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Currently Going Through a Crohn's Diagnosis

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 7/19/2018 8:15 PM (GMT -5)
about 3 1/2 years ago I started losing weight and having chronic diarrhea. The doctors said it was just IBS. As of this last month, I had lost 10 pounds alone. So I went to the doctor, who suspected an IBD and referred me to a GI specialist. From there, the GI doctor has done a EGD. In the EGD, my stomach and duodenum had erosion and inflammation. Now they want to do a colonoscopy. Is the colonoscopy as bad as it sounds, or will it be just like the EGD? They have made mentions multiple times that it is possibly Crohn's. Will I be able to live a normal life with Crohn's? Right now all I want to do is sleep because I feel so much abdominal pain all the time.
Posted 7/19/2018 10:52 PM (GMT -5)
Hi! So sorry for everything you are going through. I'm really surprised the GI doctor didn't have you do both scopes at the same time. Usually that's just par for the course. A colonoscopy is really not that bad. The prep isn't much fun. You drink/take a ton of laxatives that clear out your system. You then get put under while they use a camera to check out your rectum and large intestine. Afterwards, you should wake up with no memory! A lot of air gets in you when they do this, so you'll be passing a ton of gas afterwards. Trust me, just let it out - it hurts if you try to be polite lol. I've had probably a dozen or so in the 8 years I've had Crohn's.

The good news is YES, you should be able to live a fairly normal life!! There are some great meds out there that work well for a lot of people. I was diagnosed at 24, and since then I've gotten married, taught middle school math for a few years, and had two kids. My Crohn's is pretty severe, and I've had lots of ups and downs, but that's not very typical.

If your pain gets really severe, you may want to go to the ER. Just keep an eye on things. Try to stay hydrated and use the BRAT diet to help. Stay away from fibrous foods. Stick with soft, gently foods, like plain chicken, mashed potatoes, etc.
Posted 7/19/2018 10:56 PM (GMT -5)
Sorry you are going through this, but try not to worry about the colonoscopy. I have had nine of them and for me the procedure itself is a piece of cake, they knock you out and you don't remember a thing. Now the day prior to the procedure is a different story. You basically cannot eat anything for that day (except for chicken or beef broth and jello) then you have to drink this big jug of liquid that makes you go to the bathroom every ten minutes making for a very long day seeing that you can't eat and you can't sleep because you are up going to the bathroom all the time. Other than that it is not bad.
As far as leading a normal life everyone is different. For me I think I am pretty normal . A few occasional stomach, joint or muscle pains, spending four hours in the hospital every six weeks for my Remicade and then feeling like crap for a couple days afterwards. I know from reading other posts here some people have it way worse than that but I think most people get along fairly well. I hope you do too!
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