#and the only treatment is steroids and immunosuppresants

[aimie-academie]

Guess what- you can have skin failure! I know because I have it

TW: semi-graphic discussions in tags

There's heart failure, liver failure, kidney failure, all kinds of organ failures, but you know what's great? There's one organ that almost never unexpectedly fails: the biggest one. Your skin.

Imagine if you could just randomly suffer skin failure. If your skin could just fucking slouch off and drop to the floor.

[ask-a-vetblr]

My dog was diagnosed with IBD this year, after almost three years of behavioral issues and gastric problems (and me frantically trying to get a diagnosis). Inflammatory Bowel Disease seems to be one of the illnesses that has a thousand faces and no "one size fits all" treatment. Do you have any patients with it, and can you maybe share some interesting cases of IBD in dogs?

gettingvetted here.

To me, IBD is less “interesting” and more “frustrating.” Just like you experienced, it is a diagnosis of exclusion and can be very difficult to manage. Most of my IBD patients are feline and are fairly well managed on a hypoallergenic diet and occasional steroids when they have flares.

Ferox here.

So, technically we only have a diagnosis of IBD if you have a biopsy of the gut confirming it. That might have been done via an endoscope, or surgically at an exploratory laparotomy. As such, I have more cases of assumed IBD than confirmed IBD.

There are different types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) depending on which cell type is responsible for the inflammation, and they vary in severity. Some patients need to only avoid a few ingredients in their diets, some patients end up only able to consume one thing while on massive doses of immunosuppresants. Some are on such large doses of immunosuppressants that they might as well be on chemo, and some actually are.

A friend of mine works in internal medicine, and she had an IBD case that could eat literally nothing except white rice without becoming very sick. How were they getting a balanced diet into this dog? They were not, it was dying slowly.

On the other end of the spectrum, some dogs manage simply on a novel protein or hypoallergenic diet.

It’s so variable because it is a spectrum.

[itsrien11]

Introducing the warrior within.

Hold On Pain Ends

I have created this blog with the intention to share my experience with Chrons disease. I want to let people know what it is like having to live with a disease that has no cure and I want to raise awareness so that other people with Chrons know that they are not alone and there are people out there, all over the world who you can talk to and who can you help you through this.

A little about Chrons Disease

I am going to simplify it so that it makes sense otherwise I would be here all day trying to get through all the terminology. Chrons Disease is an auto-immune disease. So this means that my immune system is attacking itself. With Chrons in particular, this means that it attacks the bowels, and in my case, specifically the ilium. The ilium is located at the bottom of your intestines on the right. I wont get it to gross details about I go my bowel movements but this basically means that my bowel functions are all messed up. It means that I visit the toilet at least 4 times a day and I cant eat anything I want. I have been like this since I was about 6 years old, but the doctors blamed it on IBS and said it is because of stress that I had for various reasons since I was small. Now we know that all of this was actually Chrons. 

Treating Chrons

Chrons is incurable. No one can fix and and no one can take it away, it is with you for the rest of your life. If Chrons goes untreated you can eventually end up with no intestines and you would have to wear a little bag on the outside of your tummy. I am very lucky to have an amazing doctor. He is doing all he can to make sure that I dont have to get any surgery while I am still young. I have been diagnosed in the beginning of the year with Chrons and ever since we have been trying to see what treatment works best for me. There are so many options but not every treatment works the same for everyone. So it is basically trial and error until you find what works for you. I am currently on a treatment that consists of light Chemo therapy (immunosuppresants), Steroids, Calcium, long-term painkillers and stomach lining medication. So this basically means that my bowel movements have now regulated and my pain is less BUT there are some serous side effects that goes with this, I list a few: I have no immune system so I can get ill very easily, I cannot go in to the sun for long because my chances for skin cancer are increased, I cannot get cut because I can get an infection, if I do get the flu I need to be hospitalized because I have no immune system to fight the illness off, I am nauseas most of the time, I constantly have headaches, I lose a great amount of weight, I bruise easily. Now this is only a short list of side effects, there are many more. But I will post about all of this in the future. 

Concluding Chrons 101

So I have given a small summary of what this blog is about and what is to come in future blogs. If anyone is wondering if this is going to be a blog about my bowel movements, well you might be right but I am not aiming to update you every time I go to the toilet. I hope that people with Chrons this and I hope this helps anyone who doesn't understand what I am going through and why I am who I am. So if you ever wonder what my life is like or why I am the way I am, just read this blog. 

Sincerely The Chrons Warrior

[mommingwithlupus]

Lupus and the Caveman Diet

When I was diagnosed with lupus, I was prescribed one of the go to drug for this disease, Plaquenil. I looked up the side effects and the one that worried me the most is that it could cause me to get sick easily. WHAT?? You mean to tell me that because I have a disease that makes me feel sick you are going to give me a drug that could potentially make me sick? Um... that doesn’t sound right to me. So I did some research; Plaquenil is an immunosuppresant meaning that overactive immune system that is attacking healthy parts of your body gets weakened in order to protect your organs from damage. Well it may help with your pain and prevent the disease from causing damage. but now that immune system on steroids in now a weak coward. Any illness going around will catch hold of you and easily infect you, possibly leaving you sicker than you would’ve been if you were not on the medication. As a mom, I decided this medication was not for me. Now there are many of you out there that really do need this medication and by all means I am not telling you to stop following your doctor’s advice. However, my lupus was just beginning and having only been sick from it a few times, I figured I would rather risk not taking it than to put myself at risk for other illnesses. Especially with two kids at home that bring all kinds of gross germs into the house, I did not want to be a mom that was always in bed with some illness making me unable to care for my kiddos. But what could I do? My doctor said I need this drug to protect my organs. Then I found the Paleo diet.

What Is Paleo?

I did some research and found that there has been success in managing lupus symptoms with the Paleo diet and exercise. I know, I know... I see all the time that this doesn’t work for everyone and many don’t want to hear it anymore, but it has worked for me! There is no cure for lupus, just treatment of symptoms and if I can take a natural route then that is what I will do. I told my doctor I wanted to weigh my other options first and now almost 4 years later I am still not on medication and rarely have flares as long as I stay consistent with my diet and exercise (as well as managing my stress which we all know can be hard as a mommy but we will talk about that later). “Paleo”  comes from the word Paleolithic- yes like the dinosaurs which is why they call it the Caveman Diet. The whole concept is to eat like people did back in the paleolithic times. The food is primal and “real” food mainly consisting of meats, fruits, and vegetables. Life today has become so fast paced and resulted in foods being processed and readily available for the person on the go. These foods are lacking in nutrients and synthetic, but hey we can just pop it in the microwave or just make a 2 minute run to the drive-thru so who cares right? Well all that fake food causes inflammation and health issues because all of your nutrition starts in the gut and if you are putting trash in there, the result is you will feel like trash. Goes with the famous saying, “you are what you eat.” 

The Paleo Diet is about eating whole foods that provide more nutrients and power to your body and avoiding processed, nutrient poor, refined foods. Sounds easy enough, but when you really think about it we eat a lot of non Paleo foods. My hardest time was the first month. I’m a rice and beans girl... black refried beans for breakfast, whole black beans with rice for lunch, and rice with dinner. Those are a Latina’s staple foods! I NEEEEEDDD rice and beans in my life! Well, turns out Paleo is grain free and no legumes (beans). Oh no! What will I do?? After time I have been fine with losing those staple foods and replaced them with delicious Paleo alternatives. Once you get the hang of it you will fell better, have more energy, and be happier overall with your new lifestyle. Plus, my family eats what I cook and they actually all love the meals. I will throw in some cheese on their plates here and there. 

What to Avoid

Grains- this includes rice, bread, quinoa, tortillas, cereal, oatmeal, etc

Legumes- includes beans

Refined Sugar

Poor Quality Dairy- only buy full fat, raw & unpasteurized

Alcohol & Caffeine- if not avoided completely, drink in moderation (I live off coffee and alcohol as a mom so definitely not eliminated for me)

These foods cause inflammation and irritation. Lupus is an inflammatory disease, so avoiding these foods helps avoid inflammation overall. Again, it all starts in the gut. Food is the cause of many chronic health problems, so changing our food will in effect change our health for the better!

Is Paleo Right for You?

Ask yourself these questions and if you find that your answers are not what you would like them to be then you may want to give Paleo a try:

Have you been diagnosed with a health condition?

How do you feel physically and emotionally most of the time?

How is your mood?

What is your energy level throughout the day?

How does your skin look and feel?

How is your physical fitness and endurance level?

Do you have regular healthy bowel movements?

Do you have enough energy to play with your kids during the day?

Do you have food cravings for sugar and fats?

How do you feel overall?