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pibblenibble · 11-14-2008, 08:15 AM

I'm sorry if this is long. For the last 2 yrs I have had terrible stomach issues. I had a awful dr who wouldn't listen. I got to the point I wouldn't go and just suffer. I finally got to the point I had to see a dr and found a new one. I am 20 lbs underweight and look awful. On my first visit this week I went thru ALL that has been happening over the last yr and a half. He listened and said "he believes I have Crohn's". He scheduled a colonoscopy for Dec 5th to confirm it.

I am RELIEVED to finally have an answer to my suffering, but also scared by all I have read since he told me. I believe when he does the colonoscopy he will see that I have indeed been suffering untreated for a long time. I'm worried that after the sedation I wont remember what he tells me or remember to ask the question's I have. Will he prescribe the meds right then to relieve some of my symptoms? What is the normal course of treatment for crohn's? My opinion at this point is that It is my small intestines giving me the most grief with the spot where the small and large meet coming in a close second. I'm afraid if he gives me something for the loose stools it will cause more troubles in my small intestines as I already feel tightening in them as the loose stools attempt to pass thru. I also know the constant diarhea is the cause of my weight loss also.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thank you

1stronggirl · 11-17-2008, 07:54 PM

Good luck, glad you found a doctor to listen, sounds like you have had a terrible time. I have crohn's disease and while it is not fun I am lucky not to have really bad flare-ups and am doing pretty well, for the most part. After the colonoscopy my doctor usually comes in and tells us what he saw, have your mom (or I had my husband take me the last two) come with you (someone will have to drive you home and stay with you for the rest of the day), you will get instructions for what to expect and so on and then they will make an appointment ( usually within the week, assuming there isn't an emergency or something) and you will get more info on your diagnosis and medications. I hope that helps, I hope you get some answers from the doctor. As far as medication goes that will depend on your doctor and how bad your symptoms are, I was on some pills and a suppository, because my problems were mostly down further like in my rectum, but I also had a couple of injections of remicade to heal a fistula. Sometimes you have to take steroids if it gets really bad, if the doctor does find crohn's you should make sure you get enough calcium and vitamin d, something my new doctor just told me because if I need steroids later I should make sure I am strengthening my bones now because steroids can cause bone loss.

pibblenibble · 11-18-2008, 02:14 AM

Thank you for your info.

From what I have read on Crohn's, I wouldn't really consider my "flare ups" to be too bad either but just to be ongoing. Since reading up on it, I have tried to manage it the best I could myself. I got Boost to drink. I had been drinking slim fast when unable to eat. Hopefully this will help with the weight. After 3 days of not chewing food it is hard not to eat anything. I just feel hungry all the time. I gave in and ate something last night. Luckily I have a job that I can run to the bathroom when I need too.

My daughter will be taking me to my colonoscopy. I am 43. I feel I have had this for yrs. It would just come and go so thought it was just how my system worked. After it going on so long this time, I finally had to find a dr. Hopefully I will have whatever is causing this treated very soon. Since I've been able to manage it on my own, I hoping the dr will be able to relieve it without the use of alot of the med's I have read about.

Good luck to you also. I will let you know what the colonoscopy finds

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