Saturday, August 21, 2021

Current Status and Upcoming Colonoscopy

Well it actually has been almost one year since my last post! I really can't believe I haven't blogged in that period of time. The main reason for not blogging is I haven't felt a need to (which is a good thing given I have been in good overall health). My game plan is within the next year to blog more often and focus more on research (new treatments available for Crohn's disease). 

Overall my health has been very good in the past year. I still rarely have any type of loose bowel movements and rarely in pain. Every now and then I might have some cramping that comes and goes for a couple of days but hey if that is all I have I would say I am winning the battle with Crohn's. As usual the biggest factors seem to be stress, sleep, and what I eat. There have been times were I feel some cramping and then I sleep for 9 hours and feel like a million bucks the day after. 

Recently I have been stressed because I took the second part of the Enrolled Agent exam (for non tax people it covers business income taxes). I had been studying months for the exam but within the past couple of weeks really tried to work hard. Every morning I would wake up and study around 7 A.M. until around 8 A.M. and then use that time to get ready for work. During lunch I would close my office door and get in about an hour, and then after work study for a few more hours. The pressure of both studying and working I could feel the burden. The last few weeks I have felt more of a cramp in my lower intestine. What is interesting is after the exam my cramping went away completely! 

My colonoscopy is scheduled for this coming Wednesday (August 25, 2021). On Monday I have to go in to get a COVID test (I got my 3rd booster vaccine at a local Walgreens by me last week). The only main side effect was a slight sore arm. I was able to get the third vaccine since I take an anti-TNF drug (Humira) and I had to sign a self attestation form that my immune system was compromised. My view was given the minimal side effects of the vaccine and given I have already had two vaccines it is somewhat like  My last colonoscopy which I blogged about here was in July 2018. The big difference from this time is I will be take Sutab prep pills (they were approved in late 2020 by the FDA)  instead of taking the usual Gatorade and Miralax combination. Actually the last time I had my colonoscopy was better than the previous colonoscopy but I can still have the after taste in my mouth. I read some reviews online of Sutab and some people complained that they had to vomit. Well one way around this is I had my GI prescribe Zofran to get around this. I will probably write a follow up on my experience after the procedure. I am curious to see how the procedure goes and move importantly to make sure I am still okay in terms. 

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