A lot of docs want to be able to visually inspect before putting a patient on steroids so that's not too surprising. As far as biopsies, other folks know more than I do but my understanding is that...
My followup isn't until early January, which is too bad because the prednisone had helped with the bleeding for a few weeks, but now that I'm down to 25mg I've been having the same symptoms. Not as...
Thanks for the advice and the help. I had my colonoscopy yesterday. It showed that the first several centimeters of my rectum were more inflamed than ever, but the rest of me looked great. My last...
Did some labwork, c diff was negative, hemoglobin was just below 12 (my normal is 15.5) so they gave me 2 months of pred starting at 40mg. I have a colonoscopy a week from tomorrow and I always...
Thanks for the reply. I tried a couple months without fish oil and I'm not sure it had much effect either way (I started the flare in the middle of the trial and recently went back to it). Good idea...
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. I'm going to ask the doc for steroid rectal meds so that I have them on hand, and probably give the Rowasa a bit longer (and not use the topical steroids if...
I've never had a flare as bad as that, but I can relate in the sense that I'm in the middle of the worst flare that *I've* ever had, which is involving lots of bleeding, lots of fatigue, and...
Hi Cass, I hope they work too. Yeah they'll take a few days to kick in. If your doc feels its best not to do rectal meds then that's their call, but even if they don't completely take away the flare...
Update: I've been on the Rowasa for 23 days and have had mixed results (I upped Lialda to 3.6 grams/3 pills as well). - The bleeding is the same, unfortunately, and occasionally worse. This is the...
He could very well be right, in which case there probably wouldn't be anything to worry about I'm assuming. How many centimeters of your rectum are affected? I'd be reluctant to get rid of the enemas...
For most of us it just depends on what we're on. I get mine done once a year by my primary care doc, or I do it if I've been flaring for a couple months, because my condition so far has only been...
I think you're right, that in the distant future, this is probably how diseases like this will be treated. In the immediate future, I think it'll be far too difficult to understand and we'll have a...
Seems like, at least with the TNF inhibitor biologics, some bodies just don't respond to the medicine and it doesn't have as much effect on them. Often switching to another TNF inhibitor will do the...
Don't go shoving 6 grams of the stuff up there on your first night... if it chaps you up you'll want to find that out with a lesser amount! Go easy, but report back because I'm curious =)...
Always glad to see more FMT trials for us... FMT is one of the out-of-the-box treatments that gives me a lot of hope. Places like OpenBiome seem to have perfected the safety factors when it comes to...
I'm assuming you've only been on the pred for 4-6 weeks based on your sig, but one of the things to keep in mind that while on pred, the body doesn't bounce back like it usually does from simple...
Pushing myself too hard in the gym can sometimes aggravate my GI symptoms, even if I'm in remission. Some people find it helps them (they theorize that it calms their immune system), and with me it...
You're a good mom. I understand the anxiety... I knew a girl who was diagnosed with Crohns at 7 years old and that's a pretty rough road. We all suffered vicariously through them. Having someone you...
Oops, I meant to answer this earlier. Only 1-3 times, usually all in the morning between 4am and 7am (sometimes one in the evening... ideally I could do one before it was time to take Rowasa and...
Thanks for the welcome and for the information. I have high hopes for Rowasa and feel disappointed that I haven't seen any improvement on it yet. I'll definitely be giving it more time. I realize...
2 pills in the afternoon (2.4g). I've gone up to the max dose (4.8g) before when I can't get my hands on Canasa quickly for previous flares, but any more than 2 pills makes my colon a little rumbly....
Glad to hear that you got the help that you needed. I agree and I've definitely learned over time that you have to be pushy and be your own advocate when you need something and that I need to trust...
Stool is fairly well-formed, shaped correctly but not smooth (more of a crumbly or puffy consistency). This is normal for me, which leads me to think that the inflammation is still limited to the...
Some additional info: I have a colonoscopy scheduled for late November, but I was hoping to get some of the bleeding under control first because I'm a little scared of prepping while I'm seeing this...
Hi guys, I've been lurking since 2012 when I was diagnosed and have always been impressed with the help that's given, so hopefully you have some advice for me. I've had mild flares every year that...