19 year old son having first flare-up

Luvfraz

Regular Member

Joined : Apr 2009

Posts : 26

Posted 4/27/2009 1:04 PM (GMT 0)

Hi,

I am brand new to this board, and just looking for some help and assurance if there is any. My son Adam was diagnosed about 5 or 6 months ago through a colonoscopy. He really hasn't been having a terrible time until about 2 weeks ago when the whole thing just went crazy. Doc has had him on Liadal, (4 a day) and just started him in Prednisone last Thursday, and we really thought that was going to do the trick. He had a great day on Friday, but by Friday night was cramping, diarrhea again. Started running a high fever, so doc called in some antibiotics for him, and said that they may make the symptoms worse, and they did. Just terrible. Was in bed all weekend. I am at my wits end. Just don't know what to do for him. He is on clear liquids as of yesterday. Isn't Prednisone the magic pill for this stuff? He is tall and thin as it is, and with this horrible thing going on, he is losing weight that he can't afford to lose. Please help me get through this and help him.

Thank you

Very concerned, frustrated and angry mom.

jujub

Elite Member

Joined : Mar 2003

Posts : 10424

Posted 4/27/2009 1:24 PM (GMT 0)

Predinsone doesn't work for some people. Also, it sounds as if he could have an infection. We are especially susceptible to clostridium difficile (c. diff) colitis because the UC tends to kill off the healthy bacteria in our colons.

Call his doctor again (I assume he's being followed by a GI?) and tell him what's going on. In the meantime, try to get him to drink a lot of fluids. Sports drinks are okay, but he shouldn't be drinking all sports drinks; be sure he drinks a variety of things. Water is really good.

He also may want to start on a good probiotic such as VSL #3, Primadophilus Reuteri or Culturelle. There are also good choices at any health food store. These contain good bacteria to re-colonize the colon.

KeylimePie

Regular Member

Joined : Jun 2007

Posts : 364

Posted 4/27/2009 2:17 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Luvfraz, I know what you are going through watching your child suffer. The anger, fear, frustration... I have two kids with UC. My son 17 (almost 18) who sounds alot like your son - very tall 6'2.5" and thin 155 lbs. and my daughter who is 10 and is beginning her first real flare since dx in '07 at the age of 8.

The high fever almost makes it sound like something is going on besides just UC. Might want to take a stool sample in for c.diff testing or perhaps he also has a GI bug.

With my son, prednisone can take as long as 2 weeks to start working. We found with him instead of taking half first thing in the morning and half in the evening, we had to wait until mid-day for the first dose to wait for the bulk of his bathroom trips to be over since mornings are the worst for him. Doctor figured it was washing out too quickly and not being absorbed. It kicked in when we waited and he got better pretty quickly after that.

I second the recommendation for probiotics. We use primadophilus Reuteri which I get from iherb.com as they ship affordably, quickly and on ice. We also use Culturelle which can be found at places like Wal-Mart, Walgreen's, etc.

I am so sorry that your family is going through this and if you ever need to talk you can email me privately (click on the little envelope under my user name on the left). I will put your family in my prayers!!

{{{Hugs}}}} from one IBD mom to another!!!

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