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New to Crohns, Scared of Medication

September 19th 2015 was a beautiful day in Jamaica. My fiancé and I had flown there to be married, and it was our wedding day. Almost immediately after saying “I Do” I started having horrible pains in my stomach. I thought at first my wedding dress was just too tight and I needed to get out of it as soon as possible. That night I continued to hurt so I decided to see the nurse and doctor on call at the resort. After pressing on my stomach she became very concerned with how tender I was. She started a morphine drip for pain and advised my new husband I needed to be sent to the hospital. Well, there is not enough morphine that could convince me to be admitted to a hospital in Jamaica so we flew back to the states the very next morning and I was immediately admitted to the hospital. I was told I had food poisoning or E.coli… After a few days of being in the hospital I was released. A few weeks later I went to the bathroom and there was so much blood, I almost passed out. I called the Gastro right away and had an Endo and Colonoscopy. When the procedure was completed he told my husband it was Crohns but he did a biopsy to be sure. He put me on Uceris, and I had my first follow up appointment yesterday. When I told him I am still bleeding, and having pain, but not quite as bad. He has now put me on prednisone and pentasa, and I am terrified of the side effects of the prednisone.
 
Hi, I'm really sorry to hear about that, but congratulations on your wedding! I'm new here too, so I can't give you much first hand experience, but I just started prednisone as well. My doctor told me that the main side effects of prednisone are weight gain(because you'll be getting your appetite back and will be able to absorb nutrients), hyperactivity, and higher salt retention so you might look a bit puffy around the face, but it's nothing to be too worried about. My mom used to take prednisone as well, and the only side effect that she noticed was increased energy, which is definitely better than the Crohn's symptoms you've been having. Good Luck!
 
Thanks, I feel so exhausted all the time. Its really quite sad. I am not the same person I was 4 months ago. I cant wait to feel better. I am a 26yo female, and I am worried I am going to gain a ton of weight, grow a beard, and be grumpy. I guess feeling better would be worth it, but all those things do not sound exciting. It doesnt help that I work a very demanding full time job.
 
I am so sorry to hear, dont be alarmed pred does have some side affects but not everyone have the same side effects. Pred lets me pick up weight the first time i used it with diagnoses i could not sleep caused me insomnia only if i were lucky maybe 2hours a day of sleep , picked up weight and cravings lol. The pred will help to get you in remission. But just stay active if possible. Hope you feel better soon
 
I took pred for 2years straight at 40mg, the only side effects that I noticed was the slight weight gain but that's not really a bad thing and the insomnia but apart from that you have nothing to be worried about, enjoy having the extra energy, I was 23 when I started them and was so down on life that I didn't have the energy and the pred sorted that for me x
 
Today is my first day I have started the pred. So far so good. I do feel like I have more energy, which is great... I might make it to see the ball drop tonight, who knows! Living in the moment of feeling ok.. :)
 

scottsma

Well-known member
Location
Tynemouth,
The Pred.should clear inflammation.The side affects differ for everyone.Any weight gain will even out when you stop.I was more worried about losing sleep than anything else,so I took the Pred at 6am in the morning and had no problems.

Happy New Year to you,hope all goes as you want it to.
 
I know how you feel about medication, but I've been on pred for three months now and it's given me my life back. Can't say I've any more energy than before, unfortunately, and the insomnia is hideous, I rarely sleep before 4 am, but I've not got fat or grown a beard yet, thankfully! My fear is of losing my hair, but that's not happened so far either. It is scary, though, when you read about all the possible side-effects, but there is no choice sometimes, the disease is worse than the drugs.
 
I have to say today I have had a lot of energy! I'm amazed! I am worried about the side effects but I have hopes that I will only have insomnia and not all the other issues as well. For me it's really crazy how all of this has played out. My sister has recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune issue, and today my mom talked to her doctor about my issues and my sisters issues, and the doctor has finally put it together that all the issues my mom has had over her life could be linked to lupus. They are now running tons of test on her that they otherwise wouldn't have done if I never would've gotten sick. All of this has happened over the last 4 months, and I'm sitting here reflecting on issues we have had for a long time, and wondering how this was not considered before, especially for my mom!!!
 
had to go to the ER 6 days ago, got out yesterday and without prednisone I would probably have gotten surgery and lost my entire colon

I believe as long as you keep your vitamin D and calcium level in check prednisone should be no problem, few side effects that people can find annoying like insomnia or night sweats but nothing too serious. I'm not a big fan of prednisone but it's still better than the excruciating pain of the disease during major flare ups
 

Bufford

Well-known member
I found all these treatments to be worse than the scourge in the long run, but they are tools that can be used to control the condition. Cipro/Azathioprine was a wonder drug for me at first, but after a few years it went against me and almost killed me. I thought I had a good tan until family said that I looked very yellow, and I developed round bruises. The doc told me to stop. Months later I felt better, but it took years to really recover. I rode out flares, but the bleeding would not stop, so now I am trying Remicade after close to 10 years without any formal treatment. I had the 2nd infusion and now the rollercoaster of side effects are taking their toll on me.

Weigh out the benefits of treatment, I am not sure if Remicade is right, but I will give it a good try. Try reducing stress, control diet and pain as the first line of defence. Controlling these help me a lot.
 
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