arthritis « A Guy With Crohn's

Just a quick update. I am looking to start writing again and I would love to change my format a little. I want to get you, my viewers, more involved. So, here is what I want to do. I am going to list some things I will be writing about soon and I would love for you to let me know if you have any experience or stories you want to share. You can email me at aguywithcrohns@gmail.com. It can be a couple of sentences or a couple of paragraphs. I will respond to you and if I choose to publish what you wrote, I will get your approval first. I would never publish anything without permission.

So what will I be talking about. Well, if you have anything to say about the following, let me know:

IBD and arthritis

IBD and weight loss or gain

IBD and depression

Starting a new job with IBD

For now, that is all I have in the works, but of course, if you have an topics you would like me to talk about, let me know. I look forward to hearing from everyone with their stories and ideas. Can’t wait to see what we can all transform this blog into.

Barney

Have you ever asked yourself this question? You can be sitting there, just trying to think of a word that has slipped your mind and you think what is wrong with me. Or you can be seriously ill, can’t get diagnosed by a competent doctor and again, you ask the question.

These past couple of months have been very busy. I am sorry I haven’t kept up with this blog. When I last left off, I was in the process of changing GI doctors. Since then, I have seen the new GI, been in a bad flare, and have had knee pains from arthritis every day. My body feels like it is falling apart and I have started to ask, what is wrong with me? I used to be able to do so much.

So much is happening in my life and I don’t even know where to start. For my Crohn’s, around February or March (can’t remember when) I went off the gluten free diet. Since then I have slowly felt sick again, entering into a flare. When I saw the new GI, he wanted to try some other meds, including Prednisone. I kind of talked him out of it as I don’t react well to it. He allowed me to just take Immodium. Hopes were that this would slow the diarrhea, help hydrate me, and ultimately help me heal. After a week of that, I failed at it. It’s been about a month and I am doing better, but still flaring. I see him again in November and I worry what the results of the meeting will be. I am thinking of going off LDN and trying a new biologic. What is really comes down to is that I think ultimately I will have to keep a gluten free lifestyle for the rest of my life…and that doesn’t make me happy.

One good thing that has happened lately, is that I participated in a research study from 23 and Me (https://www.23andme.com/ibd/). From this research I found out so much about my DNA. First, I found a second cousin which has led me to find out so much about a part of my family I didn’t know existed. So Cool!! Also, from this, I was able to have my DNA analyzed (www.promethese.com). I found out from there that I am more prone to get Crohn’s Disease (really??) and that I have a higher chance of being a celiac. Gluten Free is really sounding like it is the way to go.

The third major part of my life is my knee. I have developed arthritis in my knee. Physical therapy didn’t help one bit. Every day I am in pain. I hate it and now I have to decide what is the best course of action. Do I get injections for years which only helps temporarily? Or do I insist on a knee replacement, which means surgery. It means hospital stays, rehab, and missing work for who knows how long.

When did I get old? When did my body start to betray me? What is wrong with me? I wish I had answers to my health. I know many of you with IBD wish you had answers for your issues. So now I want to know…how do you feel? What is wrong with you and what are you doing to fix the situation? Do you have any suggestions for me?