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JUST HAD COLONOSCOPY AND DOCTOR ADVISES WHILE CROHNS IS NOT FLARING HE DID NOTICE SPASMING IN LEFT SIDE.  I HAVE BEEN GETTING CRAMPS AND PAIN, NO DIARHEA.  I ALSO HAVE EPISODES OF VERTIGO WHICH LEAVE ME DIZZY AND NAUSEOUS.  ALL OF THIS IS GETTING TO ME EMOTIONALLY.  I AM IN CONSTANT PAIN.  MY HUSBAND AND PSYCHOLOGIST SUGGEST I NEED A THRAPIST TO PRESCRIBE MEDICATION TO HELP ME COPE.

HAS ANYONE HAD SUUCESS WITH PSYCHIATRY IN DEALING WITH IBD.  PLEASE HELP I AM NOT CRAZY AND MY PAIN IS REAL.  MY GASTROENTEROLOGIST THINKS THOUGH MY PAIN IS REAL A LOT OF IT IS CAUSED BY STRESS AND ALSO RECOMMENDS ANTIDEPRESSANTS FOR MY MENTAL STATE. HE JUST GAVE ME PAXIL AND I AM ON ANTISPASMODICS FOR PAIN.

 Reply posted for wernicke.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE.  I ACTUALLY DID GO TO GYM YESTERDAY.  I HAVE BEEN GOING TO BALLYS AND WORKING OUT FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS, HOWEVER WHEN I GET EPISODES OF VERTIGO IT IS VERY HARD WHEN I FEEL DIZZY AND NAUSEOUS TO EXERCISE.  I JUST STARTED THERAPY FOR VERTIGO RECENTLY FOR THE THIRD TIME.  IT HELPS AND I'D RATHER DO THAT THAN TAKE MEDICATION. 

 Reply posted for wernicke.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE.  I ACTUALLY DID GO TO GYM YESTERDAY.  I HAVE BEEN GOING TO BALLYS AND WORKING OUT FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS, HOWEVER WHEN I GET EPISODES OF VERTIGO IT IS VERY HARD WHEN I FEEL DIZZY AND NAUSEOUS TO EXERCISE.  I JUST STARTED THERAPY FOR VERTIGO RECENTLY FOR THE THIRD TIME.  IT HELPS AND I'D RATHER DO THAT THAN TAKE MEDICATION. 

 Reply posted for LUMPINELLO.

I strongly recommend a consistent exercise regimen... helps with stress relief, overall health, and releases natural endorphins that can dampen chronic abdominal pain.

 Reply posted for LUMPINELLO.

I suggest you find a second GI opinion. And the C&CFA has support groups that meet once a month that could be very helpful. Also, tell your husband to visit this site, so he can read that you are not crazy, the pain is real and though the stress worsens the symptoms, it is not the cause of the desease.

Keep up the hope!!

Claudia (27, UC for 7 years)

 Reply posted for LUMPINELLO.

I was diagnosed January 2nd, 2007, right after I turned 18. I had never had problems coping with my disease, I just decided I would 'deal with it later'. I didn't have problems until after my resection last month. (And I'm relieved to hear that I'm not the only one who 'lost it' after surgery.) 

I know it will help me, and just talking about it made me feel a lot better...I hope you have the best of luck with your disease. It's hard when there's so much physical stress on your body, you have think that mental stress is bound to happen. And you're not alone! 

 Reply posted for krbuerg.

Thank you. it helps to know that there are people out there that share your experiences and can help you.  I had a resection thirteen years ago.  I had to wear a colostomy bag for nine months and then they reversed it. believe it or not I didn't have as much anxiety then as I do now.  It seems like for the past several year I have been sick over the spring or summer.  I have vertigo and don't know if it is related or not but when my stomach is irritated my vertigo acts up or vice versa.  That is the hardest to deal with becaused this can go on for months before I feel better.  it is not even my Crohns it is irritable bowel now.  It is hard dealing with two things going on at the same time. I just got on the Paxil and i have a therapist that i have been seeing on and off for years.  I mostly go to see her when I have a flare up but now I am going to go on a regular basis, as I have really never gone every week, just every other.  She is suggesting meditation and yoga, I guess I will try that too. Again thank you

 Reply posted for LUMPINELLO.

Hi,

I was on Paxil a few years ago and loved it. After my resection in January, I couldn't keep it together so I am now back on it. I have to admit, its better  b/c I don't have so much anxiety going out. Good luck!

 Reply posted for LUMPINELLO.

I think your doctor and your husband are very well meaning.  They, however, cannot understand what is happening to you.  They cannot understand what t is like to be in constant pain.  They cannot understand what it is like to be in the place where our own body is attacking us.  They cannot understand what it is like to not have peaceful sleep because of pain.  Only those of us with first hand experience of IBD's can really know what that is like.

That being said I think that we are lucky to have loved ones in our lives that care about us.

Psychiatrists can be very helpful to mitigate some of the anxiety and emotional challenges that having this disease caused.  They cannot cure us.  

Sadly, most of us have to deal with all this stuff all of our lives.  It's not fair. It just is.

I think that going to a psychiatrist is a good idea.  Finding a way to cope with, to live with  the drama ( pain, medication side effects, effect on our social / relationship stuff) should be one of the goals.  Seeing doctors that help us make treatment choices is another part of it.

Ultimately, we are the captains of our treatment teams.  Anxiety meds and antidepressants can be helpful.  One thing that may be helpful to be aware of, is that it can sometimes take some time to find the rights meds.  This makes finding a doctor that partners with us to find solutions that work for us is a helpful way to look at the process as opposed to going to a doctor who "prescribes at us" instead of partnering with us to decide on action.

That's my experience.

Best,

Ivan Greene

nycivan@gmail.com