Welcome New Member, Lila/Case History/ 2nd EN Bout /Possible IBD?

[Guest guest]

Dear Lila,On behalf of all our members, welcome to our Erythema Nodosum Group! Thanks for sending in your Questionnaire. I have added your information to our "Member Medical History" Files on the Group site and posted it below.You now have Full EN Group privileges.You are receiving Special Notices Only EN Group emails, and you may also visit the Erythema Nodosum Group Site :http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/erythema_nodosum_Group/ whenever you like by logging on with your Yahoo ID and secret password.I would advise going to a gastro. to further check on your IBS as Inflammatory Bowel Disease [Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis] are associated with EN. I live in Orange County, CA. Are we neighbors? Welcome to our Friendly Group!Love,Idiopathic EN 1968********* 1. Your name and age: Lila/42 2. Your location: California 3. Your email address: madeleinesmom@... 4. Your Yahoo ID: madeleinesmom 5. Describe your erythema nodosum/PG symptoms or, if you do not have EN or PG, please explain why you wish to join this group. I have been diagnosed with EN for the 2nd

time, the first being in 2001. I've currently had this for about 6

weeks now. My regular doctor sent me to a rheumatologist. He ran

tests/blood work & took a chest x-ray. I was on Celebrex for almost

a week, but I didn't see any improvement (so I stopped after consulting

my doctor). Had to go out of town for a few days, and was afraid meds

might make the trip worse, so held off on them until I returned. I knew

the trip would exacerbate the problem, with being on a plane for 5+

hours each way (in a 3-day period) as well as much walking and standing

for hours on end. I was incredibly sore & swollen following this,

and returned to have more blood work taken & medicine prescribed

(Prednisolone I believe). That took away most of the pain and the

swelling subsided. This was about 2 weeks ago. I still have all the

nodules (and dry skin), plus I have one area of my leg that is

constantly red. I still have some tenderness, and no idea how long it

will last and if/when it will go away. Doctors don't seem to know the

cause, if it's a reaction to something or a symptom of something else.

They have ruled out a few things. 6. List any other health conditions. Possibly

IBS, but haven't seen a GE about this. Regular doctor said it sounded

like I might have this. Don't know if the EN is a side effect or

related at all. My stomach/digestive system seems to be a little out of

whack, and I believe preceded the EN. 7. State what medications or treatments you take for EN, and their effectiveness: Currently nothing. Just lotion for the dry areas of my legs & feet. 8. When did you first get erythema nodosum or PG? 2001 9. How long have you had erythema nodosum or PG? currently, about 6 weeks 10. Do you agree to treat all EN members with respect? absolutely 11.Do you agree to post NO advertisements for any products or services? Yes 12. How did you find this Group? (Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves Search, referral from another group or person etc.) My sister-in-law was trying to find some answers/help for me and came across this link and emailed me.

[Guest guest]

Hi !

Don't know where to start on this site! But briefly, no, we are not

neighbors. I'm in Ventura County.

Would any of the lab work I had done show anything that would lead

my Dr. to recommend a Gastro Ent.? It was on my list of things to

check into, but I thought I'd wait it out and see if there was any

improvement.

Is EN considered rare? I have no idea in the scheme of things. Both

doctors that I saw in November knew immediately that it was EN, but

not the cause of it.

I'll try and check in frequently to try and get up to speed with

this site and information.

Thanks!

Lila

>

> Dear Lila,

> On behalf of all our members, welcome to our Erythema Nodosum

Group!

>

> Thanks for sending in your Questionnaire. I have added your

information

> to our " Member Medical History " Files on the Group site and

> posted it below.

>

> You now have Full EN Group privileges.

>

> You are receiving Special Notices Only EN Group emails, and you

may also

> visit the

> Erythema Nodosum Group Site

> <http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/erythema_nodosum_Group/> :

>

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/erythema_nodosum_Group/

> <http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/erythema_nodosum_Group/>

>

> whenever you like by logging on with your Yahoo ID and secret

password.

>

> I would advise going to a gastro. to further check on your IBS as

> Inflammatory Bowel Disease [Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis] are

> associated with EN.

> I live in Orange County, CA. Are we neighbors?

> Welcome to our Friendly Group!

>

> Love,

>

> Idiopathic EN 1968

>

>

> *********

> 1. Your name and age: Lila/42

> 2. Your location: California

> 3. Your email address: madeleinesmom@...

> 4. Your Yahoo ID: madeleinesmom

> 5. Describe your erythema nodosum/PG symptoms or, if you do not

have EN

> or PG, please explain why you wish to join this group. I have been

> diagnosed with EN for the 2nd time, the first being in 2001. I've

> currently had this for about 6 weeks now. My regular doctor sent

me to a

> rheumatologist. He ran tests/blood work & took a chest x-ray. I

was on

> Celebrex for almost a week, but I didn't see any improvement (so I

> stopped after consulting my doctor). Had to go out of town for a

few

> days, and was afraid meds might make the trip worse, so held off

on them

> until I returned. I knew the trip would exacerbate the problem,

with

> being on a plane for 5+ hours each way (in a 3-day period) as well

as

> much walking and standing for hours on end. I was incredibly sore &

> swollen following this, and returned to have more blood work taken

&

> medicine prescribed (Prednisolone I believe). That took away most

of the

> pain and the swelling subsided. This was about 2 weeks ago. I

still have

> all the nodules (and dry skin), plus I have one area of my leg

that is

> constantly red. I still have some tenderness, and no idea how long

it

> will last and if/when it will go away. Doctors don't seem to know

> the cause, if it's a reaction to something or a symptom of

something

> else. They have ruled out a few things. 6. List any other

health

> conditions. Possibly IBS, but haven't seen a GE about this.

Regular

> doctor said it sounded like I might have this. Don't know if the EN

> is a side effect or related at all. My stomach/digestive system

seems to

> be a little out of whack, and I believe preceded the EN. 7.

State

> what medications or treatments you take for EN, and their

effectiveness:

> Currently nothing. Just lotion for the dry areas of my legs & feet.

> 8. When did you first get erythema nodosum or PG? 2001

> 9. How long have you had erythema nodosum or PG? currently, about 6

> weeks

> 10. Do you agree to treat all EN members with respect? absolutely

> 11.Do you agree to post NO advertisements for any products or

services?

> Yes

> 12. How did you find this Group? (Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves Search,

> referral from another group or person etc.) My sister-in-law was

trying

> to find some answers/help for me and came across this link and

emailed

> me.

>

[Guest guest]

hi lila,

actually, inflammatory bowel disease (ibd), either crohns disease

(cd) or ulcerative colitis (uc) can be the root cause of many other

things going on, including en. i have pg and cd. i, like many

people, early on, was dx'ed with ibs...because i had cramping and gut

pains. well, as other things evolved, including eye problems and

skin problems, i really questioned this dx. good thing i did too.

there are no real " blood tests " for ibd. this is something you go

by, if you are having any of the following sx's (and you must be

having some issue or you wouldn't be dx'ed with ibs):

cramps

diareaha/constipation

bloody or mucus stools

these are some of the first signs.......or sometimes the other side

effects, such as en, pg, eye problems, etc. may show up first. with

me and most people, if you are going to have eye problems, that is

usually the one to show first (you don't always have to have eye

probems to have ibd, btw). episcleritis in my case (autoinflammation

of the outside layer of the white of the eye).

jeff

>

> Hi !

>

> Don't know where to start on this site! But briefly, no, we are not

> neighbors. I'm in Ventura County.

>

> Would any of the lab work I had done show anything that would lead

> my Dr. to recommend a Gastro Ent.? It was on my list of things to

> check into, but I thought I'd wait it out and see if there was any

> improvement.

>

> Is EN considered rare? I have no idea in the scheme of things. Both

> doctors that I saw in November knew immediately that it was EN, but

> not the cause of it.

>

> I'll try and check in frequently to try and get up to speed with

> this site and information.

>

> Thanks!

> Lila

[Guest guest]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the response. I believe I've had stomach issues for a few

months now, then the nodules, etc. started appearing. From what I

described to my doctor, he said it sounded like IBS, and that I

should see the rheumatologist for what he thought was EN. He

suggested I take Fiber Choice, which I was taking for about a month.

I stopped this past week or two. I thought as first it was helping,

but the last week or so has been crappy, pardon the pun. I will talk

to the rheumatologist this week and probably try to make an appt.

with a GE. I don't have any eye problems at present that I know of,

but I have had iritis twice since about 2000-2001 (not recently).

I've had a high SED rate every time I've been tested in the last

several years. Obviously very high in the last couple of months. I

do have the symptoms you mentioned for IBS. No one has suggested

that I cut back on any foods or watch my intake of anything. Is

there a website or information on what I could do to help in the

meantime? And is there anyplace to look to see what possible

triggers are?

Oh, and a couple of my toes hurt today too. Grrr.

-Lila-

> >

> > Hi !

> >

> > Don't know where to start on this site! But briefly, no, we are

not

> > neighbors. I'm in Ventura County.

> >

> > Would any of the lab work I had done show anything that would

lead

> > my Dr. to recommend a Gastro Ent.? It was on my list of things

to

> > check into, but I thought I'd wait it out and see if there was

any

> > improvement.

> >

> > Is EN considered rare? I have no idea in the scheme of things.

Both

> > doctors that I saw in November knew immediately that it was EN,

but

> > not the cause of it.

> >

> > I'll try and check in frequently to try and get up to speed with

> > this site and information.

> >

> > Thanks!

> > Lila

>

[Guest guest]

lila,

remarkable how your case and mine started out so similar. my gp

dx'ed me with ibs and put me on extra fiber also. made me worse.

sometimes too much fiber is bad for cd. when he sent me to a rheumy,

she gave me a very strong nsaid that totally wacked out my

cd...bedriden...no one, including me, knew i had cd. all the WRONG

treatments! that is what happens sometimes when you see specialities

and no one connects the dots. there are DEFINATE things you DO NOT

want to do if you have cd!

i STRONGLY suggest you get into a gi and get checked out. a hi sed

rate means inflammation, mine was sky high when my eye, gut and skin

acted up....ended up being episcleritis, cd and pg. a rheumy is

nice, but, imho, the gi needs to come first.

i also STRONGLY suggest you visit this site - - ccf.org - - crohns

and colitis foundation of america. there is a wealth of information

that will give you a clearier picture of what to do in your

situation. i wish someone had clued me in on this a few years ago.

i suffered needlessly for so long.

btw, i finally had to drive 100 miles one way to the university of

michigan medical center in order to have the gi, rheumy an derm

departments put my case together and connect all the dots. i have

been in remission for 5 years now.

it is nothing that you are eating, nor can i suggest

something " better " you should be eating. cd has little to NOTHING to

do with what you eat. yes, some things could make it worse, but

NOTHING eaten will make it better. inflammation (as your sed rate

points out) needs special treatment.

please follow my advice.

jeff

>

> Hi Jeff,

>

> Thanks for the response. I believe I've had stomach issues for a

few

> months now, then the nodules, etc. started appearing. From what I

> described to my doctor, he said it sounded like IBS, and that I

> should see the rheumatologist for what he thought was EN. He

> suggested I take Fiber Choice, which I was taking for about a

month.

> I stopped this past week or two. I thought as first it was helping,

> but the last week or so has been crappy, pardon the pun. I will

talk

> to the rheumatologist this week and probably try to make an appt.

> with a GE. I don't have any eye problems at present that I know of,

> but I have had iritis twice since about 2000-2001 (not recently).

> I've had a high SED rate every time I've been tested in the last

> several years. Obviously very high in the last couple of months. I

> do have the symptoms you mentioned for IBS. No one has suggested

> that I cut back on any foods or watch my intake of anything. Is

> there a website or information on what I could do to help in the

> meantime? And is there anyplace to look to see what possible

> triggers are?

>

> Oh, and a couple of my toes hurt today too. Grrr.

>

> -Lila-