I hate finding titles for these posts. Anyway... This post is "for the record," so I can remember it. More for me than for you, but oh well.
I'm doing fine. A couple of days ago, though, I woke up, was moving around, and had some intense gas pain that intensified when I (a) was sitting or (b) stopped moving around. It didn't hurt when I was moving around or when I was laying down. But the pain was extremely intense, causing me to break out in a sweat when it came. But I wasn't distented, nor was I having noticeable peristalsis (sp?). My husband and I walked around the block once to see if that would help, but it didn't seem to. I was so confused: I hadn't eaten anything yet that morning, or even had any water. I didn't feel bad in the night, or even during devotions.
I decided to stay home until the pain passed (I was pretty sure it wasn't hospital-worthy, but wasn't 100% positive, and anyway, I couldn't sit). I laid down awhile and then was able to go to the bathroom. Didn't feel momentous, the potty time, but after that, I felt fine. I was able to eat some toast and that went through fine. I eventually went to work, and just had some "soreness" (like a shadow of the morning's pain in my abdomen occasionally in the afternoon) the rest of the day.
The only thing I can figure out is that it was the pumpkin muffin (LOTS of fiber in pumpkin, but never bothered me before) and small glass of cranberry juice (lots of sugar, sugar = gas) that I had right before bed. I had this snack and then laid down for the night and I wonder if it just hung out in my intestines, not moving too much, building up gas, and then when I got moving around in the morning, the gas was incredibly intense and concentrated with that digested food. I don't know.
Here's what I'm going to learn from that episode:
--No snacks before bed, unless I'm going for a walk right after.
--More exercise in general would be great (and I joined the gym with my husband this week, so that should help)
There we go! Thanks for listening!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
Doc appt, online Survey and more!
So, here's the news:
I had a GI doc appointment on Thursday, and it went very well. He's going to keep me on Entocort, the steroid that my body loves, for another month (during my root canal) and then start tapering after a month. We'll see how that goes. He said that if I have trouble tapering, he'll send me in for a new kind of CT scan at our local hospital (the one I've lived at a couple of times). This new scan is just for the abdomen, and I guess it's preferrable to a small bowel study.
Second news is that a site I subscribe to (thanks, Mom!) sent an email saying that there was a Crohn's study going on and those who are accepted and participate will receive $75. So, I thought, why not? I applied and was accepted! I have to sign into the site for 30 minutes to answer questions and discuss answers (it's a blog format) every day for four days (today through Thursday) and then fill out a closing survey a couple of weeks later, and then I'll get a check! And I'll also have the pleasure of knowing that I am contibuting to some medical research that may advance the process of figuring Crohn's out. Exciting! I'll let you know what happens.
In general, I'm feeling very good, though I'm still being very careful about what I eat. The probiotics are great as long as I drink enough water (I think they contribute to constipation, especially with little to no fiber in my diet). I take them every evening after supper (on a full stomach) and I really feel like they help my digestion.
I'm going to sign up for a temporary pass at a local gym where my husband goes, and see about exercise. Yoga classes are expensive or not offered at convenient times, so I'm going to do those at this gym when I can, and then just walk on the treadmill or some equivalent cardio exercise and see if that helps my stress management, etc.
Also, my husband and I went clothes shopping this weekend, partly because I need new pants. The 10-pound weight loss isn't coming back quick enough, and the two pairs of pants that fit me (one of them jeans) wasn't cutting it for dressing up for work. Thank God for Kohl's! It's amazing how much better I feel about my body when I have clothes that fit me well. Makes me less stressed about my health because I don't feel so thin. And really, I'm still within the healthy range for my height, so I don't look malnourished, I'm just thin for me.
I went up for prayer at church yesterday, just on a whim, and asked for prayer about my Crohn's. I do this often, but usually do it when I'm not doing well (and I've been feeling really good). I received prayer for healing, and he also prayed about Paul and the thorn in his side that the Lord would not remove, for His glory. The prayer minister prayed that I would be healed, but if it was God's will that I keep this thorn for awhile, that He would be glorified and that my faith and trust in Him would grow. A hard prayer to hear, but an important one. I hope it becomes the prayer of my heart. (Sorry for all the Christianese, but these words aren't empty, like Christianese can be.)
Thank you for your prayers!
I had a GI doc appointment on Thursday, and it went very well. He's going to keep me on Entocort, the steroid that my body loves, for another month (during my root canal) and then start tapering after a month. We'll see how that goes. He said that if I have trouble tapering, he'll send me in for a new kind of CT scan at our local hospital (the one I've lived at a couple of times). This new scan is just for the abdomen, and I guess it's preferrable to a small bowel study.
Second news is that a site I subscribe to (thanks, Mom!) sent an email saying that there was a Crohn's study going on and those who are accepted and participate will receive $75. So, I thought, why not? I applied and was accepted! I have to sign into the site for 30 minutes to answer questions and discuss answers (it's a blog format) every day for four days (today through Thursday) and then fill out a closing survey a couple of weeks later, and then I'll get a check! And I'll also have the pleasure of knowing that I am contibuting to some medical research that may advance the process of figuring Crohn's out. Exciting! I'll let you know what happens.
In general, I'm feeling very good, though I'm still being very careful about what I eat. The probiotics are great as long as I drink enough water (I think they contribute to constipation, especially with little to no fiber in my diet). I take them every evening after supper (on a full stomach) and I really feel like they help my digestion.
I'm going to sign up for a temporary pass at a local gym where my husband goes, and see about exercise. Yoga classes are expensive or not offered at convenient times, so I'm going to do those at this gym when I can, and then just walk on the treadmill or some equivalent cardio exercise and see if that helps my stress management, etc.
Also, my husband and I went clothes shopping this weekend, partly because I need new pants. The 10-pound weight loss isn't coming back quick enough, and the two pairs of pants that fit me (one of them jeans) wasn't cutting it for dressing up for work. Thank God for Kohl's! It's amazing how much better I feel about my body when I have clothes that fit me well. Makes me less stressed about my health because I don't feel so thin. And really, I'm still within the healthy range for my height, so I don't look malnourished, I'm just thin for me.
I went up for prayer at church yesterday, just on a whim, and asked for prayer about my Crohn's. I do this often, but usually do it when I'm not doing well (and I've been feeling really good). I received prayer for healing, and he also prayed about Paul and the thorn in his side that the Lord would not remove, for His glory. The prayer minister prayed that I would be healed, but if it was God's will that I keep this thorn for awhile, that He would be glorified and that my faith and trust in Him would grow. A hard prayer to hear, but an important one. I hope it becomes the prayer of my heart. (Sorry for all the Christianese, but these words aren't empty, like Christianese can be.)
Thank you for your prayers!