HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

3 Questions???

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 6/14/2009 5:33 PM (GMT 0)
#1 Do Crohn's symptoms diminish with age? Maybe it is true and there are not enough older people on this forum to reply to this? My GI thought this was a very good question as I thought I had read that somewhere.

#2 They say if you have a resection there is a very good chance that the disease will come back in that area or somehere else.  How do they know the percentage of people who have one resection, go off meds and never need to go back to their doctors? How many on this forum have a resection, feel better and never hear from them again? ( I have an acquaintance who has had a resection over 20 years ago, no meds, no problems.) And yes it might still come back but I think I would give 20 years med free.

#3 How many people think they 'feel' their resection site months or years later?

Thanks

Posted 6/14/2009 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Bammer,

in answer to question 1 I think maybe, when i was 13 it was really awful every symptom under the sun.  reection 93 less symptoms

and the most recent  resections even less it was only when the fistula raised its ugly head that they found out my crohns was active as for where i had the 2 resections  i did have symptoms  but nothing like the first and 2nd  time around

2)i had a resection in 93 (see sig) still no probs in that area.

3)No i don't feel  nothing

 hope this help some Bev x smilewinkgrin

Posted 6/14/2009 6:36 PM (GMT 0)
At 44, maybe I'm not as old as you are looking for, but I've had CD for 21 years officially and most likely 31 years. My Mom died at the age of 64 and her CD was pretty much the same for all of her life. She had periods of remission followed by times of flare. Her disease did not change with age. (She died from COPD not CD) I've had 3 resections. They have all been at the same spot. Every time I have tests done, they all show some signs of active disease at the site of the resection. So at least for me, the disease seems to always be active at the same spot. I have some activity in other locations, but the majority of my disease is located at the joint between the large and small intestine. I can feel things move through that spot depending on what I have eaten, or if I have a lot of gas bubbles. As far as less activity as I've aged, I think that as we age, we just are better at taking care of ourselves so we take our medication and generally eat a better diet. I don't think that I have less active disease, I just handle it better and am more pro-active about it so it doesn't get out of hand.
Posted 6/14/2009 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, I share in your hope. My mom and grandmother always told me that Crohn's symptoms (disease) can just "go away", and as naive as that sounds, I keep that in the back of my mind, always. Otherwise, I would just wither away from fear and dispair. I had a resection about 2 years ago, and that area is ulcerated again. I do have discomfort in the area as well... I know it can be due to scar tissue in some cases. But, I believe it will improve over the next few years.

Believe it or not, my colo-rectal surgeon told me I should be "good for another 5-7 years". Gee, thanks for the optimism!! lol As far as the meds are concerned, I have tried it med-free and felt great for a couple of years, and then found out after I gave birth to my daughter that I had an abscess and fistulas that the docs said were probably brewing for a few years. I now make sure I keep a good diet and try to take care of myself, but I will always be on medication. I am not willing to take that risk again, until I know for sure this disease is in remission. Keep your head up!
Posted 6/15/2009 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
Bammer,

I have had Crohns officially diagnosed for over 33 years. I once enjoyed a 20 year remission med free. Would I do it again, HECK NO!!! My med free remission ended with an emergency resection. While I was busy getting on with my life and trying to forget I had the disease, the disease did not forget me, it was in there doing its damage all along microscopically until it completely obstructed me.

My disease has always returned to where I was reconnected. I myself have had 2 resections. For me at least, the disease has changed alot over the years. Currently my gut is in remission, but I can tell you my joints are horrific.

I agree with Zanne, I think that as we get older we have learned to take better care of ourselves and take our meds and watch our diets a little closer and I think that is what helps the most. But sorry their is no cure for us. Just being better educated about the disease.

Also, for reference I was diagnosed at 18 and am now 51 years old. Hope that helps.

Hugs
Gail *Nanners*
Posted 6/15/2009 3:16 PM (GMT 0)

Thanks for the replies,

Nanners, I have read many times that you went med free for 20 years and wouldn't do it again. I have no intention of not taking some medication but I just think there must be some that get away with it. I'm sure you have your meds figured out at his point but was wondering if there are a lot of Crohn's meds that would help with your arthritis as well? And congratulations on becoming a Forum Moderator.

As far as doctors predicting how long before a resection, with the unpredictability of this disease, don't know how thay can ever say that.

Posted 6/15/2009 3:57 PM (GMT 0)
Bammer,
I was dx in 1982 and honestly I've probably been dealing with this DD for most of my 48(ouch) years. I can't tell you whether or not symptoms diminish with age because I'm better managed and medicated now than I was 10 years ago or 20 for that matter. I had a resection and my TI removed in '82 and yes CD is always at the anastomosis site. But I believe the "ulcer" I was dx with in the 5th grade was actually CD in my duodenum. Like Nanners and I believe C2, I had a 20 year remission med free. But no way would I do that again, the recurrence was severe and hellish. I don't actually feel the resection site, but I have a narrowing there that sometimes gives me issues.

Hope this answers some of your questions from a long timer.
Posted 6/15/2009 4:01 PM (GMT 0)
Looking back I think I detected pains and discomfort on my right side about 15 years before my Crohn's erupted ugly and big time. During the first 15 years I had no idea that I had Crohn's and if somebody had mentioned Crohn's I would not have understood the first thing about it. So basically I was completely clueless, but now I know that I had it all along and that it finally punched through in form of perianal fistula during the prime of my 30s. I used to have periodic discomfort in the right side of the gut, swelling, discomfort, pains, etc, but I did not take anything, the doctors did not detect anything, and we just sort of let it go. Now I have had CD for the last seven years and during the last few years the lumen has narrowed and I get periodically obstructed which requires admittance to the hospital.

My doctors believe that CD is in active stage and that surgery will not solve the problem. I should have surgery only if there is untreatable bowel obstruction or perforation. So, I decided to put of surgery as much as possible. I am exploring alternatives to surgery, such as strictureplasty or ballon endoscope. I think I am reaching a stage, where I cannot be treated by meds alone.

GI's are now saying even after surgery I will need to be on maintenance drugs. My GI, who as practicing for 30 years, says that in his experience an average 7-9 years of symptom free life is the norm. Recurrence one-year after surgery and going 20 years without any problems are the exceptions.
Posted 6/16/2009 2:18 AM (GMT 0)
Great thread I found the replies interesting.. lol gail
Posted 6/16/2009 2:22 AM (GMT 0)
Great thread I found the replies interesting.. lol gail
Posted 6/16/2009 2:34 AM (GMT 0)
You can say that again gachrons!
Posted 6/19/2009 1:43 AM (GMT 0)
confused  #1 NO!I have had it for 51 years and believe me, it does NOT get better with age. In fact it gets a little more difficult because you can't run as fast to the bathroom (a little GI humor)(very little). My first bout was when I was 13. the pain then was bad but it did not seem to bother me as much; I recovered from flares quicker. But that's just me; I am over 60 now so I am "older" enough to comment. I was on this forum for a long time and then was unable to post for a while. Just started back and had to get a new name cause I couldn't remember the user name and passwd.

Also, I still feel pain/discomfort in the area of the reconnect and my last one was in the late 80's. I think adhesions build up at the site and make the area pull and that adds to the discomfort.

Good news is you can survive and learn to live "around" it. just don't let the disease "have" you.

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply