Are you sure you want to know?

I've not phoned yet Aims...but my cousin had a course of acupuncture and it help her immensely 

I think it depends on how badly you have it Aimee ....it can range from the occasional * upset tummy* ...to being quite incapacitating ....

 I took Cosi's thread wayyyy off course.

But I'm glad you did this thread, Aimee.  Are you taking anything at all for your IBS?  You should be getting mebeverine at least off the doc.  They take a few weeks to work but I think they definitely helped me a little at least.  I had been at the docs to discuss the anxiety part of it when I told her I was pregnant and she said no more meds for IBS til after the baby was born but that usually IBS gets better in pregnancy and so far it has turned from mainly IBS-D to IBS-C which is a lot easier to deal with although a bit more uncomfortable. 

I'd like to know too Yogi if you don't mind sharing.

that's it Aims....mebeverine, I'm sure what Ells said is the same medication 

I don't mind.

Crohns can affect the whole digestive system from your mouth to the other end.

I have active Crohns in four areas including my stomach, colon, bowel and tail end.

I get mouth ulcers - crops of them, not one or two.

Heartburn.

Diarrhoea, sometimes chronic and always worse in the mornings, and sometimes bleeding.

Stomach spasms, like labour pains, followed by repeated vomiting. The spasms usually last for a day but have lasted up to a week.

Fevers and night sweats.

General tiredness for no particular reason.

Abscesses. 

I don't get all of these symptoms all of the time, it depends how active the Crohns is and which areas flare up.

Edit to add, stress does seem to make things worse and certain foods make an attack worse too - for me, dairy and tomato based foods. 

I was on fibregel but gave up because it didn't work, I've tried looking after it myself by diet control but the flare ups are becoming more frequent 

Looking back I've had since being little and my mum forcing me to eat cereal and cold milk and crying with belly ache for hours after 

If you don't mind as I think I may have it rather than IBS

 I posted up there.^^^^

Sorry just seen your reply, I'm vomiting as well now and I've got a lot of your symptoms, I think I need to go back to the doctors the tiredness and spasms wipe you out 

They can send you for a scope and take biopsies which will give you a definite diagnosis. I feel for you Aims, I know how exhausting the symptoms can be.

I worked with a woman with Crohns.

Met her husband recently - he said he doubts she'll ever work again.

She's in her 30's

Sorry not being rude but I'm on my kindle and it does my head in,if I go missing for a few days don't worry I just need to get my strength back 

Take care of yourself.

It's different for everyone, but it can be very debilitating.

Some people can go into remission and lead pretty normal lives for long periods of time.

I just want to eat and be able to go out without working out where the toilets are, I'm fed up of people saying you been on a diet,no I just can't keep the food in me 

 Ask the doctor for a second opinion, Aimee.

I will yogi  are there certain foods you avoid?

Yogi that sounds horrendous!  I didn't really know what Chrohn's sufferers went through as my brother had been diagnosed when I was a baby and has had no bad flare ups that I can remember.  

Aimee you really need to get to the doctor.....soon!  The spasms can be helped with the medication.  They still happen but not as frequently and I've found they help with the middle of the night attacks aswell so I could get a better sleep (my attacks always seemed to like waking me up at 4 or 5am with what felt like contractions).  It's honestly not a miracle pill but it helps a little.

I avoid apples, pineapples, oranges, sweetcorn, wholemeal bread and bran flakes. Ironically, what would be considered a 'healthy diet', makes me ill.

If the Crohn's is playing up, I have to be careful about the amount of dairy I eat and also tomato based sauces. I would also avoid pastry and red meat when things are bad. 

If I am having a bad flare up, I tend to live on bland food like scrambled eggs, chicken soup and chicken with rice or potatoes.

It's funny how the food you think would be good for you isn't  I can't eat dairy, fruit and some vegetables, fried food and wholemeal

My daughter has had  Crohns for some years now  Aimee  ...but seems to be in remission at the moment .  However, there are several IBS type illnesses ....including Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis ....and a sort of non specific IBS ....all with similar symptoms I think ...so you do need to get a definitive diagnosis  

It is.. my friend's mum's had Crohn's all her life (she's 80 now) and she's not had a piece of fruit or a vegetable in about 50 years.    She was ill recently and lost a lot of weight and she had a visit from the dietician who prescribed 'at least' one packet of crisps a day, biscuits with her elevenses and cake with afternoon tea and cups of milky coffee.    Most people would love to be told to eat that way and she'd just like to have a normal meal.

I eat a lot of crisps for some reason salted crisps stop me feeling sick 

Sam Faiers has been diagnosed with Crohn's disease after suffering from a six-week mystery illness.
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Aimee how are you feeling now.....have you been to the docs yet?

Poor girl  By Yogi's description it's a horrible thing to live with.

Haven't been yet but I've been fine this week, it seems to go in cycles with me

I haven't had any attacks because I haven't had to go out anywhere the past few weeks.  Then Tuesday came and I had the hospital appointment and what do you know?  IBS attack at 5am then all through the early morning.  Took imodium but nope, still took a panic when I got to the hospital and started to freak out when my OH (bless him he is way too patient with me) scoped out a toilet that was private and away from any nurses or patients but I was still mortified when I was being called for my appointment and he had to explain to the nurse that I was stuck in the loo since we'd got there 20 minutes earlier.

But my thinking was, if you can't go to the loo in a hospital then where the hell can you go??

Poor girl.

a doc gave me fibrogel-didnt work

yrs later another doc gave me mintec-peppermint oil tablets

but better than other peppermint oil tabs

cos these have a coating that make them slide down & 'explode' in the bowel

im sure ive said this before?

anyway, they worked for me

as johnny cash says (sort of)

you may have a 'burning ring of fire'

but the pain goes

I've never heard of those Pirate.  I know peppermint is a great help but have never heard of the tablets.

Chewing peppermint gum really helps aswell but I don't think I'm allowed to overdo peppermint at the minute but will definitely look into it after the baby is born

its mintec

dont let the chemist fob you off with crappy other stuff

if you take them during pregnancy

your baby will be born smelling of polo's

 I love the smell of polo's!  Actually I love the smell (and taste and texture) of XXX mints.  I need some of those now.

I had fibregel it did nothing for me, Ellis it was probably cause you was worried about baby that bought on an attack

Mints can act as a laxative if you eat too many

 And whatever you do, don't eat sugar-free mints or sweeties! The sweetener they use acts as a laxative.

Grrr, I wish we had a few minutes to edit before it showed up!

I use sweetener in my tea....should I switch back to normal sugar?

It's one particular sweetener, Ells. I've written it down somewhere, give me a few minutes.