which way?
Hi guys, I found this forum a few days ago, and have been reading some success stories with alternative treatments. I've had Crohn's for 15 years, diagnosed at 22 after some serious stress in my life. I mostly avoided these forums until now because it made me depressed reading about all the problems people have for years and no cure. But now I'm sitting home after having my 3rd surgery on Jan 21st (1st resection in 2000, bowel obstruction in 2004, resection now) and I think I'm ready to reach out. After I got diagnosed, which involved a stay in the hospital, I was on Asacol, pentasa, tried 6MP - didn't go well, lots of prednisone and antibiotics, some homeopathic medicine, a few more stays in the hospital to rest the bowels. I had my first child in 1999, and a few months later I developed an abscess that had to be drained and followed by bowel resection. I then had a few good years, when I had a bowel obstruction due to lesions and scar tissue on the outside of the bowel.
The surgeon then said that the Crohn's looks good. So I didn't take any meds for a while, stayed on low fat diet, mostly without veggies. After having my 2nd child in 2005, I started having IBS symptoms - diarrhea without any reason - mostly anxiety based. I stayed home for 3 years because I couldn't leave the house, I had about 20 sec lead time to make it to the bathroom, and we also lost our ins at that time. I found a holistic doctor that gave me some supplements that somewhat helped with diarrhea, and went back to work, so I could get medical ins. My new GI put me on Wellcol - cholesterol drug with constipation side effect - which also helped a bit, but i still took imodium and zanax every time I had to go anywhere. Finally I developed joint pain and fluid in my knees and went to see a Rheumatologist, who put me on sulfasalazine and then on methotrexate.
That still didn't prevent me from having 2 bad flares in the last year. I did that for 1.5 years, then went to see an internist with a holistic approach -he did a lot of bloodwork, and wanted to check for food allergies and bacteria in stool, but i didn't get to that. Saw a nutritionist at his office who put me on paleo diet in Dec 2011. So I was gluten, dairy, corn and soy free for a month, my D almost disappeared (once a week in 4 weeks). But I stated having pain and ended up having surgery 3 weeks ago. I have to say I don't normally have pain, just cramps and diarrhea, and weight loss, when I flare. Also, I am now prone to boils, maybe due to some meds i've been taking, and my surgeon just cut them out on Friday. He said I cannot be on any immuno-suppressants until it heals, and then it will still make me more susceptible to them. My GI however is pressing to start Humira as soon as I heal from the surgery, he thinks beginning or March. He also says it doesn't matter what I eat, but I found most GIs say that.
I lost 10lb, and now down to 90lb after surgery. I'm trying to gain weight and while I was still eating Paleo after surgery, I tried some wheat crackers a few days ago, and had Ensure today, which I find was a big mistake, as I now have D again, and my tummy hurts. So, to finish this novel - I'm scared to go on Humira due to side effects, and scared that diet alone will not prevent me from having inflammation. The surgeon told me I had a pinhole in my small bowel for years due to scar tissue - inflammation that was treated and scarred over and over. I have a couple of weeks left to decide. Thanks for listening.
Hi guys, I found this forum a few days ago, and have been reading some success stories with alternative treatments. I've had Crohn's for 15 years, diagnosed at 22 after some serious stress in my life. I mostly avoided these forums until now because it made me depressed reading about all the problems people have for years and no cure. But now I'm sitting home after having my 3rd surgery on Jan 21st (1st resection in 2000, bowel obstruction in 2004, resection now) and I think I'm ready to reach out. After I got diagnosed, which involved a stay in the hospital, I was on Asacol, pentasa, tried 6MP - didn't go well, lots of prednisone and antibiotics, some homeopathic medicine, a few more stays in the hospital to rest the bowels. I had my first child in 1999, and a few months later I developed an abscess that had to be drained and followed by bowel resection. I then had a few good years, when I had a bowel obstruction due to lesions and scar tissue on the outside of the bowel.
The surgeon then said that the Crohn's looks good. So I didn't take any meds for a while, stayed on low fat diet, mostly without veggies. After having my 2nd child in 2005, I started having IBS symptoms - diarrhea without any reason - mostly anxiety based. I stayed home for 3 years because I couldn't leave the house, I had about 20 sec lead time to make it to the bathroom, and we also lost our ins at that time. I found a holistic doctor that gave me some supplements that somewhat helped with diarrhea, and went back to work, so I could get medical ins. My new GI put me on Wellcol - cholesterol drug with constipation side effect - which also helped a bit, but i still took imodium and zanax every time I had to go anywhere. Finally I developed joint pain and fluid in my knees and went to see a Rheumatologist, who put me on sulfasalazine and then on methotrexate.
That still didn't prevent me from having 2 bad flares in the last year. I did that for 1.5 years, then went to see an internist with a holistic approach -he did a lot of bloodwork, and wanted to check for food allergies and bacteria in stool, but i didn't get to that. Saw a nutritionist at his office who put me on paleo diet in Dec 2011. So I was gluten, dairy, corn and soy free for a month, my D almost disappeared (once a week in 4 weeks). But I stated having pain and ended up having surgery 3 weeks ago. I have to say I don't normally have pain, just cramps and diarrhea, and weight loss, when I flare. Also, I am now prone to boils, maybe due to some meds i've been taking, and my surgeon just cut them out on Friday. He said I cannot be on any immuno-suppressants until it heals, and then it will still make me more susceptible to them. My GI however is pressing to start Humira as soon as I heal from the surgery, he thinks beginning or March. He also says it doesn't matter what I eat, but I found most GIs say that.
I lost 10lb, and now down to 90lb after surgery. I'm trying to gain weight and while I was still eating Paleo after surgery, I tried some wheat crackers a few days ago, and had Ensure today, which I find was a big mistake, as I now have D again, and my tummy hurts. So, to finish this novel - I'm scared to go on Humira due to side effects, and scared that diet alone will not prevent me from having inflammation. The surgeon told me I had a pinhole in my small bowel for years due to scar tissue - inflammation that was treated and scarred over and over. I have a couple of weeks left to decide. Thanks for listening.
