Tryiing to help a friend who has Crohn's

Hi my name is Fran and I have joined this forum/thread as I have a friend who has recently been diagnosed with Crohn's. I am trying to support her but it is difficult as we live in different parts of the UK. My friend was convinced that she had cancer so when being told it was 'probably' Crohn's seems to have not been able to come to terms with the condition. It is almost as if she would have preferred cancer - I know that sounds stupid. I am convinced she is suffering from depression due to her inability to grieve for the loss of first her mother, then her father and two firm family friends in the past three years. I am prepared to accept I could be wrong. My friend, Sue, says she finds it very difficult to eat and has lost about 3 stone in a few months. She has seen a registrar but they have just requested another MRI scan which she doesn't want to have. She has not been given any medication for the condition and has now been suffering since at least November last year. She has gone downhill very quickly and now seems unable to look after herself. She is currently staying at an elderly friend of her mother's who is finding it very difficult to cope. Sue does not seem to want to do anything for herself and will only eat if someone puts food in front of her. The doc has prescribed Complan but she is finding a variety of excuses not to take it. It almost seems as if she doesn't want to get better and if left to her own devices I am scared she will just starve herself. She has no family and is very much on her own. I did spend a couple of weeks with her last month but apart from getting her to eat I couldn't see what else I could do. I have spoken to her doctor to express my concern about her mental state but really want to know how else I can help. I did find details of a local Crohn's support group in Exeter, the nearest one to where she is, but she has made no attempt to contact it. I have done some research into the condition but now feel I need help to enable me to give her more support. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Sorry to hear your friend is going through a horrible time but its nice to see she has people that really care about her.
If her crohn's is not under control she probably will have lost her appetite or not want to eat because of the pain of eating, also loosing weight is common in a flare because of these reasons and lots of bathroom trips. The best thing for her to do is to see her GI and get some treatment plan in place but it sounds as if she is going through denial which can be hard to get yourself out of.
There is lots of information on this site and also if you look at www.nacc.org.uk t has a lot of information sheets for patients, friends and family and they also have a help line. It sounds like you are in a tough position because its waiting for her to accept that she needs some help. Maybe someone could suggest going with her to an appointment so she's not alone and to help her take in all the information so she doesn't get to overwhelmed.
I hope she gets some help soon and she is lucky to have such a good friend.

Many thanks Kayleigh for the useful information. I will continue to explore the site.

Hi and welcome to the forum :welcome:

Sorry it took a bit to get to you. I want to thank you for being such a good friend! Even though, I'm not quite sure how to help. I would encourage you to check out the Support section. In there we have a support group for family and friends. Quite a few of our members in there talk often and give each other lots of support and suggestions! I do hope you'll find what you're looking for on this forum! Take care & let me know if I you have any questions. :hug: