[Guest]

First time here, I have crohn's and the GI told me yesterday it's totally under control. I still feel like #### all the time, he said what I'm describing is IBS/IBD. Does this mean that I'm going to feel this way from now on, or are there good periods? Right now I only have, maybe, 1 good day out of 7 and it's been this way for almost a year. Somebody tell me that this will eventually get under control......

 

[Anxious]

mcbec1 - hi. Now, this is something I've wondered about for some time. What exactly is Crohn's? From the "little" I've read, it sounds EXACTLY like IBS, the diarrhea type. When I say I've read "little" about Crohn's, its because I just happened to read an article in our weekly Sunday paper about someone with Crohn's. This was before I found this board or was diagnosed with IBS - this person sounded "so much" like me - I remember thinking, "there is someone else with the same problems as me"... she had explosive diarrhea and couldn't hold it, like me, she ALWAYS had to KNOW WHERE the bathrooms were, like me, and she said food goes right through her, within 1/2 hour, like me... so I "thought" at that time that I must have Crohn's! Now that I've been diagnosed with IBS, I "still" don't understand the difference..Therefore, I don't know how to advise you. All I can say is that my diarrhea is controlled with Caltrate Plus - it has helped many (not all) of us with our diarrhea. I don't know if you have Crohn's, if it would help you too. For me, I have regained my ability to "hold it", a miracle in itself!, and I've also lost the really "urgent" need to go - I can actually "wait" to go if I'm not in a place where I can go - although I gotta admit, I still don't have "much" time sometimes - but this is definitely better than "filling my pants" like before. I wouldn't want to "push" it, however, although sometimes now I can really hold it and I like to see if I can "stretch" it a bit, just testing... - but other times, I just "know" that I'd better be going "soon"...! But the Caltrate is really doing the trick for me, compared to before.Also, me - I'm lactose intolerant, which also I think, added to my diarrhea problems. So, I take Lactaid. Also, my doctor put me on Metamusil which apparently is for both diarrhea and constipation - supposed to regulate a person she said. She must have "something" there because when I stopped taking the Metamusil, back to the diarrhea again. So, for me, I guess I need the above "combination" to be "normal"... don't know if one or all of these things would be of help to you. Hope so.Take care. And good luck to you.

 

[Guest]

Anxious - as I understand it, the difference would be in that with crohn's or ulcerative colitis, there is actually inflammation/disease active, where in IBS, there is not. (Just for some unknown reason, your bowel is acting like it.) I have the diarrhea under control with med's and the henial hernia we hope to control soon, but the nausea, stomach pain, fatigue, reflux, other #### like that......I am so sick of taking medicine without seeing any results. Is there hope?

 

[Lefty]

Yes! There is hope! My step-daughter has/had Crohn's very bad. She lost a lot of weight and was actually hospitalized. She has been in remission for about 5 years. Symptom free! So hang in there. Follow your Dr.s orders to a T, and you will get better.Good luck!

 

[MARKA]

mcbec1Hi, my name is Mark and I suffer mainly from GERD (reflux). I find that Prilosec is the best for me. One pill in the morning seems to control the reflex pretty good. As far as the IBS I suffer mainly from bloating and gas, not D or C. But welcome to the board and I am sure you can find many things here that can help you especially our support.Mark

 

[Guest]

mcbec1,I suffer from IBS and IBD (ulcerative Proctitis) which is not as severe as ulcerative colitis. My problem is pretty centralized. Although I do have some slight ulceration in my small intestine (not enough where they actually call it chron's). I am IBS C. I started my IBD meds in September 1998 with no relief until April 1999-about three days ago. My syptoms (bleeding, mucas) reappeared with in three weeks of stopping my med's. I hope you get feeling better because I know how scarey it can be dealing with IBD.

 

[Bill]

Mcbec1,If you haven't already seen it, check out the following site: http://www.inform.dk/djembe/scd/ Its a diet that has been very successful for both crohn's and ulcerative colitis.