Crohns disease?

[wiserlady]

Hi, I am new to this group and would appreciate some opinions - and please dont say ask your doctor etc.

I am a 62 year old woman who has an underactive thyroid, taking levo for it, fairly healthy except for copd. About six weeks ago I was put on mirtazapam for help with sleeping, within a week I felt very rough and under the weather, lacking in energy, and then went down hill very quickly with severe fatigue , pains and back ache. I stopped taking it - obviously - I am not a fool. I also found that I was unable to eat cheese without or lactose without stomach pains. About a week later I ate some cheese pasta and hours later had severe stomach pains and diarrhea. I had never experienced anything that nasty before. Now I can eat cheese and lactose without a problem. But wonder if it is possible this is crohns disease - as my mother had it. Ive had blood tests which say I am low in vitamin d and all the rest are fine. Is it possible to get a taste of crohns disease and then it goes away and does not come back? Would appreciate your thoughts on this. And hello everyone. Thanks.

[FRreedman]

Answering your last question first. By the definition of Crohn's disease being incurable, it would seem incongruous for someone to get a taster of it, and for it then to disappear. I would think it is more likely the food you ate, either, disagreed with you or was possibly contaminated, thus causing an emergency evacuation (similar to Crohn's sufferers). Crohn's sufferers would never re-test something that had upset them so violently for a very long time, as it would set them up for a full on flare. The fact that you can eat cheese and lactose again would back up my theory that the pasta was "off".

[wiserlady in reply to FRreedman]

thank you for the reply and the info, but the pasta was not off.

[chubbylover78]

Unfortunately to get a proper diagnosis you will have to see your doctor, we are not medically trained or qualified. The mirtazapam you were taking can cause all the problems you described so of course you felt crap.

Crohns is a lifelong illness with no cure and whilst you can take meds to help it you may still have a flare from time to time, but would still have some symptoms and more than once.

If this has only happened the once then it is highly unlikely to be anything long term other than something you ate or the fact that you were on a drug that you stopped taking, thus causing your body to withdraw quickly with unpleasant effects.

[wiserlady in reply to chubbylover78]

Thanks for reply. It was not caused by withdrawing from the mirtazapam. I only felt better when I stopped taking it. Not worse. That would not cause that. My mum has Crohns and has never taken any medicine for it. But she had an operation years ago. And it was nothing to do with eating something dodgy.

[asbayford]

Hello, I'm on mirtazapine too and I have found it made me not tolerate lactose too. I had multiple food intolerances before hand with ibs, so I think it just made me more sensitive, in a way it's good because now I can really see what doesnt agree. Hope that helps

[wiserlady in reply to asbayford]

Hi Asbayford. Thank you so much for this reply, it actually deals with what I asked instead of changing the subject. I didnt have any food intolerances before though. Ive done some more research and have found out from my doctor that I am low in vitamin d, and that can cause this, and is connected to taking the mirtazapam. Not my diet, which is excellent. As soon as I started to take omega 3 I felt so much better very quickly.

[asbayford in reply to wiserlady]

That is very interesting! Thank you for sharing, I think I may be low also, so will have a check done. So happy you're feeling well, long may it last

[wiserlady in reply to asbayford]

Hello again! I think, and of course its only guessing, that the mirtazapam knocks your organs for six, then this leads to them not functioning properly - hopefully temporarily - hence that will also mean low in vitamin d - which can cause lactose intolerance etc... because I found that when it happened I was violently ill if I had lactose but a few weeks later was able to have it again, yet struggling to cope with cheese etc even if I had lactose enzymes with it - and had never ever had such problems before. The main problems I had were trouble breathing, no energy, taking ages and huffing and puffing to get up some steps or peel a potato or anything at all physical - it was a struggle to go upstairs to bed, I had to go on a nebuliser and breath in lots of nebulisers each time after - and sit on the bed for ages getting my breath back - it was a struggle just to wash and dress - and only taking vitamin d helped with it.

[Viklou]

Not sure if you're in the uk but many are low in vitamin d as we simply don't get enough sun these days. Mine often drops quite fast over summer and I need to supplement over winter. Some also have difficulty absorbing nutrients from what we eat through various reasons. Although your blood cell count could be ok you can still be anemic if low in B12, ferritin or folate. You are best speaking to your doctor and get tested for these levels to. Again I asked my GP for these tests, she asked why and I said I'm just sick of being so tired. Sure enough I was very low in folate and ferritin and borderline low in B12 however red blood count fine

[wiserlady]

Hi Viklou yes am in UK and have already been tested for all of those things like B12 recently, best to do that all at the same time. And I am not tired at all, in fact I have a lot of problems with getting to sleep and staying asleep, it is lack of energy not tiredness. I am housebound so dont get much sun, but that doesnt explain it when I have been housebound without much sun for more than 40 years.

[Viklou in reply to wiserlady]

Lack of energy, not much sun if you're housebound, will explain the lack of vit D, plus the drug you were taking may of been the cause of your issue. Hopefully now you have that sorted, things will settle down. Good luck.

[wiserlady in reply to Viklou]

Hi Viklou, am sure the drug was the cause of the upset with rebounds, there was nothing else it could be and a lot of research online after pointed to it. That is more to do with how the drug knocks the organs and then your vitamin d level drops, than lack of sunlight, which I am used to for many years without a problem. And I eat a lot of eggs and cheese which are full of vitamin d. Hope you have a nice day.