clueless.

My first suggestion would be to insist on information. Below is a list of questions you could ask him. You have a right to understand fully your condition and treatment. If he doesn't answer your questions to your satisfaction, you may want to find a new doctor.

1. What parts of my digestive system are affected at this point? How severe is my Crohn's?
2. What medications do you recommend? My medications aren't effective, what else can I try?
3. How soon should I expect relief?
4. What side effects from the medicines should I watch out for? What should I do if I notice them?
5. Do I need any regular bloodwork?
6. What should I do if my symptoms return? Which symptoms should I consider an emergency?
7. Should I change my diet or take nutritional supplements?
8. Do I need to make any other lifestyle changes?
9. When should we have a follow-up appointment?

Once you have answers to those questions, you will know better how to deal with your Crohn's. Forum members will be better able to make suggestions if you can be more specific.

Good Luck!

You can get copies of the actual lab reports and see for yourself how you are doing and exactly which tests have been done. Just ask the doctor's office for them. If you don't understand some of the acronyms on the lab tests, you can look up them up here: www.labtestsonline.org

Because neither vitamin B12 nor vitamin D tests are routinely done (and neither is the ferritin test for measuring iron stores), my guess is they haven't been done. If you see these tests missing, you can then ask for them to be done.

On the lab reports, the most important markers of inflammation are CRP and sed rate (ESR) - these are separate tests.

Do you have symptoms right now?