Depressed/curious

depressed/curious

hi everyone. i have been diagnosed w crohns for about 7 months now and im currently on lialda and endocort(which i just started). I really dont like taking medication and i hate the side effects i get. Im wondering if theres any natural/alternative remedies that work for anyone. Also, i feel like im depressed most of the time although there will be occasional days or weeks when ill be somewhat happy. I try to do anything not to be depressed but keep falling back in the rut. Anyone else?

the best way to control it in a natraul way is with your diet and the foods you eat but this can take several years/ months to get the hang of as it quite complex... for example the crohns seams to tolerate things that are cooked in a way your body can digest it.

E.g i couldent eat fried chips but i could eat oven chips

you will lack vitamins and nutriants so perhaps find foods that suit you and make them into liquid form and take a drink everyday with all your vitamins in.. or evan liquid meals here in the uk we have complan in the supermarkets and kalshake from the Dr one of these a day will really help energy levels and help you get extra vitamins

Hi Stacey and welcome

First off, I would communicate how you're feeling with your doctor. And if you do decide to utilize any alternative treatments, do it under their watch so they can continue to monitor you. With that said:

1. I'm a big fan of enteral nutrition. We have an enteral nutrition forum which may be of interest to you. If a liquid diet sounds like too much, you may want to check out the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or [wiki]Paleolithic Diet[/wiki]

2. You're not in a medical marijuana state, so that's not viable though some have reported reduction in symptoms and inflammation while on it.

3. Low dose naltrexone seems like an interesting option for some.

4. Finally, if you're feeling depressed, I would strongly suggest getting your vitamin B12 and vitamin D levels checked. People with Crohn's Disease are very commonly deficient in those vitamins which can lead to feelings of depression. Proper supplementation can make a huge difference.

Please keep us updated. We're here for you anytime

Hello and welcome :bigwave: I agree about making your doc fully aware of any plans you have about changing the treatment for your crohns. I think there is definetly a potential benifit into looking into a liquid diet and having your vitamin levels checked is a must.

I am glad you have decided to join us and hope you find the forum helpful, keep us updated on how you get on.

Hi Stacey, hope you're doing alright buddy.

I am new to this whole thing (I was just diagnosed about a week and a half ago), so I don't have much to offer yet regarding diet advice or alternative therapies. However, you should definitely inform your doctor if you are feeling depressed and you think it could be a side-effect of the medication that you are taking. I was taking budesonide (generic Entocort), and I was miserable for the short time that I was on it. (I only know that it was the drugs messing with me because I finally stopped taking it, after calling the on-call doctor in tears -- this was on Saturday, and today I finally started to much more like myself. I still have Crohn's, so I'm not 100% better or anything... but at least I'm not having wild mood swings anymore.)

That said, medications (like diet) affect different people in different ways. From what I've read, Entocort is a kinder, gentler corticosteroid than others, and side-effects are typically not nearly as bad for most people. Plenty of people on this forum have had no problems with Entocort... your mileage may vary. Pay attention to your body, and if you start to feel depressed and you think it's uncharacteristic or if it coincides with your medication, don't be afraid to ask your doctor about it.

Hang in there and keep us posted!

Hi David! I'm new here and have been feeling absolutely desperate and going stir crazy since I started having symptoms. I had no idea people with Crohn's disease are 'very commonly deficient in those vitamins'. Thank you so much for putting that, I'm going to have to get some. I wish my doc thought to tell me this. It would've prevented a lot less tears and much more sleep! Thank you.

AbiB said:

Hi David! I'm new here and have been feeling absolutely desperate and going stir crazy since I started having symptoms. I had no idea people with Crohn's disease are 'very commonly deficient in those vitamins'. Thank you so much for putting that, I'm going to have to get some. I wish my doc thought to tell me this. It would've prevented a lot less tears and much more sleep! Thank you.

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Rather than just taking some vitamins, I would suggest getting your levels tested so that:

1. You don't supplement if it's not necessary
2. You can monitor your levels and symptoms
3. You can properly dose and supplement if you are indeed deficient. For example, if you're extremely deficient in B12 and not absorbing, oral B12 probably won't be sufficient.