Re: Re:Re: 3 month flare? what to do?

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim,

Thanks for your encouragement. I've remained at the same prednisone and reduced the amount of fruit and quit the cheese and I do feel better and feel like I'm recovering from whatever that flare was. I guess it's all a part of healing like you said. I'm glad it was a short-lived flare, about a week, and D never returned, so that's a blessing. Hopefully it's all uphill from here. Thanks again for encouraging me to stick with it and not throw in the towel.

Ann,

Living in Italy

Undiagnosed Crohn's since 1977 Diagnosed 15 years

Sacroiliitis 25 years

Rheumatoid arthritis 25 years

Pyoderma Gangronosum 2 years

SCD since July, 2008

Meds: Tapering Prednisone for PG

Re:Re: 3 month flare? what to do?

Ann

Symptom flares at 3 months are typical for most of us on SCD. We can also get another one at 9 months and around 12 months. It's part of the healing process. Of course tapering off prednisone will also contribute to a flare, or so I've seen in emails.

I can't speak to tapering off prednisone, but I can suggest a few things to help with your symptom flare. Goodness knows I've had plenty of symptom flares since being on SCD. But remember that the longer we're on SCD, the faster we recover from symptom flares, and the less severe they become...

Most of us handle symptom flares in a similar fashion. We drop back to the intro. diet for a few days, to give our digestions time to calm down a bit. Then we move to the easiest-to-digest foods for several weeks, or until our symptoms have almost disappeared or have diminished completely. We don't reintroduce the more advanced foods until we feel our flare is over.

Since you're also tapering off prednisone, I'm guessing you may need to work again to find those foods that your digestion can handle at this stage of your healing. Prednisone masks a lot of the body's reactions, so you have to start over finding the foods your body handles best at this stage. So when you start adding foods back after your day or two of intro. diet, then treat each food as if you hadn't had it in years. Pay attention to your body's signals.

If your body isn't handling dairy or fruit well, then you do want to cut back on these foods, or find alternatives that your body will tolerate better. Stick to the softest, easiest-to-digest foods for your body for at least a few weeks, until you feel you're out of this symptom flare.

And you might need to stop tapering off prednisone; maybe it's too soon. You might need to stay at one level for several more months before trying again to taper off.

Hopefully others who have used prednisone will reply and offer suggestions. You can also search the message archives, as I'm sure we've discussed this topic before.

Kim M.

SCD 5 years

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............. ....Should I eliminate some foods such as dairy and fruit? Go back to intro? I'm very disappointed right now. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks again. AnnSCD 3 months

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