Newbie

Hi all....

I'm Shelley, 41yr old single mom from MS. I'm a registered nurse, newly diagnosed this week. I'm devastated. My medical history - I don't have any! I had gastric sleeve surgery May 2012 for weight loss. No complications.

Now here I am starting this huge albeit temporary course of prednisone; my management med will be Imuran. I'm scared. Yes, I'm scared of gaining weight - I paid out of pocket for my wt loss surgery. I lost my job in July and just started a new one Aug 5th in the hospital where I'm currently a patient. My insurance doesn't even go into effect 10/1. It's just not been my day, my week, my month and I'm not a huge fan of 2013 right now.

Can someone please help me? Advice? Tips? Encouragement? Please keep comments positive - I've had enough negativity. :(

Any help is appreciated.

Shell

Hi and welcome to HW. Sorry about your diagnosis and that you are having a rough time. I suggest that you start by doing some reading and learning about Crohn's disease. The American Crohn's association website is a good place to start at www.ccfa.org. And of course you can always vent or ask questions here as well.
Prednisone is a very powerful drug to help your flares get under control. Imuran takes about three months to fully take effect, so that's probably why your doc put you on Prednisone. The Pred is an effective, but nasty drug, but try to remember it is only temporary. The only times I have taken Prednisone have been when I was in a bad flare and having difficulty eating, so I actually lost weight every time I've ever taken it. I did get the "moonface" when I was on it for several months, but it went away after discontinuing it. I found irritability and insomnia a more difficult issue. Make sure to take your Prednisone in the mornings...you don't have to spilt your dose. I also get xanax for sleep when I'm on it. With the Imuran, you want to make sure that you get regular blood tests to make sure it is not affecting your liver or pancreas. I had to discontinue it due to elevated liver enzymes, but my liver enzymes went back to normal when I stopped the drug...no permanent harm done.
Most of us here are struggling so we aren't a good representative sample of Crohn's disease, so don't let us scare you. Lots of folks go into remission for long periods of time, sometimes many years, and live perfectly normal lives. It is a grieving process to get a chronic illness diagnosis, but hopefully it all won't seem so scary and you'll get to feeling better. I hope this helped a bit:)

Hi Shelley, I'm sorry about your diagnosis. I've had CD for most of my life and I'm 52. Definitely do some research and don't get discouraged. I have long periods of remission. Like you said, the prednisone is temporary. Extra stress is not going to help, stay positive and I hope everything works out for you.

I think you still have time to get COBRA from your last job to cover this time until your new insurance kicks in!