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Confused and need help

V

vallery438

I have been recently diagnosed with Crohn's Disease within the last year after having many "stomach bugs". The GI dr hasn't given me any help at all and every other week I end up in the ER having a flare up. I am to the point I am depressed and don't know where to turn or who to talk to and need some kind of help and guidance in this situation. I'm slowly learning what sets off a flare up for me and what to avoid, but would appreciate anyone's help or suggestions. I'm very tired all the time and have been diagnosed with anemia also. Is there meds that I can take to help me with all of this? Thanks
 
ronroush7

ronroush7

Welcome to the group. I am sorry for what you are going through. As far as your doctor not being any help, can you get a second opinion? Also, for being tired are you taking iron? Do you get any b12?
 
Zim

Zim

Vallery, as I understood you didn't take any medicine at all? If so, then situation you described is unacceptable and first of all you have to see second, third GI, and don's stop until you'll get qualified help, and under "qualified help" I understand at least start of one of the fast acting drugs to achieve remission. I can not suggest exact drugs, because everything depends on your labs, colonoscopies etc.

Usually best doctors have tendency to work in some sort of institutes, educating other doctors, and some of them do consult patients, so maybe it could be right direction of search in area where you live, if usual GIs and ER doctors display inability to help.

As for anemia - it also can and must be treated, and there are lots of options: from iron supplement pills to intramuscular injections and intravenous infusions. Make you doctor prescribe you one of these treatments, normalizing of iron levels can make a HUGE difference in quality of life.
 
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Clash

Clash

So sorry for your struggles. Are you seeing a gastroenterologist(GI)? The GI should've placed you on a med to dampen the inflammation such as pred or entocort. Alooking, they should've prescribed a maintenance med such as imuran, methotrexate or even a biologic such as remicade or humira.

If the GI has done this and you are still experiencing symptoms after a few months then the GI needs to adjust the dosage or schedule depending on the maintenance med he prescribed or if all else fails switched you to another med.

If you find that you are not getting proper care from your GI then a second opinion would be advisable.
 
tragicmess

tragicmess

I'm so sorry for your struggle. I was just diagnosed in June and I was a a severe anemic. I had 4 iron infusions and now take an iron capsule everyday and 2 on Sunday's. You should be given a steroid like prednisone or entocort (prednisone works better and faster but with more side-effects) to calm the inflammation quickly. I'm currently taking prednisone, Imuran everyday since June (it's a maintenance drug) and Remicade (you need a IV for this) every 4 weeks since June. Remicade worked wonders for me but I'm having a bad flare so I'm on prednisone for a second time. Try not to stress too much if possible because stress is very good at starting flares. I hope this helped and you get started on medicine soon!
 
tragicmess

tragicmess

Oh and if your GI isn't helping you at all, you should probably look into finding a new one or getting a second opinion.
 
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