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Welcome to Crohn's Zone, the interactive support site for people with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
We're based in the UK but we have a membership that extends into Europe, the US, Canada and Australia.
There are a number of facilities here to help support you such as chat rooms, personal stories, useful links, message boards; including an emotion forum, member’s health updates, living with a stoma, and many more. There are fun areas such as member galleries, and reference areas compiled by our members. We also organise UK meet-ups to enable members to make friends with other UK based IBD sufferers.
Make the site forums your first port of call to get instant contact with other sufferers who understand what you're experiencing. Membership is free - join today!
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Join our chat and make new friends |
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If you would like to host a chat event whether it be a Discussion or Quiz, just contact one of the site moderators who will be happy to help you host the event. |
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My Life With Crohns Disease so far ......... |
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Barium swallow: my experience |
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Please note that I underwent this test with an ileostomy instead of a large bowel. This may therefore mean that my experience will be shorter with less after-effects than someone with a full complement of bowel.
Time taken: up to 4 hours Bowel prep: No eating or drinking for a set period, drinking Barium liquid
The barium swallow (other variants include the barium follow-through and barium enema) is an x-ray examination of the upper digestive system. In order to get the images needed, you are required to drink in excess of about 450ml of barium liquid. The barium coats the inside lining of the oesophagus (gullet), stomach and then duodenum before working its way down through the jejunum and ileum. A series of x-rays are taken, following the passage of the barium as it works its way through the bowel . It is completely painless. The barium liquid drink is a thick white solution that tastes slightly minty and aniseed flavoured. Approximately 15 minutes prior to the x-ray, I was asked to start drinking it. I drank 3 150ml cupfuls which produced adequate x-ray images, however you may be asked to drink more than this to aid clarity of the images. The first x-ray was taken, with me laying horizonal on my tummy for the x-ray. I was encouraged to drink more barium liquid for the next image‘s clarity, and a series of approximately four x-rays was done at 15-20 minute intervals. For the last image results, I was asked to lay on my back and the ‘live’ x-ray machine was used to take pictures of the bowel. This was viewable on screen where you can clearly see the barium coated bowel move when you breathe and slide about when you move. Screenshots were taken, the doctor looking for signs of narrowing in the x-rays, indicating patches of inflammation of the bowel wall, strictures (narrowing of the bowel caused by scarring), adhesions following my previous surgeries and the ‘string sign’ (pictured, right), a wormlike appearance of bowel on screen that indicates severe inflammation in an extended tract of bowel. The after-effects were very minimal. The output from the bag was mostly barium (please note that that it will sit at the bottom of the toilet basin where it is a heavy substance and may require an extra flush) and I was able to go straight away. The live x-ray machine enabled me to discuss the condition of my bowel with the consultant radiologist so I came away with a good idea of the physical condition of my upper digestive system. Kez
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Ileoscopy: my test experience |
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Time taken: 20 minutes Bowel preparation: No eating for 6 hours prior to the examination
The ileoscopy is an endoscopic (fibre optic camera) examination of the ileum, the end part of the small bowel. It was done without sedation. There was no bowel preparation needed (thank goodness! Kleen-prep is no one’s beverage of choice) save that I was not allowed to eat for six hours prior to the test. No sedation or pain relief was needed as you have no conscious feeling in it. I was wheeled into the endoscopy room where they removed my ileostomy bag and passed the endoscope into the stoma, feeding it in gently. Although I have active Crohn’s ulceration and inflammation in the bowel immediately preceding the stoma, there was no pain at all. All you can feel is a slight tickling sensation in your tummy. I was able to watch everything on screen and talk to the doctor during the examination. We looked at the condition of the mucosa (inner bowel membrane) , checking for ulceration and inflammation. Small apthous ulceration was clearly seen and explained by the doctor. The only discomfort suffered was a gripey pain caused by the inflation of the small bowel - the endoscope blows air into the bowel to get a clearer picture. The endoscope was passed into the small bowel for some 50cm with no pain suffered and no conscious feeling of the endoscope being that far in. Biopsies of the bowel wall were taken using a small pincer device on the endoscope. This caused very small patches of bleeding on the bowel wall, seen on screen, but was completely painless when they took a sample. Recovery was very swift without sedation and comprised of a cup of tea and a sandwich. There were no ill-effects after the test save a little bit of gassiness in the bag. A print-out of the report was given to me then and there to explain what the doctor had found. In terms of bowel tests, this one was very bearable and offered good insight into the condition of the terminal ileum (very end part of small bowel) where Crohn’s commonly occurs. Kez
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One year on... |
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An Acrostic Ode To Crohn's |
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 C.ould it be - at last, my soul mate is found? R.omeo never envisaged a passion so strong and wild O.h Juliet. Or Jezebel. Where art thou gone? H.old me tight to your bosom with your angry, consuming passion N. ever allow my tired aching body to fall from your grip S.urely to see you dead, this sword must pierce my heart first
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