Urinary Problems Subside and 1 Year Anniversary

As they say what a difference a day makes. So last night I felt I was going to pee myself to death and went to bed a little after 3 A.M. I watched TV to try to fall asleep and it worked. Today I got 10 hours of sleep which felt wonderful. I am 90% sure fluconazole was responsible for it. I stopped the other medications my dentist gave me and started them back today. I feel 110% better today. I have a small feeling that I have to urinate but I think that is the last of the fluconazole that is getting out of my system. Getting some sleep and not feeling the urge to have to go to the bathroom is a wonderful feeling.

On a different note today marks the 1 year anniversary I was diagnosed with Crohns. I am amazed how much I have learned in the past year and will continue to be a life-long student of Crohns.  My self-interest and wanting a record of my progress with Crohns lead me to create this blog. Hopefully, I can educate others with my experiences, studies I find, and other information related to Crohns. If you had told me last year I would have had no pain I would have said you were out of your mind. I worry and wonder how long Humira will last. I have gone 6 months into remission which is great. 

Urinary Issues With Crohns: Cant Stop Peeing

So I can’t believe this but I felt really good up until last night (my front side seems to have Crohns, and backside says no problems back here). My issue is not even Crohns related well at least I don’t think so. For the past few nights I have been noticing that I sometimes wait a little while to go to the bathroom. I am usually on my laptop after dinner time and do drink water which I read here is not good. Urine would build up a little in my bladder and I would wait to go. I really didn’t pay attention to it. Last night however I had to go to the bathroom all night long basically which was very exhausting and I didn’t get to bed until around 2 a.m. which make it hard to get up my usual time of 7:37 A.M. My brain would think I have to go to the bathroom but then when I pulled down my pants only a little urine would come out.  I do feel better after I go I feel back to normal. As I write this I notice it tends to be a little worse at night. I always drink water constantly throughout the day especially after I work out.

As my dad would say the only thing that has really changed is that I started a drug called fluconazole which is normally used for yeast infections. I mentioned some other stuff I was taking but today when I called my dentist to ask him if this was a side effect he said he never heard of it. I made an appointment to see my internist for Monday.  I will wait until maybe Saturday to see if this issue goes away but if not I have my doctor’s cell phone number handy and may phone him to get some answers.

Crohns patients can get urinary issues such as cystitis, fistulas, and urinary tract infections. In this study called “Diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract complications in Crohns disease: an experience over 15 years” carried out over 15 years 16% of patients had simple cystitis. 7% were required to be hospitalized. Humira can cause urinary tract infections which occur in 8% of patients.I will get more data from not only by body but doctors in the next coming days. Maybe I will end up at a urologist’s office. I am curious what is causing this and whether or not it is Crohns related. Oh what an interesting life I have with my Crohns. 

Humira Working After 6 Months! (An Update)

So I have passed the 6 month mark with Humira! Yay! I feel as good now as when I started the medication and have had minor side effects (minor twitches in hand and feet which feels like arthritis however I also do work out close to an hour each day). To be honest I never thought this drug would be so helpful. I hope I can continue this pattern for another decade. My diet as been better since I was diasgnosed with Crohns. Now eating more salads then before I had Crohns but in general eating whatever I want. I think I concisouly eat fewer fatty and greasy things. The only thing that seems to give me trouble is heavy Mexican food and large amounts of chocolate (although I believe this might have upset my stomach even before Crohns). My weight is doing pretty well I was at 156 (high was around 162) for a while then bumped down now to 150 (with my birthday suit on). Bowel movements are less than 1 per day and have reached .5 (was close to 2 before starting Humira).  I am doing it on purpose though since I am driving to Dallas this weekend and plan to engage in some food excellence with In-n-Out (never had), Braums (have had), and Krispy Kreme (use to work there in high school). Hopefully I can be able to work out to burn off those extra calories.

The only real development has been some dental issues. My dentist said I had plaque on my teeth which he scrapped off and showed me. This lead to a visit to a periodontist (gum dentist) who did a deep clean on my gums and teeth (they felt really good and have never looked better!). However he is still worried that my gums may have issues down the road. So he sent me to a oral pathologist who works at a dental school in Houston and I went to visit him last Friday. I also participated in a short clinical trial for oral cancer (1 of 100 patients). The oral pathologist said I had a yeast infection in my mouth (I was puzzled by this) and he gave me some creams, wash, and a pill to take. He put me on fluconazonle to take for 2 weeks for the yeast infection, dexamethasone .5mg/5mL elixir, along with clotirmazole and detamethasone dipropionate cream to put on four times a day. The logistics is a pain because I can’t eat or drink 40 minutes after the elixir and the cream I have to put on all day which makes my lips on the sides a little weird. Hopefully this will be a temporary thing. I know they are doing some work with stem cells in the dental area. Maybe in the future they can just take part of the tissue regrow it and then implant it back.

I always wonder when my next flare up will be. It seems odd that I have had no pain for 6 months. I remember sometimes late at night I would walk downstairs and look out at the moon and wonder if I would ever go a day without pain (in May). Luckily that day is here with Humira. I hope this keeps up though!