How Crohn's spirals itself

[sibelius]

I feel like one reason Crohn's is such an awful disease, is that it spirals itself downwards; symptoms beget symptoms and play off each other, etc.

For example......

One of my symptoms is weight loss. One of my other symptoms is decreased appetite. So.... if I eat less, because of lower appetite, then I lose more weight... and the more weight I lose, the lower my appetite gets...

One of my symptoms is exhaustion. One of my other symptoms is decreased appetite. The less I eat, because of that appetite issue, the less energy I have, and the more tired I get. In exchange, the more exhausted I am, the less I want to eat...

One of my symptoms is abdominal pain, one is weight loss, and one is decreased appetite. The more weight I lose, the more abdominal pain I have; the less I eat, the more hunger pangs I get. The more pain I get, the less I want to eat and the more weight I lose, hence more pain.


It's all slightly hilarious to think about.

 

[Kev]

Here's the thing. It is a viscious cycle... a spiral. A spiral downward if you let it...

But, YOU recognize the 'trap'.. YOU have to fight it. YOU can break these cycles.
Appetite is a DESIRE to eat... You may not want to, you may not feel like it, but IF you look past that, force yourself to eat... AND since there is no desire, eat those things MOST beneficial to you... EVEN if you don't find them appealing at all... (why develop a potential hate relationship with food you like? what will you be faced with one day when you do feel like eating, but your fav. foods all remind you of horrible days/times?)... If you let it, this disease will play you into the ground. I had times when the thought of food was akin to prepping for a colonoscopy... but I forced myself to eat. Thankfully, I got past that. I still don't have a great appetite, not even a good one. Food holds no joy for me anymore
but I'm way better off than I was back then (2006/2007). Think outside of the 'cycle/spiral'... and you'll get outside the spiral.

 

[D Bergy]

One thing that seems to break the cycle quite often is a vacation. It changes your normal worries and gets your mind thinking about different things.

Dan