With just being diagnosed with crohns disease and on pred and aza.  I still have my stomach pains/cramps everyday somedays more than others but nothing compared to what it was before i started meds.  I am just reading some of the threads about what foods trigger you at the moment i don't actually know. This may sound a stupid question but how long after eating something can you tell its not agreed with you?  I have been told to stay away from fruit, veg until my inflammination is under control, so does this mean once the tablets have worked (fingers crossed) will i be in remission and will manage to eat fruit and veg again?

When i was reading some of the foods on your lists and most of them i eat, like cheese!  I then start thinking could this be why i still get stomach pains.  Should the tablets not stop stomach pains? Its cured the other symptoms (with just the odd day of nausea, vomitting, fatigue etc...)

Thanks for reading any advice will be grateful thank u. x

Hi Bo22, The tablets will help with the pain but you will always have food triggers that will cause or increase pain. My main food problem is onions and even onoin powder (in very very small quantities) will cause pain. I find it is about 30 minutes before the pain really hits or the need to rush to the toilet but sometimes less reactive food will take up to an hour to cause pain. I found my triggers by cutting out all food and just trying one or two things a day until I could find something that didn't cause problems. It takes a while but it is worth it. Good luck. Dawn x x

For me it depends on which food i eat as some give different effects than others.

Some such as cheese, pizza, nuts, peanut butter, Chinese, will react within 30 mins. (Sometimes i've only just finished eating and i'll get cramps, nausea, stomach pains and then diarrhoea).

Other's such as ice cream, crisps, chips, fatty/greasy foods will make me feel ill about an 30mins-an hour later but i'll only get nausea, bloating, gas, slight stomach pains, mucus in stools etc.

What i found useful was to keep a food diary. Write down everything you eat and how you feel afterwards. That way after a while it will show you what foods make you feel ill, what foods play up with you but not too extremely, what foods are fine etc.

Thanks for your help.  I had pie and mashed potato last night for dinner and have experienced growling, rumbling and pulling unconfortable feelings in my stomach since then.  I did get a sharp lower pelvic pain about an hour after my dinner and did 2 bowel movements but wasn't diarhea just normal consistency.  I normally just do 1 maybe 2 stools a day but yesterday i went 4 times. (sorry for the too much info)
( diarhea, is not one of the symptoms i experience with crohns mine is nausea and vomitting with the urge to pass but never diarhea)
the growling and pulling feeling went on throughout the night into today it was not as much painful more unconfortable.  But gradually throughout the day the noises have quieted down and the cramps are starting to feel more painful.  I take tramadol for the pain, i haven't had a bowel movement today and now starting to worry it may be some kind of obstruction.  I am not doubled over in pain or anything but as the days going on i am starting to feel more painful cramps and its more painful if i move about.  My stomach is hard above the belly botton and slightly sore to touch.
Do you think this is caused by the mashed potatoes and pie or could it be all the food throughout the day just gathering together and making me feel like this?  
Sorry for the big story, just getting worried am done to 30mg pred yesterday and can't seem to get passed that mark as symptoms return and i need to go back up to 40mg.

With any food intolerance it's always very difficult to figure out what is causing it.  The only way to do it is to have, say, the pie on a different day without the other combination of foods you had, and see what happens.

Over time you should be able to work out whether you have, for example, a wheat intolerance (not Coeliac, wheat intolerance is very common with IBS and IBD).

When you react to a food/drink it may not always cause diarrhoea, just an urgent need to go to the toilet.  I know with me it can take 3-4 hours for the symptoms to start after the time I know I last ate.  Sometimes also you are fine with a food one day and react the next...  It's unfortunately very trial and error but through monitoring what you eat and how/when you react you should be able to get a good idea.

You should still be eating a small amount of veg, but only low fibre items - were you told low fibre/residue, and if so were you given a diet sheet?  If you don't have a diet sheet go to:

http://www.cuh.org.uk/resources/pdf/patient_information_leaflets/PIN1051_low_fibre_diet.pdf

(sorry it won't let me post it as a link) - it's Addenbrooke Hospital's posted list of what and what not to eat.  I wasn't given a diet sheet when I was diagnosed but told to eat low fibre, so I searched the internet and Addenbrooke's came up first.  With them being a well known hospital, I trusted their list, and subsequently got a very similar list from my specialist.

Also if you're on azathioprine make sure you read the information leaflet - I've just been put on this myself and it says you are potentially at higher risk of infections like colds, and shouldn't eat any food containing unpasteurised milk.  The aza also has a very common side effect of making you nauseous and can cause vomiting.  Plus you should be having regular blood tests.

I saw a dietician on Thursday and the main thing I wanted to know is when to come off the low fibre diet.  I'm in flare at the moment and she I should carry on with a low fibre diet and then when it's settled slowly start reintroducing foods - start with a little veg, then move on to fruit, and then to higher fibre items, but only introduce one food at a time to know whether you've reacted to it.

Is your pelvic pain right at the bottom of your back, almost at the top of your bum?  This is very common with IBD, if you look through the forums you will see plenty of people reporting the same pain.  Tramadol seems to be the most common medication to ease it.  As with the colitis, this is unfortunately another thing you will have to get used to, commonly when you've eaten something that doesn't agree with you.

My pain is also about 1.5 inches above the belly button and when the specialist asked me where it hurts she didn't seem surprised that's where the pain was.  She said the aza will also cause me to have pain there.

How long have you been on the pred?  If you've been told to lower the dose I would follow the recommendation of the prescriber, even if you don't think it's working.  Alternatively go back to whoever prescribed it and ask them for advice.

Thank you magpie that was useful tips.  I have been on IV steriods for 7 days back in March and started 40mg on 31 march i have reduced 1 a week since then but always get as far as 30mg and straight back up to the 40mg due to symptoms returning.  My gp said that the aza can take up to 3 month to work so looking into next month before start to notice any difference, if this is the case!
I have been going for blood tests every week but now that my results have been ok apart from anemic and had to double check my white blood count a couple of times my body seems to be responding well to the aza but i am alittle unsure on how i will be able to tell when the aza has actually started to kick into my system.  Will i just get no symptoms?  Will i be totally off the pred by then? How does all this work, to think i never even used to take a paracentamol for a sore head and now am on 14 tablets a day!! its all so new but i am getting better at swallowing those dreadful little pred tablets, for being little tablets the have to be the worst!

xx

I also got told the Aza takes 2-3 months to kick in, hopefully as the pred finishes!  

I think it's very individual as to how you will feel on the Aza, depending on whether it's controlling your symptoms.  

I hope also that it will mea I can return to somewhere near 'normal.'  I'm tired of being tired!

Best of luck. xx