Trying natural treatments / side effects medicine

Hi there,

first time writer.
I'm gonna write it briefly to keep it essential.
Got diagnosed with crohns about 5 months ago, doc gave me 1 pill Imuran per day and some other medicine flakes I forgot the name.
I described the doc my heavy burping (sometimes like 20 burps by min) feel like dj, and nausea and stuff. Doc said can't be from crohn.

went home started imuran for two months, then got a stenosis, puked blood got into ER / doc gave me medrol, and increased dosis of imuran to two pills and added Budenofalk 3 pills.
stopped medrol after 6 weeks slowly and now still taking imuran and budenofalk.

Now recently when I drink too much alcohol I tend to throw up, I tend to feel full very fast, my burping is back (was a bit better for a while), tired all the time, nauseous every morning after eating. and also pain recently (since few days) on the right side of the body under the ribs.
The good thing I have normal stool and also got not sick once (before I got diagnosed with crohns I was constantly sick with flu's).

Now I just discovered, I might just have a gall bladder infection or stones in the liver, how can the doctor not see this if I tell him I burp a lot and feel nauseous?
Of course this can be a side effect from the medicine.
Anyway I will do a liver flush and try some food which is good for gall bladder.

Except from that, apparently I can eat everything I want and never got any diarrhea again (I had a very mild inflammation of crohns).
Now maybe my burping which I even had before thaking the medicine always came from the liver gall bladder thingie and maybe that's linked to crohn?
Maybe I should stop drinking 5 beers every day?
And stop eating primarily meat?

I really have no idea about how crohns works or what I should eat, cause everybody says something different, anyway, liver cleansing is no problem with crohns right? I'm a bit tired of doctors, it seems none of all my 6 doctors in the last 5 years got my symptoms right.

Also I have to add, since I take the medicine I feel much shittier then before, having diarrhea one time every 3 weeks or randomly nausea one time every 2 months was better than having nausea and also tiredness and bone ache and akne and depression and all other side effects daily right now.

seems like the pharma industry is making it's money on something not so important? Or is it necessary to take the medicine?

Hi and welcome.

Medication is very important.

I do want to give you some food for thought.

Untreated or under treated crohns can cause serious complications in the future. Inflammation can simmer silently causing damage without any symptoms.

I'd suggest keeping a food and symptom journal to try and pinpoint trigger food. Let your doctor know the meds aren't working. It can take time to sort the right meds for you.

Keep you're doctor posted on alternative treatments - natural doesn't mean safe. Dangerous interactions are possibly.

Sending you my support. I hope you feel better soon.

Ok, I'll go and check with my doc tomorrow before I start doing anything stupid.
Just that I don't really trust my doctor, might have to get another one.

btw. my compliments, really nice forum, I am already digging through the posts and seem to learn a lot from it! Well done!

justsurfin said:

Ok, I'll go and check with my doc tomorrow before I start doing anything stupid.
Just that I don't really trust my doctor, might have to get another one.

btw. my compliments, really nice forum, I am already digging through the posts and seem to learn a lot from it! Well done!

Click to expand...

I've gotten so much out of this forum too.

Hi there and welcome to the community! A couple things:

1. When you burp, does it smell like sulfur or rotten eggs or is it odorless?

2. I suggest you avoid alcohol or at least keep it in extreme moderation (such as one beer instead of your five). For one, azathioprine is already very taxing on the liver and two, people with Crohn's are already at risk for vitamin and mineral deficiencies and your heavy drinking will make that worse.

All my best to you.

when I burp my gf. says it really stinks.
but not really like sulfur or rotten eggs, just smells and tastes bit like stomach sometimes bit like when you throw up, but my burps are dry and not annoying for me.

and I am not really eating lots of veggies or fruits, cause doc said keep it low carb because of the stenosis, I take supplements but now slowly I'll start eating veggies again.
To see what I can eat.

Two thoughts that come to mind with your burps would be h.pylori and GERD. It may be worth discussing with your doctor.

Good luck

what about Dr. McDougall - The China Study?

Actually I think that 90% of the disease comes from crazy woman who go on our balls constantly.
Maybe I need to quit my job and leave my girlfriend and the shit city I live in and go to some better place.
That's my next plan as soon as I manage to pay my debts.

I hope we get a world war soon.

justsurfin said:

Hi there,
went home started imuran for two months, then got a stenosis, puked blood got into ER / doc gave me medrol, and increased dosis of imuran to two pills and added Budenofalk 3 pills.
stopped medrol after 6 weeks slowly and now still taking imuran and budenofalk.

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Hey there, the posters above already provided some valuable input, but here are some more thoughts.

1. Budenofalk is one of the brand names for budesonid, a corticosteroid. How long have you been on that? Did the doctor tell you steroids are just for short term use to get the inflammation under control and should be tapered down (budesonid has fewer side effects than prednisone but it still is a steroid)?

2. When you say you take imuran, how much in terms of mg do you take? What is the ratio of mg to your body weight? Usually, an effective dosage is between 2-2.5mg per kg bodyweight.

3. Has the doctor talked about biologics with you (Humira, remicade, cimzia etc.)? It's the first choice for Crohn's patient today, as it is the most effective drugs and especially for people with a mild stenosis (which is a narrowing in your smaller intestine, which, after all in most cases requires surgery if you do not stop inflammation and keep the stenosis from getting narrow).

Now recently when I drink too much alcohol I tend to throw up, I tend to feel full very fast, my burping is back (was a bit better for a while), tired all the time, nauseous every morning after eating. and also pain recently (since few days) on the right side of the body under the ribs.

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First, as said above, alcohol (especially hard liquor) is an absolute no-no for Crohn's. A beer now and then or a glass of wine while having dinner or lunch, if you are in good remission (no symptoms), then that usually works, but a night of hard drinking will get you into trouble.

Your symptoms (tiredness, nausea after eating, pain on the right lower belly area where the stenosis probably sits at the terminal ileum of your smaller intestine) are quite typical, at least that's what I had in the first years after my diagnosis and before my surgery to get rid of 3 stenosis.

Except from that, apparently I can eat everything I want and never got any diarrhea again (I had a very mild inflammation of crohns).
Now maybe my burping which I even had before thaking the medicine always came from the liver gall bladder thingie and maybe that's linked to crohn?
Maybe I should stop drinking 5 beers every day?
And stop eating primarily meat?

Click to expand...

Yes to both, that would be my recommendation. A good diet is essential to keep inflammation away. Also sport helps (at least me and quite a few other people). Stress management helps as well. And as said above, the right long-term medication.

Don't take inflammation and your current stenosis lightly. Inflammation, even if mild, leads to scarring in the intestine, which leads to more narrowings there. Unfortunately, as said above, for many patients these narrowings get worse over time, especially if inflammation (and thus scaring) persists.

I really have no idea about how crohns works or what I should eat, cause everybody says something different, anyway, liver cleansing is no problem with crohns right? I'm a bit tired of doctors, it seems none of all my 6 doctors in the last 5 years got my symptoms right.

Also I have to add, since I take the medicine I feel much shittier then before, having diarrhea one time every 3 weeks or randomly nausea one time every 2 months was better than having nausea and also tiredness and bone ache and akne and depression and all other side effects daily right now.

Click to expand...

A few things on this one. These might be side effects from the Budesonide, probably not from imuran. As said above, if I were in your shoes, my next step would be to ask my doc about biologics, then read up here on what people usually do on their diet (for me, it's a combination of things, e.g. no onions in whatever form, but generally food that is not too spicy, not too salty, not too oily, not too sweet, not too basically everything).

Plus information, read other topics on this forum, read studies, read wikipedia - just to get an idea what Crohn's is about. I did that much too late and that wasn't good. If you got problems, don't ignore them, you can manage them. Also, doctors can help you on the medication side of things, but drugs are just one part of the whole long term treatment.

will do that, thanks a lot!