Help Figure out the Triggers for IBD

[Jennifer]

Perhaps if we all thought back to when we first got sick we might be able to have a better idea of what can trigger IBD. We all know that it can be hereditary but was there a trigger? Could be anything from the brand of toilet paper, to what you ate to how we were raised etc.

My sister and I both have Crohn's and both had the same symptoms within the same month. We played the same games in the same places and ate the same foods and grew up with ~the same physical and mental stress. This tells me that we most likely had the same trigger as well.

Location: We grew up in Grover Beach Ca.
Age: I was 9 and she was 11 years old.
Recreation: We played a lot of games that required running around and would hide under this heap of ivy. We rode bikes a lot, played in mud, crawled around on dirty floors, played with our cats, went to the same school, played tether ball like champs.
Environment: Our mom is a hoarder so our house was always dirty and had a lot of trash, dust, flies, roaches, cats (none were spayed or neutered), piles of clothes and toys and whatever else. Our parents physically and mentally abused us and we were placed in foster care for a year because of the abuse. Our brother was born 6 years after me and our parents hardly ever watched him so we basically took care of him. Also when we were really young before we got sick our parents would hog the bathroom all the time and we only had one so we would sometimes go to the bathroom behind the curtains and it wouldn't get cleaned up and our parents never noticed so when it happened again we would go in the same area. Our clothes were usually bought at a thrift store and we always had the cheapest toilet paper (didn't matter the brand so basically we used all brands).
Nutrition: We mainly ate bag line food. This is food that's near its expiration or of very low quality. Lots of canned soups, canned veggies even canned meats (ham, spam, tuna). Hot dogs, packaged ramen, spaghetti with canned sauce (usually Ragu). Koolaid, Sunny Delight, soda, TAP WATER (in caps cause I think its important).

Anything of interest: There was a problem with the water pipes in our city and the water was brown for a while. I don't think we drank the brown water but my mom did start boiling the water after that to kill whatever might be in the water. Our oldest sister got worms some how but neither of us did. My mom said that both my sister and I had a virus and we never got better and then we were diagnosed but honestly I don't think it was a virus and it was more than likely the beginning symptoms of Crohn's (was basically a flu that never ended). Also we took a whole bottle of Children's Tylenol out of our parents room and split it like candy. Once our parents found out they induced vomiting by making us drink tea mixed with something that makes you vomit and we threw up in the bathroom (one head in the toilet, one in the sink and one in the bathtub). Our dad worked at a winery and we would play around the grounds and machinery.

Edit: My sister and I got a hold of a bad of plain white sugar and used spoons to eat it right out of the bag. We also ate candy on a fairly regular basis. We would have a Happy Meal once a week. We swam in a public pool and did eat a fair amount of greasy chips/snacks and TV dinners. Had popcorn w/asbestos ceiling and there was often mold around in the kitchen, bathroom and on windows.


I understand that a lot of this information is personal and if you don't want to share obviously you don't have to but I thought it might help if we all got together and shared any information where we might find a connection. This is all in hopes of reducing the number of triggers out there so maybe less people will suffer from IBD in the future.

Thank you to anyone who shares. I'll probably add more when someone jogs my memory with their own experiences.


Possible links found so far (keep in mind that none of this is proven and I'm just adding things that pop up in more than one post below. The numbers indicate how many people below mentioned it)):

Tap Water/Lake Water (10)
Soda (6)
Stress (13)
Ibuprofen (6)
Fast Food/Greasy Snack Chips/TV Dinners (12)
Holding in stool (3)
Sugar/Candy (6)
Antibiotics (5)
Public Pool/Beach (3)
Cleaning Products - excessive use (4)
Mold (2)
Contraceptive Pill/Other Means (not condom use) (4)
Filthy Environment (2)
Ate Dirt (2)
Nickle Allergy/Allergies (7)
Asbestos/Popcorn Ceiling and/or Artex (either one applied in 1980's or earlier) (3)
Family History of Autoimmune Disorders (list of A.D. http://www.aarda.org/research_display.php?ID=47) (9)

 

[tiloah]

Location: Grew up in western Washington, went to college in western Oregon for three years, returned to western Washington
Age: 21
Recreation: Growing up I was pretty outdoorsy. We had a place on Whidbey island we went to frequently. When I was older we visited Lake Chelan (eastern WA) frequently.
Environment: Suburban, house was kept pretty clean. "Average" "normal" family.
Nutrition: We ate pretty healthy, although I was an extremely picky eater. Until I was older I wouldn't eat any green vegetables (I came to LOVE broccoli). I went through a cottage cheese phase, then a frozen "chicken patty" phase. I obsessed over potato chips. Had one soda a week growing up. During college I ate like crap, and my soda habit became one can, then one bottle a day. I also drank TAP WATER.
Anything of interest: My father died about three months after I moved and started at Uni. I think the stress of his death and starting Uni combined with frequent headaches (and subsequent Advil usage). After I graduated (3 years after my dad died) I moved back to western WA and started working full time. VERY shortly after that I had a day of very intense RLQ pain. Since I didn't have health insurance (have to work at a place for 3 months) I didn't go to the doc. Well three months later when I DID have health insurance I had the same pain. My doc was smart enough to send me for a CT and it showed inflammation of my TI. A month or two later I had my colonoscopy and the rest is history.

I really think my "trigger" was the combination of my soda intake, my Advil usage, and the stress of school and my dad dying. Although lately I have been wondering (I remember having the same D as treating my C. diff got rid of in the dorms) if I got C. diff while living in the dorms at school and that was the real trigger. In any case I am still a soda addict and I really wish I could quit, especially now that I've had a chance to "start over" so to speak with my guts.

 

[Grumbletum]

Born in Scotland, but worked abroad as a teacher for 20 years:
Australia
Turkey
Egypt
Sri Lanka
Dubai

Made the decision to move back about 4 years ago and have had a fair few stresses:
- mum suffering from Alzheimers and after much agonising, me and my siblings decided that she would be better in a home with 24/7 care
- still struggling to find a good permanent job. Was struggling financially for a while. Thought I might lose my house.
- quit smoking 6 months before onset of symptoms
- the 8 weeks before onset, I trained to do call centre work from home for a major catalogue group. The training was great, but dealing with angry customers and pressure to perform etc from the company was very stressful
- I'm a single parent

I've had really good health until now, apart from an operation for an ovarian cyst 25 years ago and Hep A when I was living in Egypt.
I used to eat a lot of sweet stuff, especially chocolate and probably drank a bit too much red wine.
There's a high incidence of other auto-immune diseases in the immediate family.

 

[Jennifer]

Born in Scotland, but worked abroad as a teacher for 20 years.

Where did you work abroad? I ask in case it may or may not have any relevance.

 

[kekemonster101]

I think it would be so hard to find a correlation between things like food eaten since theres such a similarity between people.

One thing I want to bring up which I think is probably never talked about, and is a little embarrassing, is that when I was little, I would always try to "hold it in" when I had to poop. No reason, really, I wasnt scared of going, I simply was lazy I guess and didnt want to stop whatever I was doing at the time. I remember doing that for several years and sometimes I'd get stomach aches.

Im wondering if anyone else remembers going through any kind of phase like that? I always wondered if possibly that could have irritated my intestines somehow and opened it up for an infection or bacteria of some sort.

 

[Jennifer]

Yes it would be hard but I don't think its a bad idea. I'm not trying to find the one food that does people in for IBD and quite honestly I highly doubt its a food in general. Could be something ingested but that doesn't mean its "food." I'm just curious to see what connections we do have and even if there are connections that doesn't make it fact of course.

My brother (does not have IBD) used to hold it whether it was #1 or #2. I know holding it can cause urinary tract infections but I haven't heard much mentioned about an infection of sorts from holding in your stool. Although if another person mentions it on here of course I'll add it to the list above.

Edit: From what I read about stool holding it didn't say anything about any risk factors other then Encopresis where you have stool leaking out around the harder compacted stool. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/encopresis/DS00885

 

[Tesscorm]

I have a couple of things to add that are 'interesting'...

Re the 'holding' it in. When my son was much younger, approx. 9-10 years old, he went thru a period when he would become constipated enough that it was quite painful, wudn't even be able to stand straight. When it happened the first time, the doctor suggested glycerin suppositories. They worked fantastically - literally 15 minutes later, he would have his BM and all pain would be gone. This happened to him, perhaps, twice per year for 2-3 years and then just stopped. Since his diagnosis, I mentioned this to him and he said he would 'hold it in' because he'd be playing and didn't want to stop. Not sure if he 'caused' the constipation but, interesting that someone else mentioned it.

Second 'thing' of interest, truly believe this is SILLY but, again, another coincidence sort of got me wondering a bit. (Before you think I'm totally whacky, really I think this is silly but...) When my son sleeps, sometimes his eyes don't close completely (a narrow gap stays open). Since his diagnosis, my mother mentioned that back in her 'day', in Portugal, it was believed that if you didn't close your eyes completely, it meant you had some sort of intestinal leeches. I totally dismissed this when my mother mentioned it... LOL Until, speaking with a friend who's daughter also has Crohn's... apparently when her daughter sleeps, her eyes are also partially open???? Okay, please don't think I'm crazy here :rof:... just thought it was interesting coincidence.

As far as my son's triggers... I believe his use of ibuprofen over this past winter was the trigger. He has had a sore back for almost two years - I think it was caused and hasn't been able to completely heal for a number of reasons - hitting, checking, etc. in hockey, sitting for hours hunched over his computer with shoulder/back tense bcz of the computer 'war game' and a growth spurt where he grew a foot in the last 18 months. His doctor suggested he take an advil/ibuprofen before games to reduce inflammation in his back muscles. He did this throughout the winter and I'm now estimating, he was taking up to 15 pills per month between September to March (which coincidentally is when he began to show symptoms and was diagnosed in May).

Other than that, his history is...

Medical history - never sick (rarely even caught a cold), no allergies.

Environment/Lifestyle - typical suburban lifestyle, two parents, one sister and a dog. Plays/practices hockey 4-7 times/wk in the winter and 2-3 times/wk in the summer (has done so for the past 9 years). Also takes phys.ed. at school and participates in various school sports/teams.

Stress - very little. Does well in school without huge effort, rarely stresses over exams or assignments, lots of friends, liked by teachers and coaches. Very laid back personality. Not a lot of 'teen' stress here.

Eating habits - not the healthiest eater. Prefers plain, 'typical' food (salmon is as exotic as he gets!), nothing fancy, no gravies, sauces, etc. The choice for 'plain' is preference, not that food ever bothered him (likes spicy). Pretty much a meat (beef, chick or fish) & potatos guy - doesn't like any veggies (except pureed veg soup) or most fruit (likes apples and oranges, will eat blackberries or strawberries under duress!) - but hasn't even tried them enough for me to say that perhaps the veg/fruit bothered him and he instinctively stayed away from them. Too much fast food - loves pizza, chicken nuggets, fries and takes any opportunity to have these (at lunch with friends, weekends,... ). Unfortunately, due to our very hectic lifestyle - two working parents with two kids in competitive sports doesn't leave lots of cooking time. Although we try to have dinner at home most evenings, between his pickiness and our limited time, we eat out or pick up 3 times/wk (rarely as bad as something like McDonalds but, nonetheless, not homemade). (As pop was mentioned up above... he very rarely drinks pop, doesnt like it. Drinks lots of milk, juice, water or iced tea.)

Travels - all our travels in the last few years have either been to Florida or Vegas, nowhere exotic.

Not sure that there's anything in his history to indicate a trigger EXCEPT for the ibuprofen use.

 

[StarGirrrrl]

I could dissect my life history, but honestly, when my problems started I was having the time of my life and happier than I had been in a long time. I had moved back into the town so was able to get out and about more, plus I had completed 3 years of college and now had free time to do what I wanted! I was looking for a job and getting interviews.

I didn't travel anywhere exotic in that time frame, no ibuprofen or other meds, no diet changes, and was making a slow recovery from ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Things were great!

I seem to remember the odd Gastro issue (D/ random tummy pains) a few years prior but it certainly was 5 years ago things kicked off. There have been many painful stressful times in my life; if there was a true "trigger" for me then it would not have occured when the going was good!

I will be interested to see the other responses, but honestly I feel for me, it's just one of those things with no real cause that happened. You can't explain everything in life and sometimes things do happen with no reason. I have a slight family history of IBD though.

 

[Dayz]

I am still undiagnosed and my doctor is leaning towards something auto immune but I strongly believe the mix of some factors in my life is what has made me sick.

I grew up in Reno Nevada in a somewhat poor neighberhood but my father has always provided everthing that we need (health insurance, good home, cloths etc) our diet is mainly mexican food but there has never been junk food in our home or sodas and we rarely eat canned foods or frozen foods.

I travel to Mexico often (my doc thinks I caught a parasite)

My theory is that I have always had a poor immune system. It takes me longer to get over any cold/flus.

I also have horrible chest pains and have been checked up and down but nothing has shown up.

I have used Retin A and Tazorac for acne since I was 15 years old (now 23) I rarely take pain killers of any sort but I really think that the excessive use of my acne meds have something to do with me being sick and I also have a reproductive anamoly I have two uteruses and it would be extremly difficult for me to carry a baby to full term because both of my uteruses are kinda funky. I also dont excercise regurlarl and would eat out a lot since I have started college. I have always been anemic and have always had minor health issues like brain fog, feeling tired all the time, and weight loss (I have to eat like a monster just to gain a couple of pounds).

Noboudy in my family has any kind of auto immune disease. My mother and fathers side both are quite extensive and there are no major health issues apart form breast cancer. And I mean none. Our family is really healthy and even having over 120 first cousins none have a serious illness.

I have had low grade anxiety since highschool I went through a period where i thought i had HIV for almost a year when I was 17 and ever since then any little health problem is 100X worse for me. I had an abnormal pap two years ago and I completely freaked out.

To sum it up I believe my anxiety coupled with the Retin A and my not so good lifestyle starting in college caused me to become sick. I was really stressed out when all of this happened I had two stressful jobs, went to school, and was having other personal issues.

 

[Jennifer]

I seem to remember the odd Gastro issue (D/ random tummy pains) a few years prior but it certainly was 5 years ago things kicked off. There have been many painful stressful times in my life; if there was a true "trigger" for me then it would not have occured when the going was good!

It's quite possible that you were experiencing minor symptoms before the kick off 5 years ago. We don't just get sick suddenly, it takes time for things to get bad enough for us to notice the effects. Stress also doesn't just come from negative things happening in our lives. Happy things like graduation, getting married etc. still put stress on the body even though you're happy. Although I do agree that its possible that there may not have been a trigger for some or even everyone for that matter and that suffering from IBD my be inevitable for some people.

 

[Jennifer]

I also have horrible chest pains and have been checked up and down but nothing has shown up.

Have you had a heart ultrasound and done a 72 hour halter monitor? Slightly off topic just curious.

 

[tiloah]

Of note - Ever since I was little the malleolus on my right ankle has had dead, flaky skin on it. Nothing I did would make the skin stop being "dead" (in hindsight, inflamed). When I was 18 I began having what I thought was dandruff. I remember the exact day I started having inflammation on the back of my head and started scratching and losing tons of dead skin back there. It was really severe. One time during college when my hair was being dyed people commented on how red and inflamed my skin back there was. Both of these healed when I started Humira. So I definitely have had symptoms of inflammation the majority of my life.

 

[Dayz]

Have you had a heart ultrasound and done a 72 hour halter monitor? Slightly off topic just curious.

yes, I have had every test under the sun. I have had the king of heart monitor where i basically walked around with a heart monitor for a month and after two days would report back my results. It was a really extensive work up because I had been in the ER three times and my docs were worried i had something. Wish they were as worried about this but I tell them a symptom and they attribute it to stress.

 

[DustyKat]

Location:
Small rural town in north west NSW.

Age:
Sarah 14, symptomatic at 13.
Matt 17.
Both have Fistulising Ileal Crohns.

Recreation:
Both played frequently outside in the backyard and at the park. Rode bikes, played with friends, played ball games like cricket and rugby league, went swimming regularly in summer.
Also played indoors - board games, nintendo, read books, toys and so on.
Have spent a fair bit of time on their grandparents property feeding lambs, helping with shearing, handling fleece, picking fruit, riding motorbikes and quads, riding horses and vegetable gardening.
Sarah was never interested in organised sport but Matt has played soccer since he was 7, until this year had not missed a game in 10 years.
Both attended the same school throughout their schooling, it is K-12.

Environment:
Have lived in the same house all their lives. Two parent family, we both work full time now but I stayed home and looked after them until they started school.
House is clean and tidy, I'm a neat freak but not a clean freak...:lol: but within reason, I won't straighten the cushions the minute you get up!
We have had a variety of pets over the years - birds, dog, goldfish, chooks and cats, of which we now have two. The cats and dogs have all been desexed.

Nutrition:
I would say they basically had a healthy and nutritious diet. The majority of time was/is home cooked meals using fresh ingredients some of which are home grown. Lots of fruit and some of this is also home grown. I guess you would say lots of country style food. Occasional take away.
Occasional treats like lollies and chocolate.
Very little soft drink, Sarah has never drunk it, hates it and Matt very rarely. They mainly drink water, a combination of both tap and tank water.

Medical:
Both were breast fed until at least 12 months. Neither had colic as a baby.
Both fully immunised.
Both had Chicken Pox.
Matt had an inguinal hernia repair at 12 months and reduction of enlarged turbinates at 10 but aside from that no hospitalisations for either until Crohns struck.
No other medical issues during their childhood. Only a handful of visits between the two of them to the GP.
Both had never had antibiotics until diagnosed with Crohns.

Genetics:
Husband has a first cousin with Crohns, it is also Ileal but she has never required surgery.
No other family history of IBD or autoimmune diseases.
We both have a family history of those circle of diseases that include - Asthma, Eczema, Migraine, Sinus and Hayfever


Stress:
I don't believe stress was a trigger for their Crohns. Both have done well in school and did not have social issues. Matt did start university part time at 14 but it is something he has thrived on and certainly has never been stressed about.
Sarah is very extroverted. Matt is very introverted.

Travels:
Wholly within Australia. Mainly to the coast or cities.

I don't know in my kids case there is in actual fact an external trigger. With them both contracting it their teens I wonder if there is a physiological trigger within them, hormonal maybe?, that switches it on...(((shrug)))

Dusty. xxx

 

[HeatherMN]

Second 'thing' of interest, truly believe this is SILLY but, again, another coincidence sort of got me wondering a bit. (Before you think I'm totally whacky, really I think this is silly but...) When my son sleeps, sometimes his eyes don't close completely (a narrow gap stays open). Since his diagnosis, my mother mentioned that back in her 'day', in Portugal, it was believed that if you didn't close your eyes completely, it meant you had some sort of intestinal leeches. I totally dismissed this when my mother mentioned it... LOL Until, speaking with a friend who's daughter also has Crohn's... apparently when her daughter sleeps, her eyes are also partially open???? Okay, please don't think I'm crazy here :rof:... just thought it was interesting coincidence. .

the open eyes while sleeping thing can be a symptom of muscular dystrophy, my sister has a form of it (she also has crohn's) and it is a sign of weakening facial muscles that don't allow the eyes to close all the way while asleep.

Not saying that's what he has, but thought I would throw it out there.

 

[HeatherMN]

Location: grew up in central Minnesota, lived in Minneapolis area when diagnosed
Age: diagnosed at 27
Recreation: umm...not really an outdoors person, never played organized sports other than being a cheerleader in High school
Environment: was pregnant with twins when symptoms first started. This was after having gone through 3 tubal pregnancies (1995, 1997, 1999), 3 surgeries to remove them and then having my fallopian tubes removed also (1999). We did IVF (one round only) in 2000, delivered March 2001, and was diagnosed in May 2001 with Crohns.
I am not a complete clean freak, but I never let my house get terribly messy either.
Nutrition: I had a bout of what I believe was food poisoning when I was pregnant (Jan 2001) and the diarrhea never went away after that. I also threw up most of what I ate in the evenings until I delivered, then just diarrhea after every meal until I quit eating altogether... Also drank tap water, Diet Coke, some alcohol (of course not while pregnant), but never coffee. Otherwise a pretty healthy diet, not huge into vegetables but I ate my fair share of them. Also never been a real big red meat eater.
Anything of interest: I had pinworms as a kid, but don't really remember much in the way of digestive issues in childhood. I had TONS of ear infections and was on antibiotics a lot for them. I also have allergies to lots of outdoor stuff (prob why I am not an outdoorsy person?) and used to get allergy shots as a kid. Now I take claritin or zyrtec for them.

 

[xJillx]

Location: Langhorne, PA

Age: 26

Recreation: I have always been an active person, but never really had to work out to stay thin. However, after getting married in 2007, I packed on the pounds as I adopted my husband's bad eating habits. So, a year and 30 additional pounds later, I realized enough was enough, and I started to work out about 5-6 days a week. My workouts weren't intense and included free weights, stationary bike, and some pilates here and there. I was in the best shape of my life when I got diagnosed in 2010.


Nutrition: Along with working out, I began eating a very healthy diet. I never really ate fruits and veggies. Believe it or not, I had my first salad in my early 20's. But I began eating at least 3 servings of fruits and veggies daily. Also, I kept hearing about fiber, so I even started to take Citrucel. A year after starting the Citrucel, the mucus began. I thought I was getting too much fiber in my diet, so I stopped taking it. The mucus did not stop, and a few months later I had a colonoscopy showing Crohn's.

Anything of interest: I personally think my healthier habits was my trigger. I dramatically changed how I ate and worked out. Perhaps it shocked my system. Granted, many people adopt healthier habits daily without issue. But I guess I have a genetic predisposition, though there is no IBD history anywhere in my family.

 

[Tesscorm]

My son and I actually wondered a bit about a 'healthier' diet as well... my husband and I had been getting a bit more forceful in encouraging my son to eat more veggies/fruits over the past few months and he was making an 'attempt' to eat a little veggie every dinner. At about the same time, his girlfriend decided she was also going to teach him to eat a healthier diet and was making him try raw veggies every day at lunch. This was just before he began to get sick.

I don't think that it was the 'healthier' diet that triggered his (or anyone's) Crohn's, however, I do think any change from what is 'usual' for each person may be a trigger, the change could be a good thing (reduced stress levels when finishing school, healthier diet...) or a negative change (infection, illness...), change could involve diet, medication, activity/exercise, environment (travel or move) or stress level. Any of these factors would create a response from your body; sometimes a positive reaction but sometimes the reaction may be a negative.

I'm interested in seeing the list of triggers as it's compiled but I think it'll end up being a very long list.

I have very little experience/history with Crohn's but, thinking back, can most of you recall a 'change' in your life before a trigger (first trigger or not)? In my son's case, I think it was his use of ibuprofen over the preceding months (I think the change in his diet was too small to be influential).

 

[Grumbletum]

Where did you work abroad? I ask in case it may or may not have any relevance.

Good point, Crabby :ysmile: I'll add them to my post.

 

[lookame]

Location: Columbus, Ohio...well more Gahanna, Ohio
Age: Slight symptoms in high school (ages 14-18) real noticable symptoms at the age of 22
Recreation: In high school I was a cheerleader freshman year I did two seasons-football and basketball and sophmore year I did one-basketball. Sophmore year my grades began to fall and I started having trouble with my joints(mostly my knee and hip on my left side) There wasn;t anything conclusive except I lost a considerable amount of muscle around my knee. I also started having stomache aches in the middle of the night and would black out during 3rd period. I went to church religiously where I met my boyfriend(my family didn't like him or that I was going to church) I was then diagnosed with migrain headaches(cause of blackouts) and acid reflux(nighttime tummy aches and something I describe as cold buring at the back of my throat) My doctor also noticed I lost a few pounds in a short amount of time(something like 5-10 pounds) which he thought I had anorexia but since it wasn't a huge amount of weight he dismissed it but "kept an eye on me"

When I became noticably symptomatic was after I gave birth to my son. I got pregnant at age 19 and I had really bad acid reflux but other than that a pretty uneventful pregnancy besides the blackouts(I had a few but not many) they checked my heart and everything came back normal(I tend to go through phases of blackouts my mom told me I used to blackout when I was around 3 or 4 years old)I had my first bloody stool a couple of months after he was born. Then everything went back to normal until I was 22 when I had bloody stools for a week then they would go away and come back a month later. I saw a GI at the age of 22 when the bloody stools and diarreah wouldn;t go away. I was also participating in a drug trial for some extra cash at this time(I was given saline)

Environment:I grew up in a nice house in a good, quiet neighborhood. I went to a crowded high school but it was still a good high school(one of the best in Ohio) I have an older brother and sister and my mother. My dad worked a lot of hours and was only really home when I was in school. My mom was a stay at home mother but didn't keep much of an eye on us.

Nutrition: My mom wasn't big on cooking so we ate a lot of fast food and tv dinners. I drank a lot of pop(like Dr.Pepper) and filtered water...but mostly pop. When I got into high school I didn;t eat much, I didn;t have money for school lunch, didn;t pack my lunch either, didn;t eat breakfast(either woke up to late or wasn;t hungry) and I had practice or was working so I ate after everything was done. At the end of the day so I lived off of dr.pepper and chips or snacks

Anything of interest: I think pop did me in and poor diet. I always ate on the run and didn;t have time for nutrition. I also took ibprophen when I had fevers and for awhile I took bayer all the time for the pain in my knee. I was often constipated so that was odd...

 

[Jennifer]

swimming regularly in summer.

Just curious if this was in a public pool.

 

[Jennifer]

I do think any change from what is 'usual' for each person may be a trigger

This I look at as stress on the body and I added one more tick to the stress section above.

I think it'll end up being a very long list.

It may be long but not extraordinarily long as I am using common sense when filling in the possibilities or trying to rather. So far two people have mentioned being a cheerleader but I'm not adding that for obvious reasons.

 

[DustyKat]

Just curious if this was in a public pool.

A combination of public pool, private pool and the beach.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I'm undiagnosed, but most likely have some form of IBD, so I hope it's okay that I participate in this.

Location: Madison, WI

Age: at the onset of severe symptoms, it was a month before my 30th birthday (Oct 2009)

Recreation: I went kayaking a lot in the summer of 2009, and I took a lot of ibuprofen that summer for the muscle aches (we'd kayak for anywhere from 2 to 8 hours at a time). I also worked out 3x per week (lifting weights & jogging on a treadmill). I was never terribly athletic in my childhood and I was at my most fit during 2009. I never did sports in school or anything like that. My other recreational activities at the time included sedentary stuff like crocheting, sewing, video games, etc.

Environment: We gutted and remodeled our kitchen shortly before I became ill. We bought our home in Nov 2008 and the previous occupants had been chain smokers who didn't seem to clean (the home was filthy and smelled horribly of smoke when we moved in - I also found drug paraphanelia while cleaning out a closet, so the previous occupants were smoking a lot of cigarettes and doing drugs - I don't know a lot about drugs, but from the episodes of "Intervention" that I've seen, I'd wager that what I found was a crack pipe). Tearing down walls and such probably released all sorts of nasty things into the air, and I was also exposed to harsh cleaning agents like bleach and anti-bacterial wipes as I worked on cleaning and remodeling the house. The house was built in the 50s and was last remodeled in the 70s. There's no asbestos or lead paint or anything like that as far as I know.

So my physical environment was bad, and my work environment was very stressful. My beloved boss quit suddenly in June 2009, and most of my department was laid off (I and one other person were spared) in July/August 2009. I was highly stressed due to all of this, and experienced a lot of "survivor's guilt" because I wasn't laid off but my closest co-workers were. It was around this time that I found my first gray hair, and people in my family don't go gray until their late 40s or 50s, so I knew that my body was very stressed.

Nutrition: Growing up, my parents NEVER cooked so my childhood diet consisted of highly processed foods like microwave meals and lunch meat sandwiches. When I went out on my own in the world I didn't really know how to cook much besides stuff like boxed mac & cheese, so I continued to eat a lot of processed foods and also a lot of fast food. I worked at a fast food restaurant all through high school and ate there at every shift (the food was free to employees). I drank a lot of soda at that time but after I stopped working at fast food, I rarely had soda. In my late 20s my husband decided to teach me how to cook, so in the year or two before my illness hit, I started eating much better and leaning how to cook. During the stressful time with work that I mentioned above, I did start overeating in response to the stress - junk food like potato chips and candy, and I gained 6 lbs in a few months. I was also chewing a lot of sugar-free gum at the time and I would drink coffee about 3 times per week. All in all, I've never had a super good diet. I've always been on the thin side and never had a hard time losing weight, so I never really saw it as a big problem that my diet wasn't great.

Anything of Interest: When I was 20, my health changed. In the year that I was 20, I suddenly became lactose intolerant, developed motion-sickness, developed allergies (apparently to mold - I've never had allergy testing though), and started getting recurrent UTIs. All of these issues came on rather suddenly and all within that one year. I've always had a "sensitive stomach" and have gone through periods of having no appetite/feeling nauseous upon eating just a few bites. These periods would last anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months, and then would go away as mysteriously as they came on. I've had those issues at least since I was 20. I also have had on-again off-again anal fissues for as long as I can remember.

I'd been on the birth control pill since I was about 17 and came off of it (switched to Nuva Ring) about a year ago and I noticed a fair amount of improvement in my symptoms upon making that switch, so I wonder if the pill had triggered or exacerbated any of my issues. I'm pretty sure the ibuprofen must have played a part. I would take ibuprofen prior to kayaking, as a preventative measure, and take more after kayaking and also over the next day or two to ease the arm and back soreness. A nurse once told me that a "prescription strength dose" of ibuprofen is double the amount listed on the bottle (I think it was 4 pills instead of 2) so I would sometimes take the stronger dose as well if I was really sore.

I'm adding another category because I think it's relevant:
Family History: There is some IBD in my family. My great-grandfather (father's mother's father) had UC. He also had cancer and tuberculosis at the same time, and I don't know the details of which illness came first or which one caused his death in the early 1950s - I don't know what type of cancer he had, either. On the other side of my family, my great-uncle (mother's father's brother) had celiac as do his children and grandchildren. That great-uncle's celiac was diagnosed very late in his life and he apparently died due to complications from celiac. My grandfather, his brother (mother's father) also had a "sensitive stomach" all his life and died of colon cancer at age 60. It's possible that he had either undiagnosed celiac and/or undiagnosed IBD which caused both the sensitive stomach and the colon cancer.

Edited to add: I suppose I should also mention that I had something of an eating disorder for a few years when I was a teenager. I didn't starve myself totally, but I did force myself to cut down to one meal per day (usually my fast-food meal at the place I worked at was the only think I'd eat all day). This went on from about ages 16 to 19. My weight in high school went from 122 lbs at its highest (I'm 5 foot 8) to 99 at its lowest during that time (I had been hovering around 105 and then got a week-long stomach bug which is the only reason I dropped below 100). During my adult years the highest my weight has been is 139 (I'm about 136 right now) and during the worst part of my illness, before my GI put me on Entocort, I was at 115 a year ago.

 

[Astra]

Cool thread Crabby!

I don't know how long I've had Crohn's so it's a guesstimate of 15-20 years.

Location - I was born in Liverpool in 1963 and moved to St.Helens aged 7.

Age - I was dx aged 42 (2005)

Recreation - I wasn't allowed outside in Liverpool! Too slummy where I was born, all gone now.
St Helens is an industrial town, Beechams and Pilkingtons where/are the biggest industries.
Bronchitis is very high here. Can get quite smoggy at times. I played outside all the time, bikes, outdoor games, fields, woods, ponds, trees, went to a good school, a good high school, college.
Our house was spotless. Mum wasn't a clean freak but was very tidy and organised, we always looked smart and clean. I always had nits tho!
Mum and Dad weren't well off and our new house crippled them financially. We always had a Sunday roast with all the veg. During the week we ate a lot of chips fried in lard! yuk. We ate a lot of sweets and chocolate too. We always drank tap water (corporation pop we used to call it) Very happy carefree childhood.
I have 2 sisters and there are 3 years between us, I'm the oldest. Neither of them have any IBD issues.

My symptoms - started aged 14 with terrible period pains, was put on the Pill aged 15 with the consent of my parents, was on this for 10 years. I hammered the Ibuprofen.
With these pains I had chronic diarrhea, always had diarrhea for years before too. Thought it was normal! These pains got worse and worse then dx with endometriosis.
Got pregnant at 28 and was cured! Seriously, had no symptoms at all! All came back with a vengeous tho. Had another baby aged 31. Then had terrible belly aches all day every day. Hammered the Ibuprofen again. You know the rest! Old GP said it was IBS, wouldn't refer me, until I nearly strangled him. I got referred to gynae, endometriosis was worse, so had a total hysterectomy, cyst on ovary, so had uterus, cervix and both ovaries removed.
Thought that was the done deal, but for 3 years had the pains, diarrhea and then joint pain etc. Got a new GP, referred to gastro, got a dx of Crohn's, at last!

All in all, maybe 20 years. Maybe longer. I blame a combo of the Pill and Ibuprofen.
Neither of my sisters are affected, neither went on the Pill, or ate Ibuprofen. They ate the same as me, played with me in the same places.
In fact, no one in either side of our family has an IBD.
I've had my fair share of tragedy too, but only years after symptoms began. Dad was killed in work in 1998, aged 58, Mum died last year of Alzheimers aged 68. And of course this didn't help my symptoms at all, stress can/may be a trigger, but it wasn't for me. Up until Dad died I'd never experienced stress before!

 

[Grumbletum]

This is a really interesting thread Joan your post just set off some echos. Off to update mine again.

 

[Beach]

For me I suspect the climate might have played a part in my condition. I grew up in warm and sunny central California and later in the Tampa Florida area. Never had a problem when living in those locations. In 8th grade, I believe it was, I moved to Illinois. With-in a year or two I began developing debilitating stomach problems and with that seeing several different doctors.

I'm healthier now, not cured but much better than before. One item that seems to have helped me greatly is vitamin D3, the sunshine vitamin. I take 6000ius of D3 a day in order to keep a testing level betwen 60 to 70ng/ml.

So as for a trigger for me, unlike California and Florida, the sun disappears in Illinois 6 to 7 months out of the year. I suspect that the lack of D3/sunshine played a part in my stomach conditions development.

 

[Grumbletum]

This is a really interesting thread Joan your post just set off some echos. Off to update mine again.
Oops, can't seem to edit, so will add here.
- Dad died of a massive heart attack at 48 when I was 21 . my sister was 11 and was
diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes two months later and doctors figured it was trauma related.
- suffered debitating period pains from day they started, Pill helped a bit eventually, but I also took loads of Ibuprofen for this.

 

[Terriernut]

Grew up in suburbia North America in the 1960's!!! Had severe asthma, multiple allergies, and childhood epilepsy. Stressful family situations, yes. Went to the mountains and drank lots of spring water and lake water. (Colorado) Diet, well, considered healthy at the time! Did I eat dirt..yeah...didnt we all? I had a childhood, did all the things that kids USED to do, ran around, played, sports...trained for the olympics in fact in gymnastics. My mother had gastric symtoms all her life. I think my mom had crohns, although never diagnosed. My father suffers from bad heartburn.

Fast forward early adulthood: Many family members died. Mother died in 1995. First major flare in 1997. Bad marriage, dog died at 5 years of bone cancer, bad job I hated..on and on....Stress. Not one thing does it, it's usually a combination of stresses. Divorced childish shithead. Found idiot German to marry after starting another successful career. Left everything behind to marry said German...traveled and lived all over world. (Africa, all over Europe, etc) Got rid of abusive German..

Find a life in England...have another stressful job...BANG! Diet, poor. Stress, high! Happiness...not there. Grief, stress, bad diet, get me every frapping time!!! And here we go again damnit!

 

[kekemonster101]

In order to consolidate a lot of these responses, it seems like it would be more effective instead of reading every seperate account and trying to come up with a correlation on your own, it would be better to come up with some sort of "quiz" or poll that asks a variety of different questions with multiple answers. Such as if you drank a lot of milk, had a good diet, took a lot of certain medications, drank filtered water, changes in lifestyle..etc.

It would take a while to get a decent quiz with a lot of good questions on it, but it could be really helpful. Especially if a PM was sent to new users with an invitation to take the quiz. It would also be able ot be used by others not a member of this forum. Just a suggestion.

 

[Jennifer]

In order to consolidate a lot of these responses, it seems like it would be more effective instead of reading every seperate account and trying to come up with a correlation on your own, it would be better to come up with some sort of "quiz" or poll that asks a variety of different questions with multiple answers. Such as if you drank a lot of milk, had a good diet, took a lot of certain medications, drank filtered water, changes in lifestyle..etc.

It would take a while to get a decent quiz with a lot of good questions on it, but it could be really helpful. Especially if a PM was sent to new users with an invitation to take the quiz. It would also be able ot be used by others not a member of this forum. Just a suggestion.

I think something like that could be done in the future but as long as I keep up with this thread then its easy to read every single comment and here at home I keep a list on paper with a tally of people who mention the same thing. If I were to limit the poll based on what I think the causes may be then it becomes biased in a way where certain things would not be added because they sound ridiculous to me. Personally I like that people are sharing all this information as it allows others to see connections that are similar to them. If this turned into an actual scientific study then yes a poll/questionnaire would be much easier.

 

[Jennifer]

There's no asbestos

Was there a popcorn ceiling? I know our house we grew up in had it and we picked at it all the time as kids.


Could everyone who's already posted please re-post (not edit) and say whether or not you were exposed to popcorn ceilings/asbestos before your diagnosis? Thanks!

Asbestos was used in the making of this product but manufacturing it was banned in 1978 but it was still applied onto ceilings up into the 80's until the supplies ran out. Now days new popcorn ceilings don't contain it but if it was applied in the 1980's or earlier than it most likely contained asbestos

 

[Jennifer]

So as for a trigger for me, unlike California and Florida, the sun disappears in Illinois 6 to 7 months out of the year. I suspect that the lack of D3/sunshine played a part in my stomach conditions development.

Is there anything else that was different or even different in Florida? Such as living conditions, tap water (did you drink it at all?), etc.

 

[Jennifer]

I'm adding another category because I think it's relevant:
Family History: There is some IBD in my family. My great-grandfather (father's mother's father) had UC. He also had cancer and tuberculosis at the same time, and I don't know the details of which illness came first or which one caused his death in the early 1950s - I don't know what type of cancer he had, either. On the other side of my family, my great-uncle (mother's father's brother) had celiac as do his children and grandchildren. That great-uncle's celiac was diagnosed very late in his life and he apparently died due to complications from celiac. My grandfather, his brother (mother's father) also had a "sensitive stomach" all his life and died of colon cancer at age 60. It's possible that he had either undiagnosed celiac and/or undiagnosed IBD which caused both the sensitive stomach and the colon cancer.

I want to understand the relevance. Its already been accepted that IBD is/can be hereditary but what do the other illnesses that other people in the family have to do with another family member getting IBD?

 

[Jennifer]

and started getting recurrent UTIs.

Were you taking antibiotics for them?

 

[Tesscorm]

My son has never lived in an older home so no popcorn ceilings or asbestos.

Good point re family history, forgot to mention - Father and uncle have both always had sensitive stomachs and acid reflux; on my side, grandmother's cousin has crohns.

 

[lookame]

Oh something to add my mom thinks I have crohns because I'm very allergic to nickle and my noticable symptoms came on after I had a copper IUD inserted...maybe something to consider also

 

[Jennifer]

I'm allergic to nickle as well. I'll add it.

 

[Tesscorm]

When my son was a baby, he had reactions to nickel as well (couldn't wear any baby clothing with the snaps, buttons only). Grew out of it by the time he was, maybe, 2...

 

[Jennifer]

Is there anything you guys think I'm overlooking or didn't post on the first post that you feel deserves a spot on the list? I know some people have mentioned allergies but I don't quite see a direct connection to being allergic to pollen or animal dander. I only added the nickle allergy because it sounds odd really but I don't want to discredit the other allergies either. Maybe I'll go through later and tally up the allergies and add them all into the same category.

 

[tiloah]

Oh something to add my mom thinks I have crohns because I'm very allergic to nickle and my noticable symptoms came on after I had a copper IUD inserted...maybe something to consider also

Fascinating! In college I got my ears pierced and started wearing earrings with nickel in them and had a severe reaction to them. At the same time I got an IUD (Mirena). As far as I know this is the only thing I am actually allergic to. Growing up my sister had severe allergies to horses, cats, grass. She does not have IBD.

I was going to add birth control to my list. I had the Mirena taken out because of cramping and started using the NuvaRing which was the worst mistake ever. Mirena was great. The ring gave me migraines which have never gone away. D:

No asbestos. No popcorn ceiling. As a child I probably took antibiotics a couple of times, but after high school I did not take them at all.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Crabby, no to the popcorn ceiling. And yes, I did take bactrum antibiotics every time I had a UTI, and at one point I was having 6 or 8 per year. A few times the bactrum caused yeast infections and I then had to take yet another antibiotic (fluconazole or something like that) to get rid of the yeast infection.

Also, I realize I forgot to mention - add me as another tap water drinker. And in spring/summer 2009, when that swine flu epidemic first hit, I rather panicked and started using hand sanitizer a LOT to try to avoid getting sick. I never did get the swine flu, and I still frequently use hand sanitizer. I never used the stuff until early 2009.

As far as the family history stuff goes, I just wanted to include all info that could potentially be relevant. Some people don't seem to have any IBD in their family but get it through other triggers (accutane, etc). There's no IBD in anyone currently alive in my family, but since it is on one and possibly both sides of my family, I thought it was at least worth mentioning.

 

[Astra]

I didn't know what a popcorn ceiling was, had to Google it!
So, no we didn't have any of these ceilings.
Our house was a showhouse and we were the first to move in in 1970.
Dad used polystyrene tiles on our ceilings and in later years, Artex.
I found this about Artex on Wikipedia

Until the mid-1980s, the Artex coating was made with white asbestos to strengthen it. This means that only old artex manufactured by Artex Ltd will contain asbestos and most probably any Artex applied within the last 25 years will not contain any harmful material whatsoever. It is also worth noting that the texture is only harmful when in a powder form (i.e. being sanded) and poses no risk whatsoever while it is undisturbed on ceilings or walls and covered with emulsion paint.

oooo, very interesting indeed!

 

[Terriernut]

Joan, I have Artex on every single bloody wall of my 1950 built house. Reminds me of my acid trips back in the 70's.....

I think I'll not mess with this artex stuff. I'll leave it there for 'posterity'

 

[Astra]

Oh Aye!
Don't meddle with it, leave it where it is!

 

[Grumbletum]

I want to understand the relevance. Its already been accepted that IBD is/can be hereditary but what do the other illnesses that other people in the family have to do with another family member getting IBD?

Crabby, it was my GP who mentioned the relevance to me. She told me that it is quite common for close family members to suffer from different autoimmune diseases. In my family, it is rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. Also asthma and excema: my son is the only one out of six cousins who does not have asthman and/or excema. With this history she said that there was a high chance that at some point in my life, my immune system would play up in some way. I googled it and there is some evidence of this being the case.
With the ovarian cyst I had a lot of UTIs, hence a lot of antibiotic treatment, and at the onset of this first Crohn's flare a year ago, I was having them again and was prescribed maybe four or five one week courses of antibiotics which eventually shifted the infections, but not all the symptoms.
No popcorn ceiling or asbestos involvement.
Thanks Crabby :ysmile:

 

[DustyKat]

I mentioned the circle of diseases because they all involve either an inflammatory response and/or an abnormality in the bodies immune response.

I have read articles in the past that have linked the same gene, still very early research though, to asthma and Crohns. It has long been recognised that if you have a family history of these circle of diseases they are all linked (Asthma, Eczema, Migraine, Sinus, Hay Fever and generally Chronic Bronchitis and Allergies are thrown in as well). So a parent with eczema may have a child with asthma and so on.

Since looking into this I have wondered if the gene abnormalities that produce these diseases, and the accompanying abnormal immune system response, may then link to the more severe autoimmune diseases that some people develop.

I admit it is a long bow to draw but worth pondering I think.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Terriernut]

Dusty, I think the weird world of medicine is indeed thinking autoimmune disorders are clearly genetic in alot of cases, although not all.

Mother's side: Gastritis, severe. Leukemia, Arthritis. Me...severe allergies and asthma. Then Crohns. I'm certain my mother had crohns, but as we had no insurance...well. She died at the age of 62, but of emphysema. Bless her, always skin and bone and never able to keep a meal down, everything went straight through.

Crohns was discovered in 1932 I believe in the Jewish Community, and yes, it ran in families, and still indeed does. My ex boss, severe rheumatoid arthritis, his sister...crohns.

 

[kekemonster101]

My brother had asthma when he was younger. My mom/grandma both have type 2 diabetes and we all have symptoms of eczema near our ears.

 

[Jennifer]

Crabby, it was my GP who mentioned the relevance to me. She told me that it is quite common for close family members to suffer from different autoimmune diseases. In my family, it is rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. Also asthma and excema: my son is the only one out of six cousins who does not have asthman and/or excema. With this history she said that there was a high chance that at some point in my life, my immune system would play up in some way. I googled it and there is some evidence of this being the case.
With the ovarian cyst I had a lot of UTIs, hence a lot of antibiotic treatment, and at the onset of this first Crohn's flare a year ago, I was having them again and was prescribed maybe four or five one week courses of antibiotics which eventually shifted the infections, but not all the symptoms.
No popcorn ceiling or asbestos involvement.
Thanks Crabby :ysmile:

The first google search I did shared the info I needed. Very interesting. So in a sense its not that you're likely to suffer the same disease but have a higher risk of suffering from any autoimmune disease. That's a double whammy for ya since its already hereditary. I'll add it as Family History of Autoimmune Diseases. Yay, now I get to learn what all the autoimmune diseases are (there's over 80) by checking everyone's posts to see if falls under the list. Shouldn't take me too long actually.

Here's the site I found: http://www.aarda.org/press_release_display.php?ID=35

 

[Jennifer]

Seems like we're getting some interesting results here. Dunno if they actually mean anything but at least I learned something new from this thread so far.

 

[AndiGirl]

Location: Fairbanks, Bethel, Nome, Sitka, Anchorage, Wasilla, all of the locations are in Alaska.

Age: I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in February of 2005, when I was 32 years-old. I have suffered with many painful GI and intestinal symptoms for years before my actual diagnosis.

Recreation: When I was a child I participated in outdoor activities with my family: camping, fishing, berry picking, and hiking. I also played with the neighborhood kids. I was involved with the band and played the clarinet. As I got older, my interests turned to the arts: drawing, painting, cross stitch, scapbooking, beading, and quilting. I also love to cook and bake.

Family Background: My parents were both born and raised in rural Alaska. Neither one came from money, and so they both did their best to improve their situation for their family. My parents both have college degrees. My mother was a registered nurse who also worked in some social service type agencies. My father works (he's still working) for the Federal Aviation Administration, which is a U.S. Government job. We had similar privileges to military families. When I was young we lived in F.A.A. housing which was was nice, though rather on the old side. My siblings, friends, and I played in areas around some of the F.A.A. radar equipment buildings. I'm not sure if this was considered harmful. It was regulated by the Federal Government. I did most of my growing up in Bethel, Alaska, which is a small town on the southwest coast of Alaska; about 400 miles directly west of Anchorage. In Bethel, the F.A.A. Housing was away from the town and kind of secluded. The house that we lived in was a Cap Cod style house that was built in 1931. I fit the needs of our family and was actually quite stately in appearance. I have two sisters and one brother. None of my siblings or I have ever felt really comfortable in that house. We all knew it was haunted. We all witnessed some strange phenomena in that house. To make things even a little more eerie; about a mile and half away from our house stood the, "White Alice," radar site. It was a leftover from the old Air Force Base that was about two miles away from our neighborhood. It was a reminder of the days of, "The Cold War."

By most accounts my family was a normal middle-class family. My father started at the bottom in his government job, and worked his way up through the years. He's been working for the F.A.A. for almost 45 years, and his status is similar to that of a General in the Army. My mother stayed home with us kids when we were small. She was a neat and clean freak. My mother was constantly washing things down with Clorox mixes. I grew up in a religious family, and my parents were very conservative and strict. I don't think they realized just how hard they could be on us. We were a close knit family, but there wasn't a lot of cuddly type of affection.

Nutrition: My mom was a good cook, so most of our meals were homemade. My father was a fisherman on the side, so we did eat a lot of salmon and halibut while I was growing up. My mother did buy a lot of canned goods as well: canned chili, spam, spaghetti Os. My mom used Crisco (lard) to fry things. I grew up on milk, koolaid, and tap water. I forgot to mention that I as spoiled by my maternal grandparents. When I would visit, my grandmother would dig out the junk food, and she let me drink lots of soda pop. My parents also had soda pop in the house.

Medical Background: I was born a little early. My mother tried to breast feed me, but she says that I would scream and get overly gassy. She switched me to formula right away. Mom noticed that I had allergies and hay fever at a young age. When I was a little girl, I suffered with bouts of diarrhea and constipation. I also had problems with my throat. I was always getting tonsillitis and strep throat. I was a kid in the 1970s and 80s when the common treatment was a giant shot of penicillin in the butt. My doctors didn't care to try other things or antibiotics to cure my throat infections. They were insistent that Penicillin Shots were the only way to go. I hated the shots to begin with, but having to get them on numerous occasions caused me to develop a huge fear of doctors and needles. My mom let my dad take me to get the shots, she had grown tired of all the tears and fighting. My parents practically begged my doctors to take my tonsils out. That was when doctors were changing their minds about tonsillectomies, and weren't as quick to yank them out.

I developed asthma at the age of 14, and my allergies in general picked up. My GI and intestinal symptoms really picked up from the age of 16 and on. I was suffering and looking for relief, so I learned to overcome my fear of both doctors and needles. Most of my young adult days were filled with uncertainty; when will the pain start, will I need to stick close to a restroom, am I normal, why do I feel sick all the time? I started having problems with my throat again in college. I developed an allergy to penicillin, and I demanded to have those rotten tonsils yanked once and for all. I had them out at age 20, and haven't had a throat infection since then.

Before I was diagnosed with CD, I had numerous GI symptoms, intestinal upsets, and I needed my gallbladder removed. I also suffered a bout of major depression and anxiety disorder. Little did I know that all these things could be related. I was relieved to finally get a diagnosis.

Family History: Both my father and mother's side of the family has autoimmune disorders. On my mother's side we know that there is: asthma, rheumatiod arthritis, and prophyria. On my father's side there are several cases of Crohn's Disease, and cancer of various sorts. My paternal grandfather had CD really bad. He was a fisherman in southeastern Alaska, in the 1940s-1970s. He did not have easy access to medical care. He was on the road to recovery when he was an elderly man in the late 1970s. He was very sick. His intestines were so badly ulcerated that he required a complete colectomy. He wore a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. He lived about another 25 years afterward. My brother and I both have Crohn's Disease. I have a sister who is in the process of possibly getting a diagnosis, and my father is still suspect.

Here's the White Alice Site that was about a mile and a half from my childhood neighborhood.
http://picasaweb.google.com/s.ronnekamp/BIAAndWhiteAliceSitesBethelAK#5422608296940227714

 

[lookame]

Oh I also am I very picky eater and I've read that people who eat more animal based products(dairy, cheese meat ect) and not much vegtables products your more likely to have crohns...I've been a picky eater all my life I don;t like ketchup or mustard and such so I also had a cheesebuger plain or something like that...SO I fall into eating more animal based products

I also hated using public restrooms and would hold in stool or urin so I wouldn;t have to use them

I also have a family history my grandmother had several feet of intestine removed due to diverticultis and my sister is severly anemic and vitamin d deficiant

 

[Jennifer]

Oh I also am I very picky eater and I've read that people who eat more animal based products(dairy, cheese meat ect) and not much vegtables products your more likely to have crohns...I've been a picky eater all my life I don;t like ketchup or mustard and such so I also had a cheesebuger plain or something like that...SO I fall into eating more animal based products

That sounds like one of the myths that float around and doesn't make much sense. So far the only info that slightly supports it is this from a site I'm not sure is even credible, "However, it's possible that you're more likely to develop the condition if you eat only a small amount of fruit and vegetables." http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/c/crohns-disease It doesn't say anything about animal products just less fruits and veggies but no studies/references to back it up. The Mayo Clinic doesn't mention it at all on their site: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/crohns-disease/DS00104/DSECTION=risk-factors

 

[Gems867]

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Age: Diagnosed at 25, stomach issues since 13 or 14

Recreation: Played outside with the neighbor kids alot. We rode bikes, played in mud, played in ponds, danced, played with our animals (cat, dogs, bunnies), jumped ropes, played kick ball etc etc. Played inside roller skating in the basement (which may have had asbestos), playing house, teacher etc.

Environment/Family: My mom got pregnant when she was in high school. So I do not know my father or anything about his family. My mom and I lived with my grandparents and uncle until I was around 2. Then we got an apartment and my great grandma baby set me she lived in a clean / well maintained trailer park). At age 6 my mom got married and I did not care for him, he had 2 kids and they visited on weekends. We moved to a house that was built in 1924 and lived there til I was 17. My stepfather caused me quite a bit of stress during my teen years mentally abusive. Our house was always clean (excluding my room) and I was always taken care of.

Nutrition: We didn't eat out much when I was young. Had pizza about once a week. I was a picky eater. I ate alot of frozen pizza(pep and cheese) and cheese burgers. My mom always made balanced meals and tried to make me eat healthy. When I was about 10 she went through a heath foods kick and we became almost vegetarians and ate alot of organic foods. Also drank pop (tab, diet coke mainly) but my mom limited it to a couple cans a week. We also drank Kool-Aid (until my mom had a dream that it caused cancer haven't had it since LOL) and 100% juice (mainly apple and grape).

Anything of interest: In middle school and high school I was always sick with a stomach bug and back pain. I drank pepto and popped anti-diarrhea pills all the time.

 

[Lizzie]

It's an interesting question as to what causes IBD. My feeling is that bad diet may be involved.

My IBD problems started when my dad died in difficult circumstances, I was very stressed out and I ate huge amounts of junk food and put on over a stone in two or three months.

I don't have a full diagnosis yet and am hoping it's milder than Crohns, but my dad had an ileostomy with Crohns (heavy drinker) and my brother has had bowel operations so there may be a genetic link. Lots of arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in the close family, too.

 

[Jennifer]

So far the findings we have now seem to go along with the current assumptions on what may or may not trigger IBD. Its is a very small pool of data though. I guess that since my sister and I both started having symptoms during the same month then there must have been an obvious trigger but its still really isn't all that obvious.