(No Subject)

Yes, some of us here have crohn's colitis, I'm one of them lol!

You actually can have both Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis but it's very rare and it's estimated that 2% of IBDers have both conditions.

Often people get confused when they hear the term Crohn's Colitis as they automatically assume they have UC and crohn's...colitis means inflammation of the colon, which can be caused by crohn's or ulcerative colitis or even other forms of inflammation in the colon that are not necessarily known, which could be a result of antibiotic abuse for example.

With Crohn's it can affect other parts of the GI tract from mouth to anus and it can affect more than one area at a time as well...when I first became sick it was affecting my small bowel as well as my colon and rectum...

With crohn's colitis there isn't necessarily always rectal involvement which is one of the differences between UC and CD with UC it tends to start in the rectum and move up into the colon, the layers of inflammation can go deeper with Crohn's, with UC it always stays on the surface of the lining, this is often the reason behind fistulas as they are more common (especially with crohn's colitis but not always necessarily) with UC fistulas are quite rare in comparison to crohn's disease.

Yes, many also get confused with IBS being different from IBD, I also have IBS, it coexisted with my CD for the last 14ish years now...

with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) it's a functional disease, pretty much related to stress/diet, can be both or just one or the other...there's no inflammation involved with IBS so although the symptoms can be very similar they are 2 separate conditions....mine is stress driven and mostly constipation with it but on occasion diarrhea as well.

The long term is anyone's guess, it's a chronic illness so the only way to really get rid of it will be with a cure and hopefully someday soon that will happen but until then we have to rely on meds to try and get the damaging inflammation and life altering for many, symptoms under control...often easier said than done.

Having IBD certainly isn't a death sentence but for many it drastically impairs their quality of life...I always say, I'd rather have a short healthy life than a long sickly one...that's because I was in my early 20's when I became sick and I'm now 48, I've lost my life to this disease because I was either allergic or non-responsive to traditional oral meds used to treat IBD, finally I was a candidate for Humira last February due to developing a nasty recto-vaginal fistula which for the first time since getting sick 24 years ago, I'm in remission with my crohn's colitis but still trying to combat the IBS, makes for a very depressing and lonely life.

Benadryl is fine to take I believe....hope it helped with the hives and swollen lip.

I got a swelled up bottom lip when I was 19 years old, bowels were still fine then but I did have perianal crohn's skin tags on the outside of my anus which all docs kept telling me they were just hemorrhoids, of course they were all wrong, then I became sick internally with crohn's when I was 23 turning 24 shortly after having my first baby.

It's frustrating not knowing what sets the disease off for us, but even so I guess we likely can't change it even if we knew.

Yes, it is very confusing but talking to people here has sure helped me a lot. This was for years that I had the hives and swollen lip and no doctor could find the cause. Now husband and I are wondering if it was the start of this. I had that hives and itching like crazy whelps two days ago and since then nothing. I did have an allergic reaction when the doctor upped my Lialda to 3 a day but now 2 a day seems to be ok. Don't know what caused this a couple of days ago - maybe something I ate? Any suggestions on what to eat and what not to eat would sure be appreciated. I have found out on here that we are all different and and different things affect us. I sure wish there could be a cure for this! Good luck and thank you for answering.