Diary of a Crohn's Flare: The Rules

Playing by “the Rules” doesn’t work anymore.

During my years of remission, dealing with my Crohn’s was something like playing a game.  I learned that certain foods and activities caused problems while other things seemed to not affect me much.  I’ve developed the rules after years of observing how I felt after eating and doing different things made me feel.  As long as I played by the rules, I could count on not feeling too bad.

For example, popcorn caused problems.  Occasionally I would eat popcorn knowing that it might cause pain or even blockage but I could make that decision before hand and pay the consequences if they came to pass.

If I planned to run, then I would fast for several hours before my planned run to reduce the chances of suffering severe diarrhea and cramping.

However, with my recent flare the rules I’ve developed don’t work anymore and I’m finding that deeply unsettling.  Now, I’m working on establishing the rules for my Crohn’s Flare.  So far the rules seem to be that consuming anything can cause problems – pain, bloating, sense of fullness, etc.  Although my stool remain loose, my frequency of bowel movements and quantity of each has decline substantially (although this probably has as much to do with decreased eating) and I worry about keeping my digestive system going.

For perhaps the first time in my life, I'm finding it really hard to eat.  Although my body feels hungry and weak from hunger, the sensation of fullness and the thought of how much pain the eating causes makes it difficult to put food in my mouth.

Other stuff:

This morning I woke up at home and feel much better physically.  I’m feeling better emotionally too.  The pain and bloating have decreased.  Also I can hear and feel food moving through my digestive system.  However that was true on the previous two mornings too, so I’m not assuming I’ve over this particular issue.  I’ve been able to drink some fluids with no ill effects and I’ll try eating something with protein and carbohydrates in it later this morning.

I was able to eat 1 McDonald's hamburger and a small fry with apple juice.  The choice of food wasn't the best (too much sodium doesn't help with the edema from the prednisone) but at least I got some calories with protein.

Later in the afternoon, I started feeling "woozy", a peculiar lightheaded sensation as if the world was spinning.

I also spoke with my Doctor’s assistant and he advised me to remain at 50 mg/day of prednisone and to call back on Monday with an update.  The negative side-effects of the prednisone are beginning to seriously affect me.  My skin has become very oily and I've begun to break out, my legs and arms are swelling and my joints feel as if they're under pressure, I've been getting tingling and pinprick sensations all up and down my arms and legs but especially in the joints.