:/ newley diagnosed with crohns help!!

Welcome to the forum FML. I'm sorry you got this diagnosis, but I'm sure that you will figure out how to get better control over your illness. Nursing school is tough and stress can definitely affect how your Crohn's is behaving, so I hope in addition to meds and diet you will consider ways to manage your stress levels.

Your post is a somewhat confusing. From what I understand you are taking Lialda and you are still seeing blood in your stool and having problems with constipation?

Can you please review how you were diagnosed and where your inflammation is, how long you've been taking Lialda and what is your dose?

There are many dietary plans out there but none are really a treatment for Crohn's unless you are talking about TPN, which has been shown to be effective at inducing remission. It's mostly used for pediatric patients but works for grown-ups too. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet has some studies behind it demonstrating some improvements in pathology, but it's restrictive and not for everyone. Other than that, some dietary changes can help you manage symptoms better. A food journal is usually a good idea to get you going on figuring out what's bothering you and what's not. It turns out that everyone's unique in this area.

Some of us do struggle with constipation more than diarrhea. I am using Miralax daily now to keep my bowels moving. I've had good luck with senna also, but it is a strong laxative and shouldn't be used regularly.

So are you having bleeding currently? How long has it been that you've been on the lialda?

Most people with Crohn's have inflammation at the terminal ileum, which is the end of the small bowel, where it meets the colon. Entocort, which is a steroid, is very effective at addressing inflammation here; I'm not so sure Lialda is. Entocort is very expensive, though, so unless you have some kind of awesome health insurance you might find that option pretty challenging. Pentasa, another kind of 5-ASA, is effective in the small and large bowel and might be a better choice for you than Lialda. None of the 5-ASAs are very good at inducing remission in Crohn's, though, so you might want to give your GI a call back after a couple of weeks if you don't get better.

The idea that fast food is all you can eat because you're unemployed doesn't really make sense. What I would like you to do is learn how to prepare your own healthy food. There are plenty of things you can eat that won't upset your bowels and are inexpensive. Rice (white) for one; chicken for another. Tilapia. Lactose-free milk. Yogurt. You might feel like you don't have the time to learn this and that brings me to my next point.

There are many young adults who get this diagnosis and find it a good idea to take a break from college and figure out how to get healthy. There are other people on this forum your age who might have some words of advice on this.

Stress management - a key issue. If you are having panic attacks, etc. I think you need to slow down and figure out how to get your life under control.

Miralax is not a laxative, it is a stool softener. For whatever reason, it works to keep my bowels moving (I don't have hard stool, just slow bowels).

There is no need to stick to organic foods to manage Crohn's. Of course, staying away from highly processed foods is probably best for everyone, but may be especially important for people with bowel disorders. If you are prepared to make your own food, most of the time, from basic ingredients (conventionally produced or organic, makes no difference) you will feel better.

Thanks everyone for trying to help me my biggest issue to get over is constipation :(