diagnosed w. Crohn's today

First of all, breathe! Yes, you will have to eliminate many things from your diet to help keep symptoms at bay. Caffeinated, sugary drinks are not good for your system at all. I used to think I couldn't get through the day without my normal three or four coffees and or espresso and the additional sodas, but here I am even more productive than I was before. The bottom line is that they are not good for you regardless of whether or not you have Crohn's, and getting them out of your system is a step in the right direction.
As for the side effects, don't worry too much. You will encounter some, but the important thing is to keep a close watch on the effects your medication/s have on you and speak with your doctor when there is a genuine concern for your health and safety. I have been on quite a few, and while there some times I was displeased with some of the side effects, the benefits of the medicine itself far outweighed that.
And yes, there is an increased risk of developing colon cancer but that increase does not equate to a guarantee. All you need to worry about is getting routine colonoscopies done to monitor what is going on inside your body to prevent anything serious from developing.

I know it's scary, and there will be times where you want to give up believe me, but it's not the end of the world. Keep posting and know that rants and raves are always welcome. This is a great place to find support, advice, and general information so I hope you keep posting or reading at least!

Hi and Welcome. Another thing you might want to think about is a vitamin alot of us have low B-12 and take a shot once a month. There is lots of help and support here. I know it is scary at first and takes some time to adjust some people have mid ,moderate or severe crohn's so we are not all the same here but being aware of some problems helps us know what might be going on with us. Did your Dr, say if you have mild ? I stay off pop most of the time but do drink perked coffee .I also follow low resiue diet my crohn's was diagnosed as severe. Keep in touch and let us know how things are going. lol gail

Alcohol? Definite no-no... Not only is it poison for ordinary people, but it's even worse for people who have Crohn's disease. Besides, if you're in professional school (err... is that college? Or graduate school??? A vocational school of some kind???) you don't need to drink alcohol, anyway... Going to class inebriated does not make a good impression on the professors... :P

As for changing your diet... you're going to have to go through a long trial-and-error method... start keeping a food diary, so you can figure out which foods bother you... And if you find a food consistently bothers you, well... whether its your favorite or not, it'll have to be eliminated from your diet if you want to stop suffering...

You are not alone,

be always positive and have a good faith and hope.
you need to watch what you eat, drink. Always keep dairy so you can track what irritate your tommy.
no gain without pain. most of traditional Medications have side effect, but look at them from the positive side which it can control you Symptoms.

best of luck

lets us know what is going to happen after you see your doctor

so far my meds help a little not much with the D tho i go back for blood work i was just diagnosed as well and dont have much advice i have noticed tho that since cutting out soda and not eating at fast food joints i feel alot better i think its the grease ha ha as for the accident while getting intimate it happened to me too ha ha it was aweful i cried so your definitely not alone! hope things go better for you!!! :)

The medication generally does work, but it takes a couple of months to really kick in sometimes so be patient :) The pentasa has worked well for me...and I am on and off prednisone all the time.
Imodium will help with the D if used as needed, bentyl is a good anti-spasmodic, and staying away from high fat and/or sugary foods helps as well since they can make inflammation worse.
As for getting a bag, you just need to be careful with your diet, stress levels, amount you exercise, etc. or basically just most common sense things that go along with Crohn's. Someone else at my fiance's work had to get a colostomy bag, BUT he decided he would eat whatever he wanted still after being diagnosed with Crohn's. Simply, he didn't care, wasn't careful, and ended up with the bag.

I have been on Remicade for 5 years and it keep me out of the hospital for that long. So there are drugs that help. Like everyone says you are not alone. Welcome to the forums any questions, just asked, these people on here are great, they will answer and help anyway they can.

Happy New Year everyone!

So I'm going to see my specialist tomorrow. I have so many questions to ask him. Just wondering.. if I watch what I eat and take my medication I shouldn't have anymore problems with the D and having any embarassing situations during sex like I did once right?

Also note some people find relief in dietary modification. Lutz ("Life Without Bread") suggests as many as 85-90% of dieters can put themselves into remission on carbohydrate restriction; at least two other researchers have come to the same conclusion independently. Gottschall ("Breaking the Vicious Cycle") suggests that some may be put into a remission that is indistinguishable from a cure, but that requires strict dietary modification for 2-3 years. Recent work by Ebringer in the UK has noted that removing all starch from the diet (amylopectin is the problem, not so much the amylose) is the problem.

I've been off my meds for 11 months on the Gottschall diet, and my blood values have normalized. I'm in remission and on a daily basis, I feel fantastic.

Thank you! I was actually diagnosed with UC today. They told me after looking at everything it was UC and not Crohn's. My doctor put me on medication.