Gallbladder removal in Feb 2010, Crohn's controlled, still feel sick though

Any replies are welcome. I have been on Humira for my Crohn's for almost a year, it is controlled and they found no inflammation when they did a colonoscopy in Dec. 2010. Anyway to make a long story short-I had Biliary Dyskinesia which meant my gallbladder was colicky and didn't function or dump bile when necessary-I was miserable and I had it removed on Feb 7, 2011. I am still having problems with horrible diarrhea, the Cholestyramine works but after I'm on it a week I have horrible stomach pains-very common side effect. I've tried to stop and restart it but it ends the same. Immodium, not so effective always and it does nothing to help with the nausea and vomitting I get at times from having excess bile-I guess. I am now developing horrible arthritis pain-oh joy, cuz having Crohn's and all my other ailments just wasn't fun enough. Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with this diarrhea? I'll take any advice, I've had way too may accidents because I couldn't get to a toilet in time. Thanks, Nancy

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Asthma-barely bothers me anymore
Crohn's Disease-Ileocolonic Resection in Oct 2000, taking Humira
GERD-take 2 Prilosec daily
Hashimoto's Thyroid-taking Levothyroxine

I'll have to try that, I've tried taking half a dose which is really hard to do what with it coming as a packet of powder. I haven't taken it consistently though. I will try though. I still have 2 weeks before my appointment with the GI so I should know by then if it will work or cause me stomach pains again. I see you are having joint problems like crazy now too, what a total drag this is for me. I have been so sick with the Crohn's for the last 5 yrs being on and off steroids until the Humira that I'm so ready to start feeling good! However, it hasn't really been the case for me unfortunately. And, I still have to watch what I eat as too much fat makes me have a gallbladder attack from beyond the grave! (Maybe I should call Jennifer Love Hewitt?) LOL! Thanks Nanners for your help! Nancy

I had my gallbladder out over 10 years ago and was just diagnosed with Crohn's in December 2010.  After my gallbladder removal, I had a lot of D.  In July 2010 is when I started having major problems, eventually leading to my Crohn's diagnosis.

I have been taking Welchol for about four months now and it has worked wonders for me.  It is primarily a cholesterol drug, but also works to soak up bile for those of us without gallbladders.  In July 2010 I was having D maybe 10 times a day, and also had a lot of frequency and urgency issues.  I tried Lialda and Asacol, both which gave me pure liquid D.  By January/February I was down to having D about 4 times a day.  When I started the Welchol, I almost immediately went down to having 3 BMs a day, and rarely had D.  I now have formed BMs and rarely have D, frequency, or urgency.  I only go twice a day now.

You may want to ask your doctor about it.

Actually, the attacks are "like" gallbladder attacks but not really since I don't have a gallbladder. It is just an attack from eating too much fat, I also notice I'll have an attack if I eat a big meal or if I eat a lot of meat. I can only eat a small portion of meat at a time now, so eating a whole hamburger causes me problems or a chicken breast. Thanks for the suggestion of Welchol, I am definitely going to ask about that because even though I am trying !/2 a dose of the Cholestyramine, it hasn't been very effective, I've still had surprise diarrhea attacks at the most inopportune times. Immodium has been the same way for me as well. I will still take the 1/2 dose of Cholestyramine for now because it is better than nothing but if it turns out I end up having stomach aches again then I will have to stop. I don't know about the achy/swollen joints, I don't understand why Humira isn't stopping this, I will ask the doc about it though because sometimes I am miserable and crippled with the pain. I had a bunch of blood tests to see if there was anything sinister going on, they tested for lupus, cancer, lyme's disease. They were all negative but they did say that my white blood cell count was lower than normal so I went back 2 weeks later for the same test and they said it was closer to normal and to have it checked in 4 more weeks. I don't know if I should be really worried about this or not.

I had the doctor check me for Pancreatitis a couple weeks ago and everything was normal. I do have acid bile reflux and I will get up in the morning and gag a lot, sometimes I vomit out the bile. As far as the gallbladder attack symptoms, I think it is because I ate too much fat that day. There are still some things I just can't eat and probably won't ever be able to now that the gallbladder is gone. I had a terrible weekend with a lot of diarrhea even though I've been trying many ways of taking cholestyramine and immodium. I have decided to talk to the doc about having that test with the pill cam. Either my Crohn's is flaring, which would make sense since I will find blood in my stool at times after having diarrhea ALL DAY. Or something else is going on that they can't see with the Endoscopy or Colonoscopy. Either way, I CAN'T live like this anymore and they have to figure it out and fix it because I am miserable. THanks for all your help everyone!! Nancy