New Guy

Hey everyone.

I'm Matt from Northern Ireland, thought I'd join the forum . I'm 19 years old and have just finished my first year at university studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering. My father and brother have crohn's so I was sort of looking out for any symtoms as I knew I was at an increased risk.

During semester 1, (Sep-Dec 09) I had a few problems but generaly I felt ok and got on with most things. At the start of Semester 2 (late Jan/early Feb) things started going downhill though. I got a real bad sore throat, could hardly eat, had no appetite and was very tired. Id struggle to get out of bed in the morning, go to class, come home at lunch, nap, then more class then back to bed. My eyes also became bloodshot. The doctor tried me on an antibiotic for week which seemed to help a bit, but i was soon back to were I was. So it was time for Prenisolone.

The transformation was surprising. In a couple of days on 30mg I was nearly back to normal and a couple of days after that I felt great and was eating everything in sight, able to put back some of the weight I'd lost. A month later and I had been tapered off the steroids and a week after that my sore throat came back, it also brought with it temperature and vomiting so I had to go to hospital for a week where they used antibiotics to help the throat although it didnt heal it completely, so I went to the the consultant GI who put me on pentasa and entocort. This kept the stomach problems under control but the sore throat wouldnt go away, so the entocort was switched back to prednisolone ( I love pred) which got me back to normal.

I had a colonoscopy and a camera down the throat aswell (OGD?) last Wednesday as up until now it hadn't been officially diagnosed as Crohn's though myself and my GP were convinced it was. The colonoscopy revealed what was expected, I even got to see it for myself.

I am now waiting to go back to the GI in a few weeks for the biopsy results and I also think he is going to put me on Azathioprine and Infliximab which I am slightly anxious about after reading how the drugs work on Wikipedia, but I know I can't stay on steroids for ever.

So thats my story so far, I tried to keep it as short as possible. Thanks to anyone who read it all At the minute Im ok as I'm on 5mg pred until i see the GI again. I'm also starting training again to try and get back the progress I lost when I couldn't eat.

Regards,
Matt

Hi Matt, it sounds like you have a good support group and lifetime of crohn's knowledge at your disposal. I hope you continue on this forum as I think you'll also have a lot to offer those of us who are really just getting started with this. I hope you get everything straightened out before school starts back. It sounds like you are on the right track.

HI Matt welcome.:emot-waycool: Glad you found us. It is supposed to be low incidence between mother/father and child but there are a few here in that position. I myself have Crohns, have pain but no bleeding and my sister has UC bleeding but very little pain. My brother has UC and was bleeding but somehow went into remission for a long time. MY mother has nothing but her mom had gastroenitis. Some people have different things going on in the throat to stomach areas, I have a Hiatus hernia and as we all know Crohns can be from mouth to anus.

Do you have diahreaha or constipation and lower right pain? I am sure your family is supportive seeing as more than one of you have Crohns. Sorry it has happened to you and your family. We all do the best we can , day by day. The TNF's work great for some, Prednisone is our love/hate drug, and no it is not for long term, just way too many side effects. Keep us updated on how you are doing, nice to have you aboard!

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the board. In high school I was in a vocational and industrial electronics program. That was back in 1973-77, but I still use what I learned today. I used to be a "TV repairman" back when color TV's were large wooden pieces of furniture and operated on vacuum tubes. You actually had to wait a minute or two for the TV to "warm up" before you got a picture.

Its good that you are taking the time to keep on top of your health. That's the best way to have a fulfilling life regardless of what illness you'll have to deal with.

Good to see you.
Joseph

Matt,
I hope all goes well with your biopsy results. Sounds like your family will be a wealth of knowledge for you. I refused prednisone, and so far knock on wood I will never have to be on it. I'm currently on Humira, stopped Pentasa, and doing ok if I watch what I eat. Best of luck.
Lucy

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone .

My father has been quite lucky with the Crohn's. He had surgery in his early/mid twenties and fortunately hasn't had any symptoms since (touch wood). It was when my older brother was diagnosed about 3 years ago when he was the same as as I am now that I started reading and learning about it.

I haven't really had any problems with diahreaha or constipation. I had a fissure at the tail end which caused pain and some bloody bowel movements towards the end of '09 but that seems to have healed. As for stomach pain, I would get waves of pain for a couple of hours after a bowel movement. From what I have read though I don't think my stomach pain is as bad as what some people get. The throat has been my biggest problem.

I hope to stay around and help if I can. Its also interesitng reading about new sorts of treatments, partcularly the hookworms and the Stem Cell transplant.

Regards,
Matt

Yeah me too, learning here is amazing, still creeped out about the hookworms tho. The stem cell looks might interesting too. Hope you are ok. Take care of yourself, always.

Hi Matt
and welcome

glad Pred worked for you, it worked for me too, felt 'normal' again, but I'm off it now and on Entocort, which is ok, but not as good as Pred! And yeah, there are scary side effects, but I love/hate it!
good luck with the biopsies and the Aza, I was allergic to it, and hope you get approved for the Remi, check out the thread on the Remi Club for lots of positivity on the 'liquid gold'.
see you around the forum, and good luck
lotsa luv
Joan xxx

Hi Matt,
Good to see you. I am another newbie, only signed up yesterday after being diagnosed last month.
I too have just started pred (1st eight tablets this morning) in a desperate attempt to getsome weight on me, halt the exhaustion and put me into remission (fingers crossed!).

I'm really interetsed in the genetic link of Crohn's - no-one in my family seems to suffer but I understand it's particularly strong in twins...and I have a twin sister.
My dad had his colon removed while he was being treated for pancreatitis. I am considering asking the hopsital that treated him whether there was any signs of IBD.

I dream of the day I can go running again - please tell me that pred may just be the answer to that!!!

Take care, matey.
Tracey.x

Hi Tracey,

I hope the prednisolone has the same effect on you as it has had on me. I feel the benefit's after a couple of days, and for me it was a complete transformation. I would wake up in the morning 5 mins before my alarm is supposed to go off and I'd feel wide awake ready to take on the day, with an appetite that can't be satisfied.

I know though that it affects different people in different ways. I've never been on it for an extended ammount of time (1 month or so at the longest and only 1 week at 30mg before tapering) which could be why I haven't had any negative side effects.

I hope it works well for you:thumleft:

Regards,
Matt

Hi Matt, greetings from a fellow student in NI! I knew there was some links between family members but to have 3 in the immediate family is very unfortunate I'd imagine, though hopefully you and your brother have good fortune like your dad.

I've been on aza now for about 3 weeks and have finished the pred, so far i feel better than before (less stomach pain but still extreme tiredness and niggling joint pain). Hope your biopsies are ok mate