A Flare Up :-(

I’m quite certain I got that stomach flu that’s going around. Here are the symptoms: fever, upset gut, diarrhea and/or vomiting, and fatigue. Well….that sounds a lot like a Crohn’s flare up too. So how do I know I had the stomach flu? Because my boyfriend got all of the same symptoms a few days following when I got mine and he clearly doesn’t have Crohn’s:) So I’m pretty certain what I had was the stomach flu.

That’s actually good news, so I thought. I had a gastrointestinal problem that was not related to my disease. Yay!

But that wishful thinking was very short lived, however. As you may recall, I had a sediment rate of 100 recently, which means my body has inflammation, and based upon the fact I have Crohn’s, it is likely some of the high rate was related to inflammation in my colon.

Now add to the fact that no matter what I do with my diet, the stomach flu creates an acid environment in the GI tract. Current inflammation and an acidic environment leads to a Crohn’s flare up for sure, and that is exactly what happened.

Immediately following my stomach flu, I rolled right into a flare up. Dr. Azar had warned me that this could happen, and she also told me that it would likely be shorter in duration and not as intense. Fortunately, she appears right.

So I have been having this flare up since right after my stomach flu cleared up which as far as I can tell was somewhere around Wednesday last week. Right after my fever broke, I assumed the stomach flu had passed, but my bowel movements were still about eight daily, and they are not controllable like before when I was doing so well. My gut cramps up with each one, and there is blood in my stool, which means the ulcers in my colon are active.

However, I am only mildly fatigued and I don’t have a fever. This is much more mild so far than when I was the walking zombie in September. I was needing 14-18 hours sleep and even with that amount of sleep, I didn’t have the energy to even walk my dog.

Now, with about 10 hours sleep, I have enough energy for a full work day. The bowel movements are certainly inconvenient, but in the past 5 days, they have reduced a little bit, as I’m down to about 5 daily, and the consistency has improved. Even the amount of blood has reduced. I believe I am on my way to remission again.

Dr. Azar has warned me that this could happen a few times even while on the strict healing diet during the first year or so. The body goes through cleansing in layers, and until it is clear of all toxic waste, it cannot focus solely on healing the Crohn’s ulcers. But each time, they are likely to be easier to handle.

I water fasted for a day, and now am only eating sweet fruits and juicing. May daily food journal is very bland with a banana smoothie for breakfast. Cantaloupe for lunch, and mango and banana snacks when needed. Dinner is vegetable juice and maybe another banana smoothie as a evening snack

Cross your fingers for me, because this flareup being so mild is giving me great hope to get into remission quickly, and that my ulcers are truly healing. I can’t possibly have this mild of symptoms during a flare up if the ulcers are still as bad as my walking zombie days. I’ll keep you posted.