New to the Forum

Hi,

So i've been snooping around the forum now for about 3 weeks, reading but not posting. Really i've been meaning to introduce myself for a while.
My name is Michael, I'm 23 years old and was diagnosed with Crohn's disease back in January 2001, at the ripe age of 12. Up until this time, I didn't really have any symptoms at all, other than hemorrhoids and fissures. The pain that this caused me when I tried to go to the bathroom caused me to make the decision to simply not go at all. This lasted about 3 weeks at which point it was obvious something was wrong. I was lucky to have good doctors seeing to me and was admitted and diagnosed within a couple of weeks.
After this I was symptom free for 6 years or so until I had my first real flare in Jan07. After a course of antibiotics I got hit hard with D, bleeding and extreme pain and dropped down to about 125 Lbs (at 6'2..). Remicade turned out to be my miracle drug until I came off it a couple of years later (long story for another time). Then Humira saw me through another flare after that.
My most recent battle started in May; caused by stress, lifestyle, decreasing efficacy of Humira and the "wait and see" attitude of my doctor (currently looking for a new one, after 7 yrs i've completely lost faith in this guy). Thankfully I was finally put on Pred and up'd my Humira to once a week and would now consider this flare to be at its end. After 6 months of pain and depression I am finally starting to get excited again and am finally able to do the things I love.

Anyway, Just wanted to tell my story and I'm sure you'll be hearing from me much more in the near future!

Michael

I also wanted to say how helpful I have found this forum and everyone on it. At the end of my most recent flare i was quite depressed and down in the dumps. I don't really know anybody else with Crohn's and it's nice to know that their are others out there who deal with this stuff everyday also. It's nice to know that what i experience isn't that abnormal from others with this illness.

Hello Michael and welcome to the forums here.
Glad things are improving for you on the meds front and I have to agree with you about this forum...it has been a part of my staple now for a while as it is a great resource for information..
We are all in this here at different stages together..
Take care..

Hiya Michael
and welcome

Glad you stopped lurking and joined us!
Sounds like you're on the mend, long may this continue!
Stay well and
lotsa luv
Joan xxx

Hi Michael and welcome! I am glad the upped Humira and pred has taken care of this recent flare. I sure hope you are back to 100% soon and enjoy a long, long remission.

Okay, so I got to ask, what happened with Remicade that you stopped using it?

Ahh yes. Funny thing is nothing actually happened with the Rem. After being on it for 2 yrs I didn't think I needed it anymore, asked my doc about coming off it and he basically said why not.. Huge mistake! Like I said this was my so called miracle drug, no symptoms and no side effects (I could've eaten beans and popcorn for every meal, even people without IBD were jealous of my iron gut!). I was feeling great and didn't want to be on these heavy duty meds if I didn't have to be. Unfortunately my GI offered absolutely no information, like the fact that it was likely I'd be unable to go back on it and I would be limiting my treatment options in the future.
Ended up having another flare 9 months later and had a severe allergic reaction to my second infusion (really not fun). I'm on Humira now and am relatively healthy (now that this current flare seems to be ending) but it doesn't even compare to the remicade.

It's a shame your GI didn't convey that once you stopped Remi, you most likely wouldn't be able to go back to it in the future. Hopefully, after this flare ends, you can get that iron gut back!