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Misdiagnosed with Crohn's

Hello all,

It all started back in June of 2011, I was then living in Greece running a beach club, having the time of my life, with occasional intense crippling stomach cramps.. I just attributed it to a bit too much vodka, 20 hour working days and plenty of stress. However as the season wound down and I was getting back to a healthier lifestyle the cramps continued, appearing more frequently and the duration was ever increasing..

Being late October of September of 2011 I decided it was time to go see a doctor, my first endoscopy showed over 20 stomach ulcers, more than he had ever seen on someone my age (23 then). He decided it was also time to have a ultrasound, this showed a small polyp in my gallbladder, not more than 1mm so no case for concern.. The doctor decided to give me some strong antacids and see how things went from there.

Not 2 days later I was driving to a friends house when a pain so intense erupted in my abdomen that I honestly thought I was about to die, within seconds I had a massive fever, my eye sight was fading quickly and I felt pins and needles all over my body, my (then) fiancee immediately called a specialist in our area and she drove me to him, after a few minutes with the doctor he immediately called the hospital to prepare for my arrival, at this time nobody knew what was happening to me.

Arriving in the hospital they took blood samples, CT scans, and performed several other diagnostic tests. The blood tests came back very worrying, my white blood cell count was through the roof, more than 30,000, more than 3 times normal, this was an obvious sign of an infection, the CT scans also showed a small abscess by my small intestines... I was taken to my room and the doctor came to see me shortly after, saying that I would undergo two surgeries the next day to remove the abscess and the polyp.. At this time I would have agreed to anything if the pain would just stop. My wonderful fiancee on the other hand refused to accept this, as the doctor could not connect the abscess and polyp to my pains, and until he could do so no one was going to cut into me.

The next day we asked for a second opinion, from the leading doctor in Greece, who also stated that the abscess and polyp were strange and that surgery would be unwise, the new doctor ended up taking over my case. The new doctor had me sent up for a colonoscopy, he had said that all my symptoms correspond with Crohn's disease but in order to be sure he had to check my intestines, thankfully this was under full anesthesia so I didn't feel a thing. I do remember being extremely scared of actually being diagnosed with Crohn's as I had been doing some research and as you all know it's not a great thing to have...

As I was being wheeled out after the procedure I managed to ask the nurse if it was Crohn's, when she replied 'yes' I wept. After the anesthesia wore off I asked my fiancee if I had been dreaming, but by my seeing her fighting back tears I had already found the answer. They had founds scars and mucus in my large + small intestines and signs of infection in my terminal ileum, all indicating Crohn's.

It is important to note that 3 days had passed between me entering the hospital and being diagnosed, in those 3 days I had not eaten a single thing as I was getting fluids through an IV. As there were still signs of an active inflammation in my intestines I would go on not eating for 5 days in total. Then I felt the most amazing feeling ever, the pain had left, I could sit up, walk, even jump all without feeling the slightest pain! I was being given all sorts of drips into my IV which slowly killed off the infection, I wish I could remember what they were giving me but I remember one of them was extremely cold and painful going in, this was also why they had to find a new vein after 24 hours as the previous ones turned started dying.

After 7 days in the hospital I was allowed to go home, with a shopping list of pills to take, the next few weeks I was started to feel better and better. The doctors said this was good news and that it was unlikely I would need futher medication if things continued to go as well as they did.. That was until an intense pain hit me after eating anything, it felt like the acid was burning through my stomach, forcing me each and every time to lay in the fetus position until it passed.

It was when I left the hospital that I met a man who would forever change my life, his name is George Paschalidis, a 'healer' from a small village in Greece. Please note that I am the last person on earth to believe in people with special 'powers' passing it off as BS, that was until I met him. Me not speaking a word of Greek, him not speaking a word of English looks at me and starts talking, my fiancee was translating for me and word for word he was telling me what the doctors had found without him ever meeting me or knowing of my existence. He told us that it was definitely not Crohn's but a heavy infection which resembled it perfectly, and if I followed a specific diet
I could quickly get rid of it. His advice: no dairy, no sours, no gluten. DAMN all the things I love basically.With nothing to lose I gave it a shot, with impressive results, everyday I was feeling a bit stronger than the day before it.

In late December I decided to leave Greece and move to Holland, where my family has a house which wasn't being used, so that I could focus on my recovery with my fiancee. Having read about Erasmus hospital being the forerunner on treatment for Crohn's patients I made an appointment with them to evaluate my condition and see why I was having pain after eating. As I was still a bit reluctant to but blind faith in George the 'healer' I also wanted a medical opinion about my situation to see if it was or was not Crohn's.


After having another endoscopy and colonoscopy at Erasmus, they came back saying that they could not find ANY irregularities and that if they had not seen my previous scans they would not have guessed anything was wrong with me. They then decided to stop all my medication, if the pains went away by themselves then it clearly wasn't Crohn's, if the pains did continue I would be one of the lucky few with a very mild form of Crohn's. So in January I stopped all medication, and I was due back in for a last round of tests in April.

The months between January and April were not easy, I spent my day divided between laying in the bed and the shower where warm water offered pain relief during the painful moments of the day. Food had become an enemy as eating anything resulted in pain, resulting in my going dropping from 90 kg to 69 kg in the span of 3 months. But I kept to the diet George had given me and slowly but surely the pains went away, and haven't appeared back since!!


In April I went back for my final tests, all which came back clear. Diagnosis: NOT CROHN'S!!! The pain I was feeling in my abdomen after eating things was just acid reflux which was intensified by the many steroids and other junk I had taken over the previous months on doctor's orders.

My story just goes to show that thing's aren't always what they look like, and especially people who have just found out they have the disease that they should not give up hope! I remember scouring the Internet in the weeks after being diagnosed and feeling helpless, everything I was reading scared me. But then I remembered that it is usually the people who are the most heavily affected that take to the internet to share their stories.

To all the people on this forum who have Crohn's, you are always in my thoughts and I eagerly await the day they inevitably find a cure to this terrible condition.

I hope that my story gives some people hope, I have heard of more cases like mine, maybe you and I are not so different...

Paul
 
Hi Paul, thanks for your post.
Just curious, what does no sours mean? Like no citrus/vinegar?
Also, I live in Greece, do you have any contact info for Mr Paschalides?
Thanks,
Helena
 
Hello Helena,

No sours means NO acidic foods, so no lemon/line, vinegar, tomatoes etc.

I cannot post a link to his website here, but if you google "George Paschalidis" is it this first link. George regularly holds sessions in Athens (all free of charge, in fact he doesn't accept money). I strongly suggest you go to see him and talk with him, you'll be amazed as to what he can do.

Hope it helps,

Paul
 
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