(Re)Mission Impossible

By brevipes

2 min read

I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at the age of 8. It was a roller coaster of a time to get to that diagnosis, but we eventually found our way there. Since then, I have been switching through medications my entire life. Prednisone has acted as my crutch several times through this journey (to my dismay) as I've failed to find adequate relief through other major meds.

My Medication Journey

Remicade lessened my symptoms for a little while, but I eventually developed an allergic reaction to it. Breathing is a pretty important thing to be able to do, I'd say! However, they decided to keep me on the infusions while dosing me with quite a bit of Benadryl. The infusions became less and less effective over time, and I had become very ill.

I ended up needing a bowel resection my senior year of high school. Of course, it was just about a month before graduation as well, so I was a complete wreck for the remainder of "the best years of my life" (as if). We decided to give Humira a try to boost my chances of recovery.

Humira seemed to help me for a few years. I was feeling pretty good! The few lingering symptoms (diarrhea, nausea, lack of appetite) seemed manageable enough for me to deal with. I never felt like I achieved remission, but I was in such a better place than my younger years.

It all really started going downhill again my senior year of college. I became super anemic from a double whammy of heavy menstruation and bloody diarrhea. It began to feel like I was just fighting to survive each day instead of living in the moment and enjoying life. We fought the flare for a while with the aid of more steroids (boo), but things have been trending downwards the past few years.

I ended up in the ER this past May and have been on Prednisone ever since. Humira wasn't cutting it anymore. We made the switch to Stelara in August, but I haven't seen much improvement. Any time we try to come down on the Prednisone, I start puking multiple times a day.

This health battle is a tough one, but I'm still fighting hard every day. Remission truly does seem impossible sometimes, but I'll never give up. We go through so much every day. I can do this.

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thedancingcrohnie Moderator & Contributor
Ugh, I feel your pain! I too was diagnosed with Crohn's and goodness, is it one crazy rollercoaster. I also had major dependency on Prednisone just like you. Whenever I needed relief from a flare, Prednisone was the only thing that worked despite all the biologics I was pumped with. I was on Prednisone for over a year at once in one pointe and weaning off always left me so so sick. I would vomit, bleed and have diarrhea. I discovered celery juice as I was trying to wean off Prednisone this past year. I started to drink it religiously every morning. 16oz, first thing when you wake up on an empty stomach. I would wait about 20min then eat my breakfast. I did that every single day and still do it today. Anyways, I started to wean off the Prednisone after about two to three weeks of doing the juice, and it was the first time in my history of having Crohns (about 8 years) that I did not get sick. And on top of that, the celery juice promoted healing in my gut. It was a total game changer. Anyways, just sharing. Maybe it will work for you? Wishing you the best! Always dancing, Elizabeth (team member)
1. brevipes Member
 I've heard so many wonderful things about celery juice! How does the process work? Do you juice it yourself, or buy juice from the store? I'm definitely on the lazier side and would love and option that I could just go out and buy if need be. But a juicer would probably be a beneficial purchase for me as well! Thanks for the tip! Sonja
2. thedancingcrohnie Moderator & Contributor
 I juice it myself every morning. I actually use a blender. What I do is clean the celery and chop it up. I do this at the beginning of the week and have the cleaned and chopped celery sitting in my fridge ready for the morning juicing. Then every morning I pour in the chopped celery into my blender. I blend then pour the mixture into a nut milk bag. Then I simply squeeze out the juice into a bowl then pour the juice into a cup to drink. The process takes 5min. The key is to simply prep and chop the celery in the beginning of the week. I HIGHLY recommend it. The benefits of celery juice are endless and it is what has propelled me into healing. In addition to the juice I stay away from grains and dairy. If you have a juice shop near you, all of them offer celery juice. Just make sure it is plain celery juice, nothing mixed in. Hope this helps! Message me whenever if you want to know more! Always dancing, Elizabeth (team member)