Hi All,
A bit of background on me - I'm 22 years old and was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2005 during second semester of grade 12. I spent approximately 2 months out of school, during which time I was in and out of hospital on IV steroids and with several related problems (kidney stones requiring readmission and a subsequent flare, as well as a very difficult taper from prednisone.) After several months of trial and error with Asacol, Mesasal and Prednisone, things started to come under control. I was able to come off the prednisone within a few months but unfortunately flared again within the year and started on Imuran as well as another round of prednisone. During this time I saw a naturopath and began adding various supplements (Probiotics, Multivitamins as well as B12, C, D3, E and Omega 3 plus GLA) to my diet, as well as strictly following the Omega-3 rich diet outlined in "Eating Right for a Bad Gut" - Within several months my symptoms had subdued, I was feeling more like myself again and was eating a variety of foods as outlined in Eating Right for a Bad Gut. I trained to become a Paramedic and have been working and enjoying life, mostly symptom free, and was able to come off of all my meds (still supplmenting and following diet.) I remained off of meds for a solid year without issue. During this time I began working a new position which requires me to work 24 hour shifts. After a year in this position I started to notice some of my typical warning signs for a flare (cankers, sore joints, itchy / red eyes) The end of August signalled a new chapter for me and Crohn's and I've been flaring intermittently since then. Within a week I had dropped 15 lbs (145lbs down to 130lbs) and had to start on Prednisone (60mg) as well as Mesasal again. I've missed a tonne of time from work and am feeling incredibly discouraged, I'm now nearly two months into this unrelenting flare and can't seem to eat anything without pain and discomfort. I was able to come down to 20mg of Prednisone a day, and stayed stable for a few days, until it was time to work another shift, I felt like I had been set back two weeks. After my last shift I spent a day in the ER for IV fluids and pain medication with severe nausea and vomiting / D. My GP was off during much of this time and I was left in the lurch...I'm finally going to see my Gastroenterologist next week (after the ER doc referred me) and am concerned he's going to recommend more immunosuppresents. At this point I've dealt with prednisone enough to know the nasty side effects, I'm extremely sensitive to it and seem to take forever to get off of it, tapers take months and months and it seems like every incremental drop spells days of pain / D. I'm considering asking my gastroenterologist about an elemental diet for several weeks, while trying to lower the prednisone dose with the goal of introducing LDN. I know he has heard of the therapy before and is at least familiar with the research, and our local compounding pharmacy has several patients on it. Does anyone have any thoughts to contribute? I've been reading posts on the forums regarding LDN and the elemental diet as a way of inducing remission, and all without the intense side effects that accompany the usual Crohn's pharmacopeia. It's encouraging to read success stories, and to know there are a large group of people who are passionate about helping themselves through knowledge and sharing information.
A bit of background on me - I'm 22 years old and was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2005 during second semester of grade 12. I spent approximately 2 months out of school, during which time I was in and out of hospital on IV steroids and with several related problems (kidney stones requiring readmission and a subsequent flare, as well as a very difficult taper from prednisone.) After several months of trial and error with Asacol, Mesasal and Prednisone, things started to come under control. I was able to come off the prednisone within a few months but unfortunately flared again within the year and started on Imuran as well as another round of prednisone. During this time I saw a naturopath and began adding various supplements (Probiotics, Multivitamins as well as B12, C, D3, E and Omega 3 plus GLA) to my diet, as well as strictly following the Omega-3 rich diet outlined in "Eating Right for a Bad Gut" - Within several months my symptoms had subdued, I was feeling more like myself again and was eating a variety of foods as outlined in Eating Right for a Bad Gut. I trained to become a Paramedic and have been working and enjoying life, mostly symptom free, and was able to come off of all my meds (still supplmenting and following diet.) I remained off of meds for a solid year without issue. During this time I began working a new position which requires me to work 24 hour shifts. After a year in this position I started to notice some of my typical warning signs for a flare (cankers, sore joints, itchy / red eyes) The end of August signalled a new chapter for me and Crohn's and I've been flaring intermittently since then. Within a week I had dropped 15 lbs (145lbs down to 130lbs) and had to start on Prednisone (60mg) as well as Mesasal again. I've missed a tonne of time from work and am feeling incredibly discouraged, I'm now nearly two months into this unrelenting flare and can't seem to eat anything without pain and discomfort. I was able to come down to 20mg of Prednisone a day, and stayed stable for a few days, until it was time to work another shift, I felt like I had been set back two weeks. After my last shift I spent a day in the ER for IV fluids and pain medication with severe nausea and vomiting / D. My GP was off during much of this time and I was left in the lurch...I'm finally going to see my Gastroenterologist next week (after the ER doc referred me) and am concerned he's going to recommend more immunosuppresents. At this point I've dealt with prednisone enough to know the nasty side effects, I'm extremely sensitive to it and seem to take forever to get off of it, tapers take months and months and it seems like every incremental drop spells days of pain / D. I'm considering asking my gastroenterologist about an elemental diet for several weeks, while trying to lower the prednisone dose with the goal of introducing LDN. I know he has heard of the therapy before and is at least familiar with the research, and our local compounding pharmacy has several patients on it. Does anyone have any thoughts to contribute? I've been reading posts on the forums regarding LDN and the elemental diet as a way of inducing remission, and all without the intense side effects that accompany the usual Crohn's pharmacopeia. It's encouraging to read success stories, and to know there are a large group of people who are passionate about helping themselves through knowledge and sharing information.
