Question:

Larry: Look into immunosuppressants (azathiprine-Immuran, 6-MP, cyclosporine or methotrexate). One or a combination of those shows remission in 60-70% of the cases. Be patient. Results could take as long as six months. Likely this will be a lifetime drug. Almost all patients go back to a disease state when dropping the medication.

Response:

Mr Wheeler, I have seen many patiets who have done very well long term after a short segment of small bowel was resected because of a stricture. As long as tthw segment was short, their lifetyle was improved. Dr Robert Fusco www.gihealth.com

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was diagnosed with crohns some 20 years ago.  I was treated with Azulfadine for years, asacol for a short time and for the last couple of years, pentasa.  I have had flare-ups over the years and been administered prednisone.  However, for the last year or two it seems I can’t go 6 months after I get off the prednisone without another flare-up.  I typically have a couple of bad days, several days of feeling fine thinking the discomfort is gone just to have two or three more days of discomfort and loss of appetite.  I gradually lose weight and energy until I have to go see my doctor and he puts me back on prednisone.  My doctor just today suggested I consider surgically removing a small portion of intestine which is narrowed and another portion just upstream which has become distended and he says is non functional.   Surgery seems so awful.  I don’t know if I could afford surgery either financially or the down time involved.  Also there are many uncertainties involved that seem frightening.  My wife cries at the thought of me not having enough intestines to digest food and needing some kind of feeding tube.  My doctor has not said this will happen but he cannot really guarantee anything.  I have a consult with a surgeon on December 9. The world of natural rememdies and alternative treatments is so overwhelming to us we don’t know where to hardly begin. If any of you have any advise or news that would help or encourage me I God bless you, Larry Wheeler

Larry, Although surgery would never be anyone’s first treatment choice, it is not necessarily as "awful" as you might think.  My wife, Julie, who was diagnosed with Chrohns about ten years ago, just went through her second resection (removal of a "bad" section)  of her small intestine in June.  She is doing wonderfully and has been off all medication ever since.  Of course, surgery is no cure for Chrohns — the odds are, I believe, 50-50 that any given Crohns sufferer will have a relapse within five years of the surgery.  Julie, however, feels that if her surgery keeps her free from suffering — and off prednisone — for even just a few years, it was worth it. When you state that your doctor wants to remove some of your intestine, do you mean your small intestine (as opposed to your large intestine, or colon)?  If so, keep in mind that this is a very long organ (about 24 feet, I think).  My wife’s Chrons has been confined (thankfully) to her small intestine and she has lost just about two feet as a result of her resections, all at the ilieum (the end that connects to the colon).  If and when she has any more removed, she may need to get Vitamin B shots (as this is absorbed in the ilieum), but aside from that, she will still be able to digest food *almost* normally.  (Food is not as fully digested as it would otherwise be and her bowel movements carry a stronger odor than a person with a "normal" system, but that’s the worst of it at this point). Again, surgery is not the first option in treatment as it offers no permanent "cure".  For this reason, a good GI doc will not suggest it until the patient is no longer responding to medication and/or the disease has progressed to the point where a serious complication (such as an obstruction or fissures) has occurred, or is likely to occur soon.  At this point, the risks of avoiding surgery far outweigh the negatives associated with having the procedure. I hope you do not consider me too presumptious in offering these thoughts as I, myself, am not a fellow sufferer — only the spouse of one.  Maybe Julie was lucky in that her disease is not as widespread as it is in many other sufferers, but if her results are any indication at all, within about 60 days (or less) after your surgery, should you elect to proceed, you’ll feel better than you have in years! Good luck and God bless! Greg Swift

Response:

I was diagnosed with crohns some 20 years ago.  I was treated with Azulfadine for years, asacol for a short time and for the last couple of years, pentasa.  I have had flare-ups over the years and been administered prednisone.  However, for the last year or two it seems I can’t go 6 months after I get off the prednisone without another flare-up.  I typically have a couple of bad days, several days of feeling fine thinking the discomfort is gone just to have two or three more days of discomfort and loss of appetite.  I gradually lose weight and energy until I have to go see my doctor and he puts me back on prednisone.  My doctor just today suggested I consider surgically removing a small portion of intestine which is narrowed and another portion just upstream which has become distended and he says is non functional.   Surgery seems so awful.  I don’t know if I could afford surgery either financially or the down time involved.  Also there are many uncertainties involved that seem frightening.  My wife cries at the thought of me not having enough intestines to digest food and needing some kind of feeding tube.  My doctor has not said this will happen but he cannot really guarantee anything.  I have a consult with a surgeon on December 9. The world of natural rememdies and alternative treatments is so overwhelming to us we don’t know where to hardly begin. If any of you have any advise or news that would help or encourage me I God bless you, Larry Wheeler

Response:

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