prednisone she has now just started taking the Crohn's maintenance med - Salazopyrin 400mg

She didn't restrict any food or fluid type or say to switch to a specific food plan.
A few days into taking the prednisone her bowel movements were getting a lot better and no belly pain but last few days there have been a few bouts of diarrhea like trips to the bathroom.
I am not certain if that is normal as a resulting side effect of the meds or not at this point...
Main side effects seem to be insatiable appetite and lil chipmunk cheeks...plus a swollen hard belly.

I am so just treading water here with information overload...hoping she doesn't have to go on a very restrictive diet...as being 6, her food likes and dislikes is all over the place....so I am finding it difficult in knowing what to give her at times.

Take care
Jacqueline

Welcome to the forum Jacqueline!

I am sorry to hear about your daughter's diagnosis. Your daughters side effects with Prednisone are quite common (insatiable appetite and puffy cheeks especially). Prednisone is a more aggressive medication, so it makes sense that you saw results immediately. It may take a bit longer for the Salazopryin to take effect.

I can appreciate the overwhelming feeling from information overload you are experiencing. There is a lot of information on this forum dealing with all things related to Crohn's Disease so I encoage you to take your time and read through the forum to learn more the disease. People have tried a variety of diets (some more restrictive than others) to help treat their condition and you might find something that you think your daughter can tolerate.

Good luck to you and your daughter and hope to see you posting again soon!

Welcome! We have a great Parents of Kids with IBD board on here. Take a look around there. I hope you're able to get her into remission soon.

As far as food, everyone is different. Some can't eat certain things while others can. Unfortunately, it's all trial and error.

Thanks

Thanks for your responses.
Is that the name of the board...Parents of Kids with IBD??
Sounds like where I should be.

Hi and welcome! I'm so sorry about this heart-wrenching time you and your family are going through. My prayers are with you both. :hug:

Here is a link to the parents sub-forum that Stephanie mentioned. http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

Also, like Mike said, the diet forum could be really helpful for you. I hope you figure things out soon.