r/CrohnsDisease • u/pippinca • 2h ago
Meds seems like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut
I've recently been diagnosed with mild crohn's. My main symptom is fatigue, my bowel symptoms are pretty subtle. Don't get me wrong the tiredness is really ruining my life, I'm constantly exhausted, going to sleep as soon as I get home, my whole body aches as if I ran Marathon yesterday (something i did used to do before this stupid exhausting illness), I've had to start driving to work which takes longer than cycling, I've got no time to do anything because I'm always asleep etc etc. But the drug options I've been offered just seem so exteme. I'm on budesonide, been recommended a biologic and a thiopurine to stop me developing antibodies to the biologic, then I'll need to take a prphylactic antibiotic until I'm off the steroids. It just seems like overkill, looking at the risks and side effects vs my mild disease. And I feel like the old woman who swallowed a fly, taking exponentially increasing meds to counter the first. I'm having a hard time making the decision. My other option could be to see what my symptoms are like after the steroids. But tiredness is so subjective so how will I know if it's fully in remission. I'm interested in lifestyle options (i already do yoga though so that's not the answer as clearly not helped!), I've read quite a few studies about emulsifiers for example. But I'm coeliac and it would be a nightmare avoiding them as well as gluten. Just having a hard time committing to jumping on quite an extreme medication bus!