Week one of Asacol HD complete. So far, not much relief. The past few days I have cheated on my low residue diet and am paying the price big time. With sissy's college graduation and a date, and mother's day all in one weekend, cheating was bound to occur. Sunday I managed to lose tracked how many visits to the bathroom that occurred, though I was up to 13 or so at around 3pm. Today the dehydration, pain, and exhaustion definitely set in. It frustrates the crap out of me, maybe even literally haha to not be able to eat like a normal person. I wish that I hated cooking, and disliked food. It would make life a million times easier. Now back to the date. Went on a first date with a guy Friday night, to where else but dinner.as you may know Crohn's gets abut a million times worse with nerves and stress so I made sure not only to try to stay calm, and load up on Lomotil before the date, but also to strictly monitor my food intake for all of Friday. Dinner as of course served with a family style salad, which I couldn't pass on. I was truly nervous, and couldn't decide if I should tell the guy right away about the Crohns or just stay quiet and hope that no excessive bathroom visits were necessary. It kind of just Came up in conversation. I gave a brief explanation, as I practiced in my head countless times before. Part of me kind of regrets telling him right away, but at the same time it's out in the open. Time will only tell where it goes ormifmitmwill even move past a first date. I'm just happy that I am getting more comfortable speaking about it, and coming to terms with the disease.

So it has been a few months. In the past four months I have been through a lot to say none the less. I started seeing a new doctor as of January through Cooper's Digestive Health Institute. Dr.C was wonderful, young, smart and definitely relatable. After reviewing my medical chart the size of an encyclopedia, she decided it was best to do another full blood work up, along with a colonoscopy/endoscopy (second set in six months), and an MRI enterography to try to see what was going on with my tummy. My blood work had high levels of C-Reactive Protein, and also high ESR rates, both signaling inflammation. She also tested for Celiac IgA antibodies, and also did a complete thyroid workup. My previous doctor also tested me for Celiac, as well as completing biopsies during my second endoscopy, which was again negative for Celiac. Colonoscopy/endoscopy came back clear, as did the MRI enterography... no signs of Crohns. Though it was good news, it was kind of puzzling considering my constant symptoms, as well as my blood work being all kinds of crazy. She then thought it was best to try to treat me for IBS, first with low doses of Elavil, then onto Lotronex. I was weary to take even the small dose of Elavil (I started at 5mg, and moved on to 10), due to my previous history of anxiety. I know from the past my body hates changes even the smallest doses when it comes to antianxiety/ antidepression meds. To no surprise after being bumped up to 10mg, my anxiety went off the charts, and made my stomach even worse. After taping off Elavil, the Doc decided to try Lotronex. I have read about Lotronex in the past, and was a little hesitant to try it with the black box warnings. Lotronex is a fun newer (ten years old or so) medication that works well in female patients with IBS. Lotronex can cause ischemic colitis (decreased blood flow to the colon), and possibly resulting in death. Lotronex sadly did not help whatsoever with my d. I noticed a little bit more C with the drug, which is to be expected but still no help. After this latest try, my physician then referred me to an IBD specialist, seeing that oh hey I didn't respond to IBS meds, so it must be IBD. I have spent the last three weeks without any medication, save for my handy dandy Prilosec, and Lomotil as needed. Lomotil is more of a safety med.. taken prn, it is basically a bandaid for the D. I was close to losing my mind during this time. Not only having my chronic D, but I have been feeling so swollen, and sore. My body felt so incredibly inflamed. I could see the inflammation in my joints.. from my fingers looking like vienna sausages to my ankles resembling grapefruits. Yesterday I met with the IBD specialist. He has been the first GI doctor to actually look through and read my entire chart in front of me. He made me explain when my stomach issues started (as a kid with daily stomachs and cramping), to the gastritis after my TBI and the past year when my symptoms went absolutely ridiculous. He was surprised it wasn't noted anywhere that I have a familial history of IBD. He also made it a point to differentiate between my nausea and vomiting and then the other stomach issues. The gastritis, and heartburn/ acid reflux, can be attributed to my TBI and all the fun meds used to treat that. At least one issue out of the way. He then changed my prescription PPI, and within a day I already feel relieved. Then on to the mystery of my bowels haha. In my first combined colonoscopy/ endoscopy, it is noted in that several polyps were removed from my slightly inflamed ileum. In the pathologists finding, there was noted inflammation, yet NO doctor in the past two years has told me this until yesterday. This combined with ASCA positive antibodies, high C-Reactive Protein levels and high ESR rate, and another differential diagnosis of Crohn's disease. So second Crohn's diagnosis within a year. This finally answers a lot of questions. No I am not dreaming up my condition as one doctor suggested, and no my accident/ TBI did not leave residual damage to my stomach resulting in issues, and no I do not have IBS. Yes the stress in the past years could definitely contribute to the flare-ups and attacks, but having all the clues in front of us, it is true Crohn's. Though my last colonoscopy/endoscopy was clear, my old doctor only took two biopsies from the same place, which leads to no pathology of Crohns. I started melasamine again, this time in the form of Asacol HD to try to really target my colon,since Pentasa is released in a different spot. I have another appointment in 3 weeks, and another colonoscopy is in the future but I am okay with that. I hope the Asacol HD works, though it is only approved for 6 weeks of use. We will definitely see, and only time will tell with this, but I am in it for the long haul (eh).