Need question answered

Wrap your head tightly around this: UNTREATED CROHN'S CAN KILL.

So what med is it you refuse to take due to side effects? Are they side effects you are afraid of or side effects you experienced when you tried it?

Your stomach getting hard w/pain is an intestinal blockage. It is bloat w/air and food backing up proximal to the blockage. Do NOT mistake mild Crohn's disease as disease you can get by w/o treating!! It won't stay mild. Did you ask your doctor in what way it was mild?

I was Dx'd w/mild Crohn's disease in early 1976 after suffering symptoms since mid 1975. Except it sure didn't seeem mild to me!!!! I could bloat up like I was 11 months pregnant in a matter of hours. Severe abdominal spasms. Nausea. Sometimes vomiting. I was nauseous 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for an entire 2 and 1/2 years. The ONLY relief I got were trips to ER for a shot of demerol and phenergan.

The only medication I was offered at that time was asulfadine - which I couldn't tolerate. It made me as nausous as the Crohn's.

Left untreated that one spot of mild Crohn's became a partial obstruction, a high grade partial obstruction ... and then it became a full obstruction and caused a perforation. You don't want a perforation. Trust me. Perforations can kill.

I spent 6 weeks in hospital NPO on IV fluids and medications w/a nasogastro tube down my nose and throat. NOT fun. And then I had a resection of 18" of my mid-ileum. And was blessed w/a 20 year remission of disease activity.

Today you would NOT be allowed those 6 weeks I had on IVs and NG tube. You would have an emergency surgery. And I firmly believe that my 20 year remission was due to those 6 weeks putting my Crohn's into remission and THAT was responsible for my 20 year remission. I believe that if my Crohn's was still active during emergency surgery I would have encountered recurring disease activity and symptoms and increased my odds of needing additional surgery thru the years.

God looks after fools and I was blessed. Don't push your luck. The Crohn's will win. GET ON MEDICATION for Crohn's disease NOW ... while you have the opportunity to hopefully keep it mild.

Good luck and God bless.

I've had active CD for 21 yrs now with no full remission...I am either allergic or non-responsive to the oral meds...I use a combination of naturals and altered my diet (see my sig below) it's not perfect but it's better than what is what before I implemented the changes...everyone is different...good luck finding what works/helps for you.

Thank you so much or your responses. The dr seem like I could just watch what I eat. Apparently NOT. I have had more episodes of this in the last 4 yrs than I can count. Will be calling the dr again or seeing a new one. I did not know the hardening of the stomach was a sign of blockage. Every time this happens I have severe vomiting and diarrear. Once I ended in the ER (but I hadnt been diagnosed yet with Crohn's then). Again....thank you so much for your help. Will let you know what the Dr says. Thanks!

Sorry we all jumped on you like that. :) We have seen so many people (including ourselves) who don't want to accept the disease or treat it with "big meds" and look for an easier way out. Then it gets really dangerous, and we just don't want that to happen to you.

That's weird that your dr seemed to think you could control it with diet and wasn't that concerned when you said no to the meds. Was this a GI doctor? Prednisone is used short-term to get you into remission, and then the maintenance meds keep it in remission (you start them the same time you start the prednisone).

Please do let us know what the dr says!!

From what you are telling us it really does sound like you need to find a better doctor, one much more familiar w/Crohn's disease. Have you seen a gastroenterologist? That would be the best specialist for you to see.

Back from the GI appt. Dr is putting me on budesnide 2x day. Ordered blood work and stool testing, having a cat scan done, possible radiology scan, and checking on my gallbladder too. Said something about me taking antibodics due to my infection in my gums eating away the teeth/bone might have effected me too? Anyone else on budesnide?