New this site; fairly new to Crohn's

Hello Fellow forumers
I am new to this site and typically not one to sign up for any site. But I am done being an "island" with this disease (Crohn's) and need support! I was diagnosed with it in early 2011 after a CT scan and a colonoscopy. I was put on Asocol but had a horrible reaction to it, so I switched to Pentasa. I've been on the maximum dose of Pentasa with good results until now. I am again suffering with fevers, painful cramps and diarrhea. I am on the Maker's Diet by Jordin Rubin so am very careful about the foods I eat. No gluten. I take fish oil, ultra probiotics, and Garden of Life raw vitamins. I am wondering why I am all of a sudden experiencing these symptoms. I am anxious about returning to the DR. because I dread the steroids he recommended last time I saw him. I'm just not sure where to go from here.:sign0085:

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear that symptoms are returning. Steroids really aren't all bad as they can get rid of the inflammation rather quickly and get you back on track hopefully. There's Prednisone which acts withing a few days and you may not be on it for very long to get your symptoms back under control. There's also Entocort which has less side effects than Prednisone but takes a little longer to start working (for some it can take up to a month to notice significant change) yet still works great. Hope one of them works for you if you have to go that route which many people do have to unfortunately. Do you have a GI appointment set up already? Keep us posted.

Thanks for your quick reply! Honestly, I'm vain and want to avoid moon face. Perhaps a short time on a steroid wouldn't be so bad. I noticed you've been in remission for 13 years. Wow and congratulations. That's something to celebrate! Has Humira done this for you? Did you have to take steroids for a certain time?

Hello and welcome to the forum

I was also wondering if you have an appt booked yet with a GI? Steroid wise if you even if you were put on thesr again you may not get the moon face this time round, the last time I was in them I didn't get this or any weight gain so fingers crossed.

AB
xx

Did you notice I avoided answering the quest. about the appointment? I am really avoiding the Dr. until I get terribly desperate. Thanks you for your nudge!

Ahh I see, I can understand the reluctance hun, but pls do try to get an appt booked, the longer we leave things the worse they can get :hug:

Modlover said:

Thanks for your quick reply! Honestly, I'm vain and want to avoid moon face. Perhaps a short time on a steroid wouldn't be so bad. I noticed you've been in remission for 13 years. Wow and congratulations. That's something to celebrate! Has Humira done this for you? Did you have to take steroids for a certain time?

Click to expand...

I've taken steroids several times since my initial diagnosis 21 years ago. I can still count the number of times on one hand though.

I've only recently started taking Humira (about 2 months now). It was actually a bowel resection that put me into remission. Its not that the medication I was taking before the resection (Asacol, 6MP, Prednisone, and Entocort) failed, its just that the disease itself was too aggressive and back then things like Humira and Remicade weren't available yet. The hope was that the resection would kick start remission and it did.

I stayed on Asacol and 6MP for a while but was later reduced to just 6MP. Recently we found that the 6MP was no longer in therapeutic levels plus I'm dealing with osteoarthritis and my Rheumy prescribed the Humira to help with both and I was taken off the 6MP. So far still no flare.

You can see my full success story here if you like: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=19406
Hope you can add your own soon.

Edit: Ya book that appointment soon. Sometimes it can take up to 6 months to be seen by a specialist so please don't wait until its an emergency.