"Named after Dr. Burrill B. Crohn, who first described the disease in 1932 along with colleagues Dr. Leon Ginzburg and Dr. Gordon D. Oppenheimer, Crohn’s disease belongs to a group of conditions known as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract.
When reading about inflammatory bowel diseases, it is important to know that Crohn’s disease is not the same thing as ulcerative colitis, another type of IBD. The symptoms of these two illnesses are quite similar, but the areas affected in the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) are different.
Crohn’s most commonly affects the end of the small bowel (the ileum) and the beginning of the colon, but it may affect any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, from the mouth to the anus. Ulcerative colitis is limited to the colon, also called the large intestine.
Crohn’s disease can also affect the entire thickness of the bowel wall, while ulcerative colitis only involves the innermost lining of the colon. Finally, in Crohn’s disease, the inflammation of the intestine can “skip”-- leaving normal areas in between patches of diseased intestine. In ulcerative colitis this does not occur." (1)
- Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America
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My Story
I am new to Crohn's myself, but in the short time that I've been aware of it and sick from it I have learned a few things about it.
I first had an eye problem that turned out to be Iritis, or the inflammation of the iris. This was back sometime before Christmas 2013. The eye doctor told me there had to be some kind of underlying problem that was causing this iritis because it just did not happen on its on, especially to a young, healthy person. Well, tests were run, blood was drawn, but no results. It finally went away with the help of some steroid eye drops for a few weeks. Still, it remained a mystery as to why I had this happen.
April came around, I had had no more eye problems. I started having stomach problems: acid re-flux, nauseous stomach, sudden need to go to the bathroom, and then of course those lovely cold sweats. I mean I would go from feeling perfectly fine working at the cash register to feeling like I just was not going to make it. I could not even finish a trip to Walmart without having to leave from being sick. This went on for a few weeks. I thought I was getting better, but honestly I think I was just getting used to being sick and not feeling normal. It got to the point where I was going to the bathroom pretty much constantly. Finally, I got up the nerve to go to the gastro doctor.
Of course, the gastro doctor wants to just do a bunch of blood work and other yucky tests first before going to the extreme of a colonoscopy. So, while waiting to the blood work and other tests results I began getting sicker. Now, I was running a low grade fever all of the time. At one point it got up above 101 degrees. This was concerning. My mom kept pushing the doctors' office about how sick I was until finally they ordered a stat CT scan at the hospital on June 16, 2014. The very next day they called with the results, which was no help. It only showed that my liver was slightly enlarged. So, the doctor decided it was best to do an emergency colonoscopy.
Thursday, June 19, 2014, I had a the colonoscopy.
Drinking that goo the night before was awful, considering I was already so weak and empty. I'm pretty sure by this point I had lost several pounds at least. I was also taking two super strong antibiotics since I had been running fever. Fever is an unwanted addition to a colonoscopy, and luckily the antibiotics had started working.
During the colonoscopy, my colon was so bad that they had to put me under more sedation. I remember thinking I had yelled out in pain, but they said I hadn't, just moaned. They knew it was bad. When it was over, the doctor came and told me she was pretty positive that I have Crohn's disease. She showed us pictures that she had taken of my colon all the way up to my small intestine. Completely covered with ulcers and icky. That is what was causing the fever... all the infection.
I started taking prednisone to get the inflammation under control. I also started taking Lialda that is specifically for Crohn's and a probiotic called Florastor.
My symptoms have definitely gotten better, but I know its just the prednisone masking it. Once I am off of the prednisone, the doctor wants to start me on Humira, a biologic for Crohn's that would be injected. This is a serious medicine because it basically kills your immune system. A serious medicine for a severe case of Crohn's.
I'm also starting this diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Today was my first day, doing the intro diet for it. It will be a completely different way of thinking and eating. All thinks that are easily broken down in the digestive system.
1. "Crohn's & Colitis." CCFA: What Is Crohn's Disease. Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2014.
Of course, the gastro doctor wants to just do a bunch of blood work and other yucky tests first before going to the extreme of a colonoscopy. So, while waiting to the blood work and other tests results I began getting sicker. Now, I was running a low grade fever all of the time. At one point it got up above 101 degrees. This was concerning. My mom kept pushing the doctors' office about how sick I was until finally they ordered a stat CT scan at the hospital on June 16, 2014. The very next day they called with the results, which was no help. It only showed that my liver was slightly enlarged. So, the doctor decided it was best to do an emergency colonoscopy.
Thursday, June 19, 2014, I had a the colonoscopy.
Drinking that goo the night before was awful, considering I was already so weak and empty. I'm pretty sure by this point I had lost several pounds at least. I was also taking two super strong antibiotics since I had been running fever. Fever is an unwanted addition to a colonoscopy, and luckily the antibiotics had started working.
During the colonoscopy, my colon was so bad that they had to put me under more sedation. I remember thinking I had yelled out in pain, but they said I hadn't, just moaned. They knew it was bad. When it was over, the doctor came and told me she was pretty positive that I have Crohn's disease. She showed us pictures that she had taken of my colon all the way up to my small intestine. Completely covered with ulcers and icky. That is what was causing the fever... all the infection.
I started taking prednisone to get the inflammation under control. I also started taking Lialda that is specifically for Crohn's and a probiotic called Florastor.
My symptoms have definitely gotten better, but I know its just the prednisone masking it. Once I am off of the prednisone, the doctor wants to start me on Humira, a biologic for Crohn's that would be injected. This is a serious medicine because it basically kills your immune system. A serious medicine for a severe case of Crohn's.
I'm also starting this diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Today was my first day, doing the intro diet for it. It will be a completely different way of thinking and eating. All thinks that are easily broken down in the digestive system.
August 11, 2014
1. "Crohn's & Colitis." CCFA: What Is Crohn's Disease. Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2014.
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