Ct enterography

I am new to this site. Was diagnosed with Crohns 23 years ago, had resection 18 years ago and am having only my second flare up since surgery. My last coloscopy, six years ago, showed a few inches of small intestine with some redness and ulcers. Currently, I am losing weight, have no appetite, tons of anxiety, uveititis. I am taking Budesinide which seems to be helping but not completely doing the trick. The doctor sent me for a CT Enterography and I am waiting for the results. My questions are these -- 1) do you think it's possible the scan will reveal abnormalitites with organs; very worried about this! 2) what medical options are available if the Budesinide does not get me back into remission? 3) I am scheduled to go overseas with my family (four children0 for three weeks next Tuesday. I want to go but am nervous about being so far from home for such a long period of time.
Thanks so much for any feedback you're willing to share!

Hello and welcome to the forum. I would say the CT is being used to to check if there is any thickening of the bowel wall - did the docs mention about whether they were going to be looking at other areas/organs around here? If the Budesonide is struggling to sort the inflammation out then there is the old 'favourite' Prednisone which is also a steroid that is good at getting things settled again, you then may need to go onto a maintainence med to then keep the tum calm - have you been on any meds leading up to this current flare up?

An alternative to steroids that some here have found great success with is either the elemental diet or enteral nutrition, I am not sure how feasible it would be to start something like this though with your upcoming trip - do check out our diet and sups forum as this may be something to check out at a later date depending on how things go. I take it you have got travel insurance and they are aware of your crohns? Have you mentioned this to your GI? We have a great thread here that it is worth reading through about travelling with crohns: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=30925.

Please keep us updated on how you get on.

AB
xx

Thank you so much for your response. The travel information was very helpful because I needed to see that people are taking their trips even if theiy're not feeling perfect. I tend to get very cautious and anxious and walk on eggshells. Thanks again!

Hi Lauren Welcome to the community. I'm sorry to hear of your new flareup though

Angrybird covered a lot. I'm curious which specific organs you're concerned about and why though. Maybe we could provide some direction regarding that.

In addition, have you had your vitamin B12, vitamin D, folate, and magnesium levels tested? People with Crohn's are often deficient and proper supplementation can help a lot if that is indeed the case.

Again, welcome

Hi all
The results of the enterography were normal. There was no evidence of Crohns but the radiologist noted that it was difficult to see the small intestine because of overlapping. I assume this means a colonoscopy is in the offing, but, since I am feeling better on the Budesinide, I think I will wait until we return from our trip to get it done. Thanks again for the feedback and support.
Oh, and in answer to your questions, my B 12 and Vitamin D were normal. Not sure about the folate and magnesium, though.
Thanks!