Welcome to "41 Pills a Day"

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Do I really take 41 pills a day?  If you count the prednisone and the Prevacid--vitamins, too--I am pushing closer to 50 pills a day actually.  Not that this is what I have been doing since I was diagnosed with Crohn's some 12 years ago.  I have had my good years and bad.  There have been times when I haven't needed to take much of anything. 

This is not one of those times.

Over the past several months, things have gotten worse.  In fact, the condition became so debilitating that I couldn't work for almost two weeks back in January.  The prednisone, which I had been taking since last Fall, was again increased.  My doctors are advocating a more aggressive treatment.  They want me to take Humira.

I have tried just about everything else.  From Asacol to Entocort, from Pentasa to Remacaid---nothing has provided relief.  (I actually think the Entocort made things worse).  And now, Humira is on the horizon.

I'm not sure this is something I want to do.  At least, not right now.  After all, the side effects of Humira can be more debilitating than Crohn's itself.  The last thing I want is a fatal infection.  I know:  chances are small, but there is a chance nonetheless.

So I have decided to try some alternatives to the various drugs that have been prescribed for me.  This week, I saw a practitioner of Chinese Traditional Medicine (more on this later).  He put me on a regimen of herbal therapy--41 pills in all, taken over the course of a day.  I have never taken so many pills in my life.

Today, I was talking with a colleague of mine at work.  We often discuss our ailments in the morning and she said to me, "You should start  blog."

I laughed and thought to myself, "Yeah, right."  I'm 43 years old.  A teacher who consistently has stacks of papers to grade.  A wife and two young boys at home.  In addition to an online radio station, I maintain several blogs as it is.  And, let's not forget this Crohn's-thing.  Sometimes, all I want to do is just lay down and do nothing.

But then I thought about it.

And I'm on prednisone, after all.  This is what happens.

So I welcome you to "41 Pills a Day."  Over the course of the next several months, I will document my experience with herbal therapy and acupuncture.   And hopefully others will join in the discussion.

If you don't like reading about poop or the bodily functions that produce it, you may not want to visit again.  If you are experiencing or have experienced the joy of Crohn's, please join the conversation.

There's comfort in knowing that we are not alone.