Crohn's & Drinking

by Amy
(Sydney, Australia)

My Partner was diagnosed with Crohn's disease over 4 years ago now. No one in his family has any history of Crohn's.

Originally the doctor thought it was Ulcerative Colitis, but a year later he was back in hospital with the same problems.

He is now on high doses of medication 3 times a day but still experiences so much pain in his stomach and rarely gets a good nights sleep because his stomach is so active during the night. His flatulence is also extremely bad (especially if he has been drinking) and the smell will wake us both up in the night, eventhough he eats really well.

He has always been a big drinker (we have been together 8 years) but strangely, when he drinks, his stomach settles down, noticably so. His specialist has done many tests and we have found that his liver function is actually fine, really good actually.

I am not sure if his drinking is actually causing more problems or not? I know that it stops him from stressing over everyday issues and also settles him and his stomach down, but this only last a couple of days and then the pains are back.

Many people with Crohn's say that they have diarrhoea, however my partner never has abnormal bowel movements at all. In fact it is the same time everyday.

My worry is that he is not dealing with his diagnosis mentally at all and wont get a second opinion for his treatment or even read about what he could do to make his situation easier. I am worried that all his drinking is going to take its toll on him and his condition as he doesnt sleep, exercise and is becoming quite disconnected from everyone around him (except me).

I try to make small (informed)suggestions about his lifestyle but he will not listen and does not see that this could be an easier situation as comparitively he is a lucky crohn's sufferer as he has had no operations so far and leads a semi-normal life (my sisters partner also has Crohn's). He will not make any changes to his lifestyle and it seems his mental state is getting worse. I dont know how to approach this as he is quite a stubborn person in the first place.

Has anyone else had any similar social and drinking issues? How did you deal with them?
Any advice would be helpful as i feel he is very capable of living a much more normal life.