Confused about trigger foods?

[Tesscorm]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping you can help me understand the relationship between Crohn's and food (both this site and Crohn's are fairly new to me - my son was diagnosed a few weeks ago).

I've read/heard from doctors, books, etc. that Crohn's is not caused by food or diet and that my son (once done his elemental therapy) will not have a restricted diet.

But, I've also heard and seen on this site lots of comments being made about foods to avoid, trigger foods, etc.

I'm also confused regarding the effect that these trigger foods cause... would a 'bad' food cause a relatively mild, short term reaction (i.e. upset stomach, indigestion) or does it cause a 'flare-up'?

I would really appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks

 

[sam37]

Hi Tesscorm

And welcome to the forum - its a great site for information and asking questions.

I think your asking the million dollar question, you will find that Crohns affects everyone differently and is a very individual illness. Whilst in remission I do not have to restrict my diet and I do have 'trigger' foods' that irritate my gut and give me diarrhoea for a few days including pain and stomach cramps. When I am flaring I tend to take care more of my diet, removing foods that personnally cause me pain ( mine are things like skins/seeds/nuts/raw veg/salad) Spices tend not to worry me too much but alcohol is a big no no.

When I'm really poorly I stick to a low residue/low fibre diet - maybe you could get an appt with a dietician to help identify your sons trigger foods.

As it was expalined to me - when you flare its like having sunburn on the insde of your bowel, foods that need a lot of breaking down and a lot of work on it (like skins/seeds/fibre) mean your bowel has to work harder and its like pressing on the sunburn. Thats why it hurts. You could also try keeping a food diary to see if that identifies foods. A lot of people with crohns don't tolerate milk products well but again its very individual and it will be a case of try and see.

I hope that you find lots of info on hear and ask lots of questions, its a huge learning curve but your at the right place.

Hope that helps
xxx

 

[Tesscorm]

Thanks for the reply. It really is overwhelming trying to make sense of it all when it's your child's health that's at stake!

Your answer leads me to another question... when you say that your trigger foods irritate your gut (diarrhea, pain, cramps), is this not a flare up? And do you have to take medication right away to reduce the inflammation/flare or these 'irritations' sometimes go away on their own? How do you know when you are flaring and just need to take more care of your diet or if you need to see the dr or go to ER?

I'm sorry if these are 'dumb' questions but, unfortunately, I'm sure I'll come to know more soon enough

 

[Gue33]

Please don't feel 'dumb'. Your questions are good ones, very valid, goes through our minds as well. I am never really sure if I am flaring or if it's just what I ate that day and I've lived with Crohn's for 26 years. The only time I was really sure was when I ended up in hospital for surgery. I use this test to at least give me some guidance as to whether I am in a flare or not. I hope it helps.
http://www.ibdjohn.com/cdai/

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Food cannot cause a flare-up, but it can cause symptoms that feel similar to a flare. A flare-up involves inflammation in the digestive tract. So if you have inflammation and you eat, for example, something that is high in fiber (fiber can't be totally broken down and sort of scrapes against the intestinal wall), that's going to hurt and cause pain, diarrhea, etc. Even when we're not flaring, certain foods can irritate the intestines and cause symptoms. Everybody's triggers are different (although there's certain foods that most of us can't eat - popcorn comes to mind!). But, like I said, they won't cause an actual flare (unless your son eats so much fiber that it causes a blockage or something like that, but unless he's got narrowing or a stricture I wouldn't worry too much about that).

 

[Tesscorm]

Thanks, really appreciate the replies!

 

[StarGirrrrl]

I see the arguments against but a few packs of crisps landed me in A&E this week and I was in so much pain they gave me morphine. In the Registrar's words it was a flare/ attack of whatever I have (currently undiagnosed). One of his questions was " was this triggered by food".
I ate the crisps on day 1 and day 3, on day 1 I was bad, day 2 things had eased and pain had gone, on day 3 I ate them again and the pain lasted into day 4.
So, it might not be the norm but for me the food definetely did cause the flare up!

 

[Miki]

Food cannot cause a flare-up, but it can cause symptoms that feel similar to a flare. A flare-up involves inflammation in the digestive tract. So if you have inflammation and you eat, for example, something that is high in fiber (fiber can't be totally broken down and sort of scrapes against the intestinal wall), that's going to hurt and cause pain, diarrhea, etc. Even when we're not flaring, certain foods can irritate the intestines and cause symptoms. Everybody's triggers are different (although there's certain foods that most of us can't eat - popcorn comes to mind!). But, like I said, they won't cause an actual flare (unless your son eats so much fiber that it causes a blockage or something like that, but unless he's got narrowing or a stricture I wouldn't worry too much about that).

Consensus among the doctors so far seems to be that the food indeed can not cause a flare-up (or better to say - no proof yet that any particular food causes it).
When you say that some food can cause symptoms that feel similar to a flare why do you think that happens? Is it because of the damage someone already has in his/her digestive tract from past (and cured) flare-ups?

 

[Verdeyes]

I've had ibs since teen years. I am 34 now. 10 years ago had emergency surgery and diagnosed with Crohns. Being that ibs and crohns symptoms are so alike hard to tell if its a flare up or not, I have colonoscopies every 2 yrs, not on meds, the dr. said when they see growth our damages coming then I will have to go back on meds. I was on Pentasa. Something I recently discovered and am thrilled with is the blood type diet. I have no diarrehea or pains when I stick to it. I tried figuring out trigger foods forever but ig was never consistant results, til now.