Correct me if Im wrong but with Crohns there are many foods that make people sick and relapse but for some odd reason I tolerate nearly everything from dairy products, fast food, down to vegetables. Is this normal?
Is it Possible I have a different disease that isn't Crohns?
- Thread starter Amaze
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I don't think foods can actually cause a flare; when people with Crohn's talk about foods they can't eat, they usually mean that those foods make their symptoms worse.
If you can tolerate all foods, count yourself lucky! I don't think it means you must have a different disease - how were you diagnosed with Crohn's? If your doctors have done tests and confirmed that's what you have, then your lack of reactions to foods don't contradict that diagnosis.
Personally, fibre makes my symptoms worse, though I can have a little with no problem. Lactose and dairy products I can digest just fine. It just varies from person to person. I suspect that the specific characteristics of your disease - how severe the inflammation is, whether or not you're in remission, where in the digestive tract your disease is located - contribute to determining what foods a person with Crohn's can and can't tolerate. Also it's possible to have another condition as well as Crohn's - for example, someone with Crohn's might also be lactose intolerant, and it's the lactose intolerance rather than the Crohn's that gives them problems with dairy.
So I think you're normal in one sense, though you're also probably in a very lucky minority! Enjoy your food!
If you can tolerate all foods, count yourself lucky! I don't think it means you must have a different disease - how were you diagnosed with Crohn's? If your doctors have done tests and confirmed that's what you have, then your lack of reactions to foods don't contradict that diagnosis.
Personally, fibre makes my symptoms worse, though I can have a little with no problem. Lactose and dairy products I can digest just fine. It just varies from person to person. I suspect that the specific characteristics of your disease - how severe the inflammation is, whether or not you're in remission, where in the digestive tract your disease is located - contribute to determining what foods a person with Crohn's can and can't tolerate. Also it's possible to have another condition as well as Crohn's - for example, someone with Crohn's might also be lactose intolerant, and it's the lactose intolerance rather than the Crohn's that gives them problems with dairy.
So I think you're normal in one sense, though you're also probably in a very lucky minority! Enjoy your food!
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PsychoJane
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Amaze, I'm the same, I can handle any food unless I have a fistula and then the pain is pretty much coming from a mechanical issue.
Many time I've received the suspicious look of people looking at me eat jalapeno while drinking coffee (ok maybe not both together but you get the point). In period of remission I'm of the lucky ones that can eat whatever type of food but I prefer to be really moderate regarding dairy, gluten, processed food and red meat.
My GI swears by crohn disease, my biopsies were characteristic and I have clinical sign that goes along with this, other than the fact I don't flare on regular basis like he believes I should be. I believe there is as many "crohn type" that there is "crohnies".
Many time I've received the suspicious look of people looking at me eat jalapeno while drinking coffee (ok maybe not both together but you get the point). In period of remission I'm of the lucky ones that can eat whatever type of food but I prefer to be really moderate regarding dairy, gluten, processed food and red meat.
My GI swears by crohn disease, my biopsies were characteristic and I have clinical sign that goes along with this, other than the fact I don't flare on regular basis like he believes I should be. I believe there is as many "crohn type" that there is "crohnies".
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SarahBear
Moderator
Most of those foods are fine with me, too.
Raw vegetables are the only thing that cause any problems, and sometimes on good days, even they don't phase me. It's not unheard of to have no trigger foods (and they generally don't cause a flare, just temporarily worsen symptoms). Is this while you're in remission or flaring?Well I know for me sometimes its just that its Tuesday and the wind is coming out of the south lol. Some foods r good one day and not good the next. When I was first diagnosed I did the whole food diary thing, it was kinda helpful. But 12 yrs and two surgeries later ive found that yes some food will always mess u up, but for the most part it is what it is. Sometimes its just the day and what is goin on. But everyone is different and im glad u can eat anything that's awesome.
thanks for all the responses!
For a moment there I thought perhaps I dont have crohns. Guess im just dreaming that Im crohns free..... *sigh.
I was diagnosed from biopsies from multiple colonoscopy's
For a moment there I thought perhaps I dont have crohns. Guess im just dreaming that Im crohns free..... *sigh.
I was diagnosed from biopsies from multiple colonoscopy's
Fascinating topic!
I also wonder if there are a variety of diagnostic categories within Crohns (apart from the location based illegal/colonic, etc. I read somewhere that there was a newer more specific set of diagnostic criteria.. ?Montreal, more recent than Vienna categorisation, maybe..)
I can eat just about anything including curry, though I'm a bit cautious about raw leafy greens, pith in citrus fruit, and fruit with fibrous skin. And I've stopped myself adding extra chilli to the Chinese/Thai takeaway.
Otherwise, I've had a normal recent colonoscopy - after definite Crohns features 3 years ago, minimal abdominal pain, and fairly normal bowel habit.
I do, however, get assorted EIMs that are far more troublesome than the GIT aspects.. Sacroiliac pain that wakes me up at night without regular management, intermittent costochondritis, most recently erythema nodosum which has grumbled away for a few months now... And scariest of all, bad iritis, which is generally settled when the bowel is quiet..
Current management is sulphasalazine, and regular slow release analgesics (lowest possible doses), plus steroid cream/topical NSAID to assorted aches and pains. No surgery, 59 years old.
So maybe we can compare notes on the forum, and see if we can delineate some of these sub groups better. Certainly my impression is that older age at onset seems to have a different course, but I'd be very interested if others have other information about "atypical" Crohns..
HD
I also wonder if there are a variety of diagnostic categories within Crohns (apart from the location based illegal/colonic, etc. I read somewhere that there was a newer more specific set of diagnostic criteria.. ?Montreal, more recent than Vienna categorisation, maybe..)
I can eat just about anything including curry, though I'm a bit cautious about raw leafy greens, pith in citrus fruit, and fruit with fibrous skin. And I've stopped myself adding extra chilli to the Chinese/Thai takeaway.
Otherwise, I've had a normal recent colonoscopy - after definite Crohns features 3 years ago, minimal abdominal pain, and fairly normal bowel habit.
I do, however, get assorted EIMs that are far more troublesome than the GIT aspects.. Sacroiliac pain that wakes me up at night without regular management, intermittent costochondritis, most recently erythema nodosum which has grumbled away for a few months now... And scariest of all, bad iritis, which is generally settled when the bowel is quiet..
Current management is sulphasalazine, and regular slow release analgesics (lowest possible doses), plus steroid cream/topical NSAID to assorted aches and pains. No surgery, 59 years old.
So maybe we can compare notes on the forum, and see if we can delineate some of these sub groups better. Certainly my impression is that older age at onset seems to have a different course, but I'd be very interested if others have other information about "atypical" Crohns..
HD
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