Husband is sick again :-(

My husband was recovering from reactive arthritis, and was on a steroid taper - he was down to 5mgs. He was doing fine. Over the weekend, he complained of being tired, and on Monday evening said his tummy felt a little off, and he started having diarrhea - I mean diarrhea that sounded like there was a faucet opened on full - very very watery. And he had diarrhea every 15 minutes. So, this started at 6:30 pm, and by 10 pm, he was fading fast - he was disoriented, was having bad chills, and was also feeling nauseous. So, I decided to take him to the ER, because I felt he was dehydrated - so fast!

Once at the ER, they gave him they put him on IV saline, but it wasn't until the anti-nausea medication (zofran I think) kicked in, that he felt more comfortable. They took stool sample, and tested him for c-diff, since he has a history with c-diff, but it came back negative. They did some blood work and said his SED rate was higher than normal, but that many things can cause that, not just crohn's. The ER doctor walked in and said that he'd seen about 35 cases of this that night - people with acute severe gastrointestinal distress - he said there's a stomach bug going around, that seems to hit people hard.

He said that if my hubby had just been a normal joe, without crohn's and his medical history, he would just have sent him home after rehydrating him, and told him to drink lots of fluids and wait it out. But since he does have a "significant medical history", he ordered a CAT scan to check for inflammation - and that came back normal - no thickening etc. So, he called our GI (who consults at this hospital), decided to cover all bases - it if this crohn's related, they put him Entocort, if it is a bacterial infection, they put him on flagyl, and if it is a viral infection, he'll get better soon anyway, gave us anti-nausea meds, and told us to follow a clear liquid diet, and he has an appt with his GI tomorrow afternoon, to figure out whether to proceed with the remicade infusion he has scheduled for friday or not.

In the meantime, my husband is better - his nausea has subsided, he could bring himself to eat some jello, and is now sipping on soup broth, which he couldn't do yesterday. But he's got some real bad gas - his tummy is gurgling all the time, and he keeps getting up to go to the loo, because he's afraid he can't pass gas without soiling himself - which means he's up at the throne every 35-45 minutes, not getting any sleep.

Does this sound like an intestinal flu? My husband has no pain or cramping, just very loose stool, and the onset was very sudden. He's never had nausea before with crohn's or c-diff.

For a person with crohn's what is the expected recovery time from a stomach flu? I know for normal people it is 1-3 days - do you folks know when we should expect to see significant recovery for my husband who has crohn's? This way I know when to call back the doctor and do more tests.

Also, what can I do to help with the gas? He doesn't want to take beano or gas-x. Is there anything else I can do to reduce the amount of gas he's experiencing? His stool is still liquid, but the quantity of liquid has come down.

Thanks for any advice or encouragement you can give me.

Thanks,
PV

PV,

Sounds like complete misery for you both!! I am glad to hear he is feeling somewhat better. I personally find it takes me a few days (4-5) longer to recover from any type of stomach bug. I have had crohn's for over 12 years so really know what I need to do for myself in those types of situations but I still always seem to think crohn's first!! :) So don't feel bad. I really do hope everyone is doing much better.

Binyabinya

Post Edited By Moderator (Nanners) : 2/10/2010 1:09:21 PM (GMT-7)

PV, yes its true the bugs tend to hit us a little harder. My husband had the stomach flu and was better the next day, it took me almost a week to get over it. Take a deep breath, he is gonna be okay, even sounds like he is already starting on the road to getting better. I agree with him that it will be a bit until his stool firms up, he has to get all this yuck out of him. Also, tell him holding that gas in is just going to make his stomach hurt more, tell him to let it out. Good luck!

With bugs like this the diarrhea is your body's way of saying it needs to get this stuff out him. He could try gas-x to relieve any gas pain.

Update: He slept mostly through the night. Went to the bathroom once last night, and only to pee. So, last night was a good night!

This morning, he has had an ensure and a banana, and is doing ok. We decided to hold off on the gas-x until we consulted with his GI this afternoon. He seems to be doing better! I hope he'll start forming some stool today, and continue to improve.

Thank you guys so much for your support. The doc has him on entocort, and Flagyl, and he's still tapering off the pred. I wonder how long he'll be on entocort now :-( Anyway, I am thrilled that he's doing better. The diarrhea seems to have at least slowed down, and I hope he's forming some stool. He still has a lot of gas, but he's able to pass it, without having to go to the bathroom, which I think is a good sign. Also, is tummy is not making those really loud churning noises, which is also a good sign.

Hugs all. Thank you so much for being so kind and so supportive. I hope everyone has a good day!

PV

Glad to hear your husband's on the mend.

OOH Spooky I didn't even think about the Flagyl. It tears my stomach up really bad too. But I really was thinking like the doctor that it was a virus. Hopefully though PV, you don't get the stomach bug now. Hugs!

I am taking precautions to try not to catch this bug, though contrarily, I want to catch it, just so I can be sure that it is a bug, and not crohn's. Strange, huh?

He's off the flagyl and the entocort now, since the doc told us to stop it. Hopefully he'll continue to improve. He slept through the night, but had some loose mushy stool this morning - and of course hyper-vigilant me is worried; worried that this is crohn's rather than a bug though almost everyone thinks otherwise. But the weekend is tomorrow, and I hate going into a weekend not knowing if he's going to slide downhill, because that means I can't pick up a phone and consult with his doc, I have to go to the ER. I am trying to think positively and just not go into irrational anxiety.

I keep reminding myself that we are so much better off today than we were on tuesday. He's actually sitting up at his desk and working from home today, whereas on tuesday he was moaning in bed. I hope he continues to improve through the weekend.

You guys are so nice. Yes, it is tough on me too - it's been a pretty rough 2 years - what people don't understand is that just because you bring something under control, doesn't mean that life becomes perfect. You still deal with the steroid taper, the restricted diet, and the worry. For instance, my husband has had his arthritis under control since Nov 10th or so - but he's still tapering the steroids, and every time he tapers, it's rough on him. He's been c-diff free since the second week of September, but we still have him on a low residue diet, and he still takes all his meals at home, just to be on the safe side. He's scheduled for a physical and a bone density test because we're worried that in the last 2 years, we've taken care of his digestive health, but he hasn't had a physical (and heart disease runs in his family), and he's been on steroids for 50% of the last 2 years, that we're worried that he has bad bone density. It's just always something - crohn's, arthritis, c-diff, stomach flu . . . it's like you are running an obstacle course as part of this marathon. This is just a rant. It's been rough, but at the same time, we have also had some fun days. It's just hard to see the fun days when you're worrying so much. I'll try to get into a better frame of mind soon. Until then, bear with me.

Have a good weekend all. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me if my weekend turns to crap (literally probably)

PV