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incubus4fun

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Hi all, I am 28 year old male, live in Florida, was diagnosed with Crohn's in January of 2009, 3 weeks ago. I was pretty bummed out at first but now I am trying to change my attitude, stay positive and snap out of it. I am taking some antibiotics still and supposed to stop pretty in few weeks. I am sorta anxious to see what's going to happen then. Right now I am feeling fine, I get little pains in my abdominal area but its not bad at all. I don't have diarrhea or vomit. I am on a very strict diet right now I eat mostly blended foods and soups. Drink only water, I am perfectly fine with doing that for the rest of my life as long as my condition doesnt worsen. I wonder if any of you drink alcohol with Crohn's I know of some people that do and they are in pain for a week after. So I dont think it is worth it. The way I look at it is I'll be healthier on this diet after all. I am a little bit of a gym goer so I am wondering if that affects Crohn's in any way. Or any other physical activity, like playing hockey, soccer and mountain biking.
I am starting to take yoga and Thai Chi to relax and stop my anxiety, I also bought some books on amazon to know more about my disease.

Sorry for such an unstructured intro but that is how my brain works. Nice to meet you all.
 
Welcome incubus! Glad you found us, but I'm sorry for your diagnosis. Looks like you are on the right track as far as eating goes. I was diagnosed in November and I'm still trying to "snap out of it"! I guess I just can't wrap my head around this yet. It was such a shock to me! I never even had any symptoms! I'll get there though, and so will you. :)
 
Welcome Incubus. You are right to try and maintain a positive attitude...I think it is half the battle. You asked some really good questions in your intro. I think you will benefit greatly from doing yoga. Any thing you do to keep your stress levels down can't hurt. I have noticed that most of my flares have started when a major change was occurring in my life. I was first diagnosed 7 years ago when I moved from Atlanta to Cincinnati (although, looking back, I now realise I had symptoms for many years prior). My most recent flare started when my work relocated to a new facility. I am not sure if it's the associated stress or the change in atmosphere that sets me off, but I definitely benefit from keeping a routine about me as much as posible. I excersise whenever possible and ALWAYS feel better because of it. Unfortunately, it is often hard to keep up an excercise routine when you are in a flare...just do what you can when you can. Concerning alcohol, I avoid it whenever I am flaring and enjoy it whenever I'm not:)

It's good to hear that you are not having too many symptoms right now. Has your doctor prescribed you a maintenance drug? There are some meds out there that will help to keep your flares under control that have virtually no side effects. I was taking Asacol and was symptom free for several years.

I hope this answers some of your questions. Best of luck to you!
 
Hi Incubus! !Welcome to the boards! I agree it is SO important to stay positive and try to be as happy as possible, I find that when I stress out my symptoms get worse, so I've learned to just relax, and take it day by day. In regards to your question of alcohol, I don't drink. It really doesnt do very nice things for me in the aftermath. I just avoid it at all costs. My friends love this...I'm their permanent DD!! I've been wondering about yoga as well...I think that during a flare, it's best to just take a rest and not do much of anything...but on normal days, I don't think that would be detrimental at all!

Anyways...welcome to the forum!!
 
Thanks for the warm welcome guys, you are so right about stress, it does negatively contributes to any problem. I think I am going to stay away from alcohol for a while. It's not a necessity, but it was a part of my weekend lifestyle.
As far as taking something goes, I take Levaquin and Pentasa, Acidophilus and a few vitamins right now. I felt very out of it first few days I took Levaquin and Pentasa but it seems like I am adjusted now. I am planning on stopping taking any kind of antibiotics. Unless like you said I will something with no side effects.
I have been a DD for weeks now, my friends love it too ;) I will let you know how yoga goes.

Thank you
 
ugh...pentasa...the bane of my existence. I started on Pentasa when I was first diagnosed, and felt worse taking that than I did with the Crohn's...
 
Welcome to the forums incubus! I do pilates to help keep my joints from not being achey and to keep my stress under control. I can't really do anything really strenuous anymore. Even though I am not flaring I still get tired really easy. I am the same as shadycat, I don't drink when I am flaring but totally can when I am not. Same with food for me. When flaring I go to an almost liquid diet and when I am not I can eat almost anything.
 
They keep banning me from the forum, I have no idea why.
I think I pretty much made my mind that I wont drink anymore. As far as flare ups go I dont know when I have it or not, I do have pains everyday, they come and go but they are bearable and dont really bother me. This is so new to me that I dont know what the remission is, am i suppose to feel no pain when I'm in remission?
I was going to look into drinking non alcoholic beer and wine (try and find it with no added sugar) and see if that will help my social life a bit. I still go out all the time and have fun just dont drink. I am eating alot of steamed ground turkey right now and I think it might be a little too much and it hurts me.
Do you guys drink fresh juices and what kinds? What about veggies?
 
A lot of us find that chicken and white rice don't bother our bellies.
I am doing more or less a low residue diet (google it for full details). Since you asked about veggies, I try to avoid skins/peels, seeds and too much fiber. Asparagus, squash, pumpkin, potatoes without skin, most cooked/canned veggies are okay, few raw ones.
It's kind of trial and error, as everyone's bellies tolerate foods differently.

Sometimes new people get the boot from some computer glitch or something. It has happened before. You could always PM MikeYarmo, the forum administrator if it keeps happening.

Welcome and good luck!
 
I did email Mike and everything seems to be fine now. I guess I am going to do what everyone tells me and learn my DIET through trial and error. I am wondering though if I ate something that "bothers'' me would I feel it right away, 30 mins after or next day. I have no clue.

And what about fresh juices. I heard the nutrients get absorbed even before it reaches your stomach so some people say I might be safe. Does somebody uses a juicer?

Thanks (sorry for having THIS many questions)
 
First of all - do NOT be sorry for having lots of questions. That's what we're here for, silly.
I just read last night that fruit juice can cause inflammation, and to stick with the whole fruit instead. There was a juicer thread on here a while back I think - if you use the search feature and type in juicer, you should be able to find it.
I would also search online (off of this site) for a greater number of juicer recommendations.

As far as knowing what bothered you, you need to eat things that you know DON'T bother you, and then test something new out with it. Then you will know if it was that one certain thing or not. As far as how long after you ate it will it bother you? That's different for everybody too. Depends on how long your body takes for food to travel through it.
 
Hiya incubus4fun, welcome to the forum.
I'm sure you'll find lots of information on here.

Everyone's experience is different, so don't worry if you find something effects you but not someone on here. And vice versa.

Personally, food and drink has never bothered me, I'm either in a flare, or I'm not.

I enjoy alcohol, mainly at weekends, but generally every couple of weeks apart. That's not because of Crohn's, but mainly due to family commitments. (can't get a babysitter!!!!)

I'm glad you found us so soon after getting diagnosed, it may not be as scary when you have so much experience at you fingertips.
 
I've never had any problem going to the gym, except during/right after a flare I tend to stay around the house, then get back once I'm 100%

As for the drinking, beer turns me inside out but juice cocktails tend to be ok(I don't drink soda so I use juice :) )
 
I don't use a juicer, but I do make smoothies ALOT when I'm feeling bad...liquid diet does good things for "ma bellay"

I drink fruit juice all the time (specifically pulp-free OJ), and I have never had any problems with it...

About pain when in remission...I am technically in remission, but I do still get some light cramping and D when I've eaten something bad...I usually know if I've eaten something that doesn't agree with me within an hour...sometimes longer, but for the most part within an hour or so I will get cramps. I, just like MBH, am on a low-residue diet. Works for me...chicken and rice are STAPLES in my diet...when I'm really sick, it's about the only thing I can tolerate.
 
What kind of smoothies? I guess I cant use anything berry and nothing too sweet?
I want to make my own pizza, but I am afraid on what kind of dough to make and if I can do well with tomato paste and what kind of toppings.
 
use almond flour to make the crust, you can buy it at pretty much any health food store, or if you have a food processor you can just by whole almonds and grind them up.

It also makes really good pie/cheesecake crust here is a simple pizza recipre thats good :), and shouldn't react with you

1/2 c Almond Flour (6 carbs)
1 egg
1 tsp extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 tsp salt

Mix and press with wax paper and rolling pin on a pizza pan. Bake 5 min in 350 oven.

Spread Hunts Oregano Garlic Tomato Sauce, , sprinkle with sweetener (optional), top with mozarella or Havarti cheese and any other legal fixins. Bake for 10 min.
 
that is so awesome, I will try it tomorrow. I eat lots of oatmeal (organic) very well cooked w/ honey, but I know it's a lot of carbs, should I avoid them?
 
Try mango or papaya. I know they sound exotic, but they're actually pretty good in smoothies and have anti-inflammatory properties. I buy 'em chopped up and frozen.

Pears and peaches. Coconut milk too. Of course, the ubiquitous banana.

Smoothies are a good way to take in frozen or canned fruits when fresh isn't always available.
 
no I actually east a lot of oatmeal, cause its a metabolism booster and its heart healthy, I sweeten mine with honey to ;-), as long as its not bothering I'd say keep on.

You can also make bread with that stuff it turns out like pumpernickel, but its kinda tricky to get right, just if you were interested in that
 
isolated soy protein
Homemade Yougurt
Frozen Fruit
Fresh fruit
Peanut butter

All things I make smoothies with, if your into taking protein, you may wanna try it before make sure it agrees with you
 
I usually use melons, peaches, for the fruit, sometimes I use pears, but I don't find I can really taste them when I do use them, so they're mostly for filler when I'm running out of frozen peaches :)

I usually use 1% frozen yogurt to get a bit of sweetness in there as well...YUM!
 
incubus4fun said:
I want to make my own pizza, but I am afraid on what kind of dough to make and if I can do well with tomato paste and what kind of toppings.
Click to expand...
I didn't read if you weren't eating wheat. I make the yummiest pizzas every other week. And really - pizza is mostly about the crust - it doesn't matter what you put on top as much as long as it tastes good. You don't even need a stretchy dough to start.
I use the round pita bread, not the ones with the pockets that are dry and thin - the doughy ones. I put ranch dressing as a base, then I put on chopped up boiled chicken with bbq sauce and celery, top it with shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and bake it on a pizza stone until it is browned and crunchy. It is seriously the most delicious "gourmet" pizza I have ever had.
My husband uses a sweet/hot sauce as the base, and buffalo sauce mixed in his chicken and cheddar instead of mozz.
The kids make theirs with regular old pizza sauce and pepperoni.
If you can't eat wheat - I imagine that any bread substitute would work just as well.
I can NOT believe I just gave away my secret pizza recipe...
 

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