new diagnosis crohn's colitis, child

my 10 year old has just been diagnosed yesterday with crohn's colitis and i feel lost, the doctor started him on lialda and it made his diarrhea much worse and the pain tremendous. I want to take him off but cannot get a hold of the doc. please does anyone have thoughts on this and has anyone tried treating themselves in a holistic manner/ thanks, A

Post Edited (anna paradise) : 9/8/2007 11:25:44 AM (GMT-6)

Most dr.s have an emergency number just for this reason, but it sounds like yours hasn't. If I'm not mistaken, Lialda is a newer version of mesalamine. Mesalamine has been around for a while and while safe for many patients, some cannot tolerate it. If it were my child, I would stop the medication and head to the ER.

Thanks for your replies, my son is doing better, we halved the medication, the doc wants me to try another day.....I will look at previous info on this site, but my main question which I do not seem to get a clear answer for is: what is the main difference between crohn's, ulcerative colitis and crohn's colitis. before my son's diagnosis yesterday, i had only heard of the first 2. I would really appreciate your imput as i feel so overwhelmed..thank tou and all the best to you all, A

Thanks Krysta...............i am so new at this, but it does seem that the term 'crohn's colitis' is confusing to a lot of people. i welcome any and all imput. maybe there is no straight answer.

Krysta :)

chroniemomx2 clarified crohns-colitis for you perfectly...with crohns being able to affect any part of the GI tract from the mouth to the anus and UC being limited to the colon (lg intestine) and sometimes involving the rectom, that's what makes one of the major differences between the 2 seperate conditions....

Also, when CD or even UC is affecting the rectom the term proctitis is used, when CD is affecting your ileum the term ileitis is used...I too have had CD affecting more then one area at a time....when I first got sick 16 yrs ago it was in my ileum, colon, rectom and anus (perianal crohns skin tags)....but it cleared up in the ileum and hasn't returned, on the down side it's remained constant in my colon and anus, and comes and goes in my rectom...there's no rhyme or reasoning for any of that, it's just the nature of the beast...many only have small bowel involvement without ever having large bowel (colon, large intestine) involvement, but it's still crappy for everyone regardless.

Basically "itis" means inflammation.

there you have it, the straight answer you've been looking for, may still be confusing but anything with IBD is I guess...it's so frustrating, I hope your son finds relief very soon.


:)

Anna, Lialda is a new medication, a form of mesalamine, which is an intestinal anti-inflammatory. Other medications in this class include Asacol and Pentasa, among others.

These medications are generally mild and have few side effects. HOWEVER, a small portion of people (maybe 5%) are hypersensitive to mesalamine and have bad reactions to it. This can manifest as worsening diarrhea, pain, etc, similar to the symtoms of Crohn's. If your child is having significantly worse symtoms after just starting this medication, it's quite possible he/she is hypersensitive to mesalamine. Some doctors are unaware of this possible reaction, but it definitely happens now and then and could be what's going on with your child. This should definitely be mentioned to your doctor.

As for Crohn's colitis, it's simply Crohn's disease that is affecting the colon. Crohn's disease can affect any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus, but there are three most commonly affected areas, and hence three most common subtypes of Crohn's based on location of disease activity: (1) Crohn's colitis (Crohn's in the colon) (2) Crohn's ileitis (Crohn's of the ileum, the end of the small intestine), and (3) Crohn's ileocolitis (Crohn's of the ileum and the colon).

I'm sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis. I too have Crohn's colitis. Here's my understanding at the main differences.

Crohn's Colitis affects all layers of the colon, where as UC is just the surface layers. Also, surgery is a cure for UC. Remove the colon and your remove the disease. This is not the case with Crohn's colitis. Since Crohn's can affect all the different areas of the digestive tract, removing the colon does not cure it. The Crohn's could just show up someplace else. There are things that doctor's look for to diagnose CD vs. UC. It's important to understand and make sure that your son does in fact have CD. Though the treatments and symptoms are similar, there are some complications of each that are somewhat unqiue.

There is a ton of information of both Crohn's disease and UC available online. Google away and use this site as a starting place. I'm glad to hear that adjusting the Lialda has helped. I'm on Asacol which is the same stuff but you have to take tons of pills, 3x per day. Probably not the best for a 10 year old :) but there are other options out there if he can't tolerate that medication.

As other things that help, search this board for info on probiotics which naturally help stop the D and regulate the digestive tract. Also, my GI recommended that I keep a food diary so that I can keep track of what works and doesn't work for me. It's really helped me to identify and avoid those foods that cause problems.

Best of luck.

anna paradise,

So sorry for you son's suffering.

We all know there is no cure for this disease, but his crohn's symptoms will improve if you modify his diet and give him probiotics. Cut out sugar, preservatives, processed food, give sourdough or sprouted whole wheat/grain bread, and yogurt with probiotics. It's important to give him food that will assist with healing, not hurting. You can try the Maker's Diet, it helps too.

When it comes to kids suffering with this illness, I feel more awful for them. I hope your son gets better very soon.