MSU Red Cedar Message Board

Thanks for this, but, this is my second opinion. I was a complete skeptic because I had none of the traditional "crohn's symptoms," but today's Dr's appt confirmed the initial diagnosis.

You may notice a serious lack of bathrooms in Spartan Stadium now. And dive bars might not hold the same appeal.

My brother's daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's by UofM doctors about a year ago. They wanted to put her on steroids. My brother, a consumate pain in the ass (pardon the pun) took his daughter to some place in Chicago for a second opinion. In the end her problem was cured with dietary changes. (She seems to allergic to just about everything.) When he went back to UofM and told them what they found in Chicago he told them to stuff it. Not saying this is the case with you but I agree with those that suggest getting a second opinion. Find an expert in this kind of disease with extensive experience diagnosing and treating it.
Good luck!

That's good. It's certainly one of the more stigmatizing symptoms you can have as an adult.

Sorry to learn of your condition. One of my best friends has been dealing with this disease for the last twenty years. I know that he has to be careful as to what he eats as some foods trigger a flareup. He's an extremely physically active individual as he participates in snow and water skiing, plays in a basketball league, and is an avid hunter.

Based on how my friend lives his life it doesn't appear to slow him down too much and it is hardly the end of the world.

My prayers are with you.

She has that option, however she is a 30 year old single Vietmanese girl. And she doesn't want it for obvious reasons. I think she just watches her diet and deals with the bad days. She does very well with it and raises a lot of money for research for the association.

The other one had a lot of her intestines removed and alledgedly they put her on Codeine and Vicodin to help plug her up. I think she was just addicted to pain killers. She left the company one day for unknown reasons.

I hope you have a mild case that doesn't really affect you to much. It may be as simple as cutting out certain foods.

Blurg...Humira (adalimumab) is a monoclonal antibody against Tumor Necrosis Factor- Alpha (TNF). TNF is a cytokine that basically promotes an inflammatory response. In autoimmune conditions, like Chron's, your immune system has decided to label certain self-proteins as antigens (things that your immune system reacts to; typically a protein present in a bacteria, or a toxin that the bacteria produces, etc) so it triggers your immune system to react like there is something bad there. The local cells release factors (like TNF) that promote other immune cells to come to the area and start some shit with the antigens (which in this case are your colonic tissue). This is good if you have an infection but is damaging if there is nothing wrong.

So basically, there are two ways to prevent this. Humira binds the TNF that is produced and neutralizes it so it doesn't promote inflammation anymore. Steroids (prednisone) act by going into the cell and bind to the part of the DNA that codes for inflammatory cytokines (like TNF and others) so they just aren't made in general. Both have side effects (immune suppression...more susceptible to infection....prednisone keeps you up at night and causes a variety of problems if used chronically) and Humira is ridiculously more expensive that steroids. With any autoimmune condition, the goal is to try to use the minimum amount of treatment to prevent flare ups. Find a drug that works well and taper it to the minimum you need. Use more if you get a flare up. Eat healthy. Sleep well. Exercise. Don't drink too much alcohol...these are the best things you can outside of pharmaceutical treatment.

Hope you feel better.

at least it's not ebola.

Ask Mike McCready from Pearl Jam about it...He was in pretty bad shape a few years ago but whatever meds or treatments they have him on he is in much better shape now.

Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment. I just hope that I'm not about to be jerked around for the next 20 years.

How do I dominate this condition with AUTHORITY?

Don't take modern medicine at face.

Do some research, eat clean, and fix the issue.

Chrons is autoimmune. It can be beaten!