Crohn’s disease like any other chronic disease is a challenge, there is no getting around it. Flare ups can be extremely painful and can make day-to-day living seem impossible and when the disease is in remission, the stress of worrying about the next flare up can be almost as bad. So, here are a few tips that might help.
A Crohn’s disease flare up can show itself in the form of symptoms such as fatigue, joint pain, weight loss, abdominal pain and rectal bleeding. A loss of appetite and diarrhea are also not uncommon.
Recognizing the risk factors involved in dealing with flareups is a good first step. Possibly, one of the most major risk factors in regards to a flareup is stress. While it’s impractical to think that you can remove stress from your life completely, making a concerted effort to try to limit the amount of stress in your life can and will seriously reduce the amount of and severity of Crohn’s flareups. Stress can be a real monster to deal with but there are a number of great ways to relax and stave it off such as yoga or meditation or even just making time in your schedule to read a good book.
Another possible trigger for Crohn’s disease is a woman’s menstrual cycle. This can be a problem for many women who suffer from the disease because it is known that flareups can increase during this period. For women who do experience this it is recommended to keep a diary over a period of months to look for trends and help develop a treatment regiment with your doctor to put an end to the cycle.
Another factor to flareups has been linked to the use of over-the-counter drugs such as ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve). In this case the best thing to do if you need a non-prescription painkiller is to find out what is right for you by consulting your doctor.
There are three basic categories of treatments for dealing with flare-ups: drug treatment, nutritional adjustments and as a last resort surgery.
Anti-inflammatories such as Sulfasalazine are the drugs that are most common in treating Crohn’s disease. Sulfasalazine has shown to work for a majority of Crohn’s sufferers, but it’s not a cure-all. It is always important to remember that this drug, much like all other drugs have side effects such as nausea, vomiting and headaches.
Remicade is another drug that has been used in the treatment of moderate to severe Crohn’s and has been approved by the FDA. This drug actually blocks the bodies inflammatory response but is only used for patients who don’t respond to more traditional methods of treatment.
Another common way to deal with Crohn’s flareups is by using nutritional supplements. This course of action is geared to those that don’t want to use unnatural medications. A good first step in going to natural route is to avoid things like spicy foods, whole grains and dairy products.
Drinking high protein shakes to make up for the fact that patients intestines are so ravaged that they don’t absorb nutrients anymore can also be a good way to go in dealing with the disease. Children especially can get benefit from this because they need these nutrients to grow.
Lastly, for a large number of Crohn’s sufferers there is always a possibility that surgery will be required at some point or other to deal with the long-term effects of the disease. This of course, should always be considered as a last resort and that it must be remembered that removing a section of intestine does not cure the disease. Unfortunately, over time the intestine becomes too deteriorated by ulcers.
The trick is to be mindful of your disease and aware of the flare-ups. By taking action early you could lesson your symptoms, lessen the damage created by those symptoms and thereby lessen the need for surgery.