Although I have Ulcerative Colitis, and not Crohn's, the treatments are fairly similar. Try to take one day at a time (difficult, I know), but everyone responds differently to drugs and diet. You may be able to feel a lot better relatively soon. When I was first diagnosed it took me about a month to feel better, with gradual improvement coming each day. At that time I was on Asacol and Cortenemas. There have been plenty of times when I am flare free and just living my life. Hang in there and hope you are feeling better soon :)

A freak out is understandable and warranted. You have a chronic incurable disease that will require a lifetime of therapy and maintenance. You will have bad times and great times and believe it or not you will learn a whole new way of living. You will become a stronger person and know yourself and your body better than you ever thought possible. You are going to meet incredibly courageous people that will teach you lessons in life you never imagined. Soon enough you will be one of those people teaching lessons to others on how to appreciate the little things in life, how to squeeze every moment out of a good day. The struggles make the sunshine a bit warmer and life a little sweeter. I wish you all the best, never give up and never give in. Charlie

wow, what a day! you came to the right place though, we can help.

I also have UC, not Chrohn's, but i also have anxiety disorder, so i get what you are dealing with.

most of us freak out a little when we get our diagnosis. knowing what you are up against is helpful, but remember that you will read a lot about worst case scenarios and horrible outcomes, but statistically, that is less likely than simply getting symptoms under control, getting into remission and having long periods of normalicy.

prednisone sucks, but you are on a short course of treatment, so the side effects will be annoying as hell but temporary and will lessen with each tapered dose. there's several threads on here about living with prednisone, some may be helpful for you.

until you start feeling better, take your meds, eat healthy food, track your symptoms and diet to see if you find any links, and come here to vent, ask and share - this group has been amazing for me, and hopefully we can be helpful to you too.

it does get easier.

Life does not end you just have to learn to deal with the disease. I have had Crohns for close to 40 years. Join the CCFA site and read what they have to say. Having a good and caring GI will help you. Watch your diet and see what foods work best for you. This is a good support group and you will learn a lot. Family and friends support helps a great deal too. Ask lots of questions. Along with food there are some medicines that work better on some then others. You will have to find what works best for you. Don't be afraid to post more question on this site. Everyone is real helpful. I wish you the best.

I am glad you came to the site and reached out. We all know what you are going through.

I have UC, but I understand the freaking out part. I am newly diagnosed and it will take you some time to get a grip on things. BUT, once you start feeling better, it will be easier.

Just like jn4025 said, try and take one day at a time. You have a GI, a plan, and medicine. It might take a little while to get better and get meds that work for you, but it will happen. There will be great days and bad days. Take them as they come and try not to let a bad day dictate the rest.

AND we are here if you need us.

Sheila

Okay- let me start by saying welcome to the group and I am so sorry about your diagnosis. I have Crohn's disease and I have been well more than I have been sick. In the 8 years I have had CD I have been really sick only once and have only had 3 flares. I have been healthy for years inbetween! So don't think you'll be sick everyday forever! You'll get better :)

First piece of advice I can give you is go to www.ccfa.org like Bart4u said. There is so much information on that site that will keep you busy for days! But take it one part at a time. There is info on depression, diet, medications ect.

Second piece of advice is get a second opinion regarding your treatment. If you have CD you might beable to take entocort instead of prednisone. You might not- but those of us with Crohn's disease sometimes have other options. My disease is in my ilium. Do you know where your is?

Asacol is a very mild medication and only less than 2% of the people who take it experience side effects mild like headaches- so no need to panic there.

Just know you'll feel better if you commit to your health and focus on getting better.

Glad you found this site, I have UC and not really accepting it yet. I have started to keep my diet journal and my GI is less than helpful. This is the third DR I've been to and no help from the others. You see I have no Ins. and no DR wants to test me without it.
Just take it one day at a time and don't get stressed to much as I know that makes things worse(stress causes me to flare) You don't need the added prob.

Do let us know how things are going, OK? Love and Peace Marcia

Like the others have said - welcome to the CD/UC club - we will gladly support you & answer your questions.

I have UC and I think I was more relieved when diagnosed than freaked out --- relieved because there was a treatment plan an I started feeling better within days after months long downward spiral.

I've also struggled with anxiety - so would highly recommend you talk to your doctors about that. You're going to want to try to control that to reduce stress. I certainly don't want to add to your freak out - but prednisone is a devilish miracle. On the miracle side it can quickly tame a flare, but the devil is in the side effects. For me my anxiety on high dosages makes me feel like a complete irrational weepy irritable mess. Entocort is the same drug with different formulation designed to lessen the side effects. It worked for me on a mild flare - but on a more severe one had to go back to the big gun. Just keep in mind it's temporary - and many of the side effects diminish below 20mg.

You will have good days - perhaps even years- and you'll learn over time what works for you to make the bad days less bad. Give yourself lots of tlc and be patient while your body heals. If you're feeling anxious do something distracting - knit, play solitaire, meditate. I had to learn not to induce anxiety attacks while on the high doses of prednisone - like sorting out my sock drawer instead of the pile of bills didn't trigger panic in the middle of the night when insomnia was keeping me up.

I hope you're feeling better soon.

Thank you very much everyone. Still a bit in shock and overwhelmed, but I have calmed down a bit.

I have been in therapy for GAD for about 3 years now and have xanax for emergencies.

I have lost a bit of weight and these past few weeks from not eating and my co-workers are starting to notice. I need to learn how to manage a diet when I am so scared to eat. ESPECIALLY on prednisone when all I hear about is weight gain from the stuff I just spent the past year losing 55lbs. after being unhealthy and weighing the largest I have ever been for two years. I am now down to a healthy and physically comfortable weight. To think that I will gain it all back again is very depressing.

Not to mention the impact on my social life it may have. I am very overwhelmed all of these sudden lifestyle changes that I have to consider now.

Just hoping all goes well.

as long as you aren't on prednisone for too long, weight gain shouldn't be a problem. you may feel like eating more than usual, but you'll hopefully be off of it before you gain more than a couple pounds. i had a week or two of hungriness, but when i reduced to my next taper dose, that subsided. i'm down to 30mg now, and dropping 5mg/week.
the worse side effects during short term use are mood swings (understatement), vertigo & dizziness, insomnia, headache, etc.
i was actually scared to drive for a while cuz of the dizziness, but that has mostly passed, and i am even sleeping a bit again now.
I hope you are feeling better now that you have had a few days to adjust.

I personally never gained any weight while on prednisone. I found I had to eat more just to maintain my weight. If you feel you can not gain weight or you can't eat any large meals. Eat more little meals during the day. Lot of people will drink Ensure to help maintain weight. The milk chocolate one taste good. Number one thing for you right now is to interview some GI doctors and pick one you feel comfortable with. A good relationship is important. Most of the time a GI doctor hooked up with a good teaching hospital will be a good choice.

You have CD - It's certainly not the end - You will come to know more about yourself then you may have ever known - the more you know the better... Learn to listen closely to your body - your GI - both will guide & direct you to your best wellness path... Eat as well as you can to get nutrients - Push yourself to stay fit - sleep & exercise are just as important - Do things that will lift your spirit - often! Don't panic... put that energy into positive energy! Take charge - do all you can with dietary means... A food journal can be a big help - (I have avoided many flares by dietary measures...) find what works - what helps and stick with it! We can do this - I've been doing it for 32 years... Good luck!

To give you some perspective, I had a stressful night last night. Husbands truck broke down, towed it to my parents house, then our van needed brakes. I should be at work, but, instead, I am home-bound with my daughter (could be in worse company, she is pretty great).

I was STRESSED and when I woke up this morning, my GI was mess. I came on here, read everyone's advice and put myself in check. Bad does not have to stay that way.

Thanks to everyone. I needed this today.

Crohn's ia a real roller coaster. Sorry, I don't want to freak you out! I had been undiagnosed for a year. I just had stomachaches and weight loss. Honestly, I had been a fat kid so the weight loss was welcome; the diarreha and anemia wasn't. When I was diagnosed, I was scared too but also relieved. Knowing what is wrong with you helps make everything better.

The worst thing about the illness is flares. You can feel on top of the world for a few months after treatment. In remission, it is hard to even remember that you were sick. Then out of nowhere a flare pops up, you feel sick again, and you are looking for new treatment. It sucks.

The medicine is always a lot at the start, and it is overwhelming. Sorry about the prednisone- it made me fat in the face, get acne (I am usually fair skinned) and feel as hungry as a teenage boy. But you will get over it and the medicine will be reduced. Look in to some vitamins and probiotics (I take culturelle- it can help).

I hope you get well and stay in to remission!

Just checking to see how you are doing. Did you start the Prednisone? If so and you find yourself that you can not sleep you can get a prescription for sleeping like Ambien and you should take all of your dosage during the morning time. I think it is important that both your GP and GI work closely together when giving you prescriptions. If you are taking medicine for your Anxiry Disorder each doctor needs to know what kind of medicines you are taking. Remember to always ask a ton of questions in the beginning. Try to stay on a good healthy diet and try to stay away known foods that do not agree with Crohns Disease and then start to introduce foods slowly and you can find out what foods work best for your system. Hope you are starting to feel better. Take care.