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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 12/29/2015 6:21 AM (GMT 0)
I've recently been diagnosed with crohn's, and so far none of the medicines I've tried have helped me much or the side effects were worse than the symptoms I was treating. Anyways I'm still trying to figure out what I can, and cannot eat as well as what helps. Anything that helps you would be very appreciated especially to women who have worsening pain and bloating around and on their period. Since I'm already on a birth control (seasonique) for my heavy and very painful periods having them basically the same as before with the crohn's is hell. It's around the holidays and if I can't have fun I'd at least like to be in a little less pain. Is heat or ice better? My GI said I do have small ulcers in my small intestine but was more worried about the inflammation. Anything that helps you guys I'd like to try, sorry for being redundant.
Thank you so much~ and happy holidays.
Posted 12/29/2015 4:04 PM (GMT 0)
What medications have you tried so far? Unfortunately, if you have active inflammation you should really be on something.

It didn't used to make any difference what I ate. Actually it still doesn't very much. I just try to keep the roughage/fibre down, as the last time I rebelled and ate some salad and bits of raw apple, I had two days of pain afterwards. I have pain anyway, but this was unusually bad and prolonged.

Basically, I know it's not very helpful, but everyone is different with regards to what they can and can't tolerate. The only general rule of thumb is to stick to a low-residue diet if you have a stricture (narrowing) of the small bowel. As you're new to Crohn's you probably don't have a stricture yet, but that's something to ask your GI about - untreated inflammation tends to lead to a stricture eventually, so your GI is right to be worried about that.

Heat is better than ice for abdominal pain, I should think. I've never actually tried ice on my stomach, but heat can be quite soothing. Ice is mainly used for reducing swelling from acute/recent injuries, as far as I know.

Sorry, I'm pretty braindead from lack of sleep and I don't feel like this post has been of much help. Hopefully others'll chime in.
Posted 12/29/2015 10:19 PM (GMT 0)
I was on pentasa, but it made me so light headed I couldn't even stand. I was on remicade which was helping, but my insurance had some issues and took me off it. Now I'm trying imuran but that too has a harsh side effect and so far hasn't even helped. I'm actually really hoping I can get back on the remicade since it helped so much. But until the insurance approves it I was hoping for some tips on coping with the pain until I can. Thank you for your reply tho!
Posted 12/29/2015 10:59 PM (GMT 0)
I was on remicade which was helping, but my insurance had some issues and took me off it.

Great. They took you off the best drug currently available for Crohn's - how are insurance companies allowed to get away with this? All I can say is, try to get back on the Remicade.

I just take painkillers for the pain, which isn't a great solution for the long-term.
Posted 12/30/2015 2:02 AM (GMT 0)
That really sucks. Would they cover Humira instead or more quickly? In the meantime, what @ncot said about a low-residue diet is a good idea. Some people will even eat baby food to get the nutrients because it is so much easier on the digestive tract.
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