Make sure you stay hydrated!

Yeah, headaches can be a symptom of dehydration, although I didn't seem to get them. One time I was dehydrated so much, the A&E doctor couldn't get a cannula into my normally obliging veins. That was a bit of a nightmare actually. Eventually a cannula was put in, but it wasn't easy: the back of my hand was tapped for ages, presumably to get the blood flowing.

I'm a tad surprised the ER didn't admit you, if only 'cos I was I was usually admitted whenever I went into A&E with bad pain and other signs of a Crohn's flare-up. Also... I don't want to worry you, but throwing up from pain sounds worrying... :-/

Might as well leave it for now, but if you get pain that bad again I deffo would request tests from the hospital.

That is a bit crap actually :-/ Perhaps your ER is not used to dealing with Crohn's patients, but even so, if they knew the slightest thing about Crohn's, I would have thought severe abdominal pain and dehydration would have worried them a bit. But obviously not in your case. Here's hoping your GI will be more helpful!

Jen - Are you going to make sure you get some test done to find out why you've been in so much pain? It is disappointing that they didn't do this in the hospital - I hope you get some answers after your appointment and are feeling a bit better from the fluids!

Wow...I think we all have gone the "oops didn't drink enough route".  I am pretty sure that was what helped push me into th eflare that kicked in on October last year.  Still not back to my old self and no signs of inflammation...surely think dehydration messed up my whole system (along with cheating on my foods for a bit)

ER stories seem to be abundant lately.  I know mine in October was horrible.  I hope you get to feeling better...and have a drink on me!

I must admit, when you mentioned vomiting, that rang an instant alarm bell for me :-/ Even before that, I thought the pain sounded not quite right for gas. I should've said something, sorry. Personally the fact that you are on Humira worries me, but I'm coloured by my past experience with Remicade. I think it worsened an already existing stricture, because I began getting blatant obstructions after starting Remicade, which I'd not had before. There is a school of thought which says that biologics can create strictures through rapid healing - the rapid healing causes the bowel lining to scar over, narrowing the bowel. However, evidence for that has not been conclusive.

I did ask my GI about it and he basically dismissed it by saying that if the stricture was caused by inflammation, Remicade would make it better by reducing the inflammation. Yeah, right. I was in hospital a month after starting Remicade with a toxic megacolon and signs of obstruction. Odd thing was, Pred worked, so I dunno why Remicade didn't. Guess Pred reached the parts that Remicade couldn't, or something.

Anyway, the tl;dr version of my post is: glad you're okay, but get tested ASAP for strictures.

Yeah, if you are not used to blockages, it takes a while to learn what they feel like. A bad blockage can take 1-2 days to clear; perhaps even longer if you've got multiple strictures. (I just had the one longish stricture at the terminal ileum.) The pain tends to come in waves, or contractions, but I think that's more true for a total obstruction. Sometimes a partial obstruction can present as colicky pain all over the abdomen (probably there is some gas pain on top!), which is very painful as well.

Sorry that you're dealing with this, though, after thinking that the Humira had put you into remission :-/

I agree with gumby about a new set of symptoms coming along every time I thought I had the old set figured out. It throws you out of whack.

It's also difficult being close to an ill or depressed person. Most people on this site appear to have saints for spouses, but on the Depression forum you see the other side of the coin and it makes for very sad reading sometimes. However you can have a normal person who isn't a saint, and who still loves you. That's the main thing, really.

And gumby, I know entirely what you mean by being completely sick of yourself! (Not that I'm sick of you; but you see what I mean I hope).

Yes, Crohn's obstructions can, and usually do, go away of their own accord. If you suspect an obstruction, just refrain from eating, drink plenty of clear fluids, and wait it out. Maybe take a couple of painkillers, but opiates are not a good idea in case they slow the bowel too much.

However, unless the strictures go away with treatment, then a low-residue diet is usually required, yes :-/ It does help, because there is far less of the indigestible type of fibre, which is the type most likely to get stuck in a narrowed intestine. That said, if you crave fruit and veggies, you may be able to eat them in some forms: soups, cooked to a mush, skins peeled, etc. I know; it's dull. Have been there.

I remember a bad incident when I passed my driving test in March 2010. I know I said in my previous post I'd had no blatant obstructions before Remicade, but this came quite close! Had a massive meal of colcannon (mashed potato and cabbage) and smoked haddock, followed by creme brulee for dessert. I don't know if it was the amount of food which did for me, or the cabbage, but I had a dreadful night after that meal, which took the joy out of passing my test a little bit :-/

I think it's difficult for loved ones to realise when things are wrong. Some people don't cope well with medical things: it frightens them, so they retreat into denial. However, as long as they apologise when they are found to be wrong, it's all good >_>.

Reminds me of when my dad tried to put me off going to A&E when I told him I'd had a 40.5C temperature on Remicade the night before. I was massively annoyed with him for that, but I also think he had no clue of how high a 40C temperature actually is. I knew it was bad, less from the number, and more by how extremely ill I felt: I just felt deep down something was wrong. (Later on found it was toxic megacolon, but I had no idea of that at the time.)

Moral of the story: go with gut instinct. It's not infallible, but we do know our own bodies and can usually tell when something is different to normal.

Best of luck :p Hopefully you won't have to stay on the low-residue diet. If you are gonna try fruit and veggies, I would recommend going slowly at first; try just a single fruit or veggie one day at a time and not too undercooked. If you turn out not to have strictures, or they've disappeared (it happens, they're not constant, unless they're made of scar tissue), then you can eat whatever you can basically digest.