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! 

Crohn's and Dental Health

Today, I went to a periodontist (gum dentist) who said my gums were inflamed and it wasn't due to gingivitis. In the back of my mind I knew Crohn’s might have something to do with it as it can cause gums to be inflamed along with intestines.  This special dentist said that I needed to get a deep cleaning of my gums and they would have to do a biopsy of the gum to see what the cause was. It is odd though because my bottom gums are healthy pink just my top gums are causing trouble. I was a little nervous when the dentist said I might have to go on a steroid. This seems interesting because from what I understand drugs like medicine can cause bones to be weaker. Also I am weighing around 156 (with clothes off) these days and really don’t want to add any more weight when I use to be 140-150 lbs.

I did some research and found a forum were people discussing this similar issue.  In doing more research I found that Crohn’s patients perceive their oral health to be worse than people who don’t have Crohn’s.

This study from 1989 showed that Crohn’s patients have a higher risk and need more preventive care. Although these studies link certain things I would be more curious to find out why gums can become inflamed. My own theory is that autoimmune diseases have to deal with the good bacteria attacking the body which is what causes the inflammation which could be happening in the mouth. Although, the mouth and stomach are far apart I am reminded that the definition of Crohn’s is pain from anus to mouth which includes the gums.