Another newbie here

Hey all,

Glad I found your forum!  I was diagnosed with Crohn's just yesterday after being really sick for the last 2 months, although I wasn't surprised given my family's history with IBD.  My GI said that my colonoscopy showed "significant" inflammation and said that I must have some kind of tolerance to have waited so long before getting treatment.  I'm 46 years old and if I'm honest and look back in time, I know there were times when I was having Crohn's flare-ups but just chocked it up to being the flu or something bad I ate.  Not so this last June, when I got so sick and realized that something was definitely not right.  So two months of many doctor's appointments, and many lost work days later, here I am.

The inflammation has not restricted itself to my colon, oh no.  It has attacked my shins, ankles and shoulders.  Before being diagnosed with Crohn's I saw a rheumatologist because of the inflammation.  He put me on 600 mg ibuprofen that totally killed the pain in my legs and shoulders.  It was awesome.  Until yesterday.  My GI ordered me off the ibuprofen - didn't realize it could be so bad for me!  So I stopped taking it and in the middle of the night last night I thought I would die from the pain.  I woke up this morning and just wanted to end it all from the pain I was in.  I took my new Crohn's meds at about 6:00 this morning, for the first time.  40 mg predisone (40 for first week, 30 for 2nd week, 20 for 3rd week and 10 for final week), and 3 x 400 mg Asacol (to be taken 3 times a day for a total of 3600 mg per day), plus a calcuim and Vitamin D supplement.  It only took about 3 or 4 hours before the pain in my legs subsided.  Yay!  The only other things I notice is that I am sweating like a pig and am a little nauseous, but not horrible.  Side effect from the predisone?

Speaking of side effects....boy I wished I hadn't looked them up.  From the sounds of it I can look forward to sporting a big fat bald head with lots of acne all over.  Good times.  Praying I will be one of the lucky ones, but not that optimistic.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent.  I look forward to reading your stories and hearing your advice.

Lori

Hey Lori,

And welcome to the best Crohns forum out there. You will find alot of love, support and understanding here. Not all get the side effects of the meds you mentioned, so don't get ahead of yourself. Yes, Pred can cause you to feel overheated, it can also make you kinda grumpy, so warn your family members its the Pred not you. As for the nausea make sure you take your meds with a little food, that should help. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Hugs
Gail*Nanners*

Thanks for the responses and support! I'm still just sort of trying to wrap my head around this whole thing. I'm in the middle of a pretty nasty flare-up, probably brought on by all the stress! But the meds are helping. No pain at all anymore in my shins and ankles, thank the Lord!! Still got a lot of cramping and probably 6-8 rushes to the bathroom a day, but it seems to be getting better. The Asacol is really upsetting my stomach, even though I've been taking it with food. It's tolerable though, I'm not vomiting or anything. Maybe it's a good thing actually, since I understand that the Pred gives you quite an appetite! I'm trying to keep hydrated and eat as much as I can, although I'm getting a little sick of white food. The food thing baffles me. I guess it's just a process of elimination. I do know that coffee bothers me. Boy I'm going to miss that! Had a glass of wine the other night for the first time in like 3 months and felt pretty rotten the next day. Don't know for sure if it was the wine, but it seemed a little coincidental, so I think I'll be cutting that out too. Good God, no coffee and no wine! I've turned into my parents!

Anyway, thanks again. Reading your posts really does help when I'm in the middle of one of my pity parties!