Stress is my ONLY trigger...

[stylinmama]

Hi there! I'm just curious if there is anyone else out there with crohns who can eat and drink absolutely anything without having a flare? I have had a few very serious flares in my life, ALL triggered by stress. Before and after these flares have gotten under control, I can eat and drink anything without causing any symptoms at all. Is this normal for crohns? Sometimes I feel like I don't actually have crohns (I am officially diagnosed). I just find it incredibly strange that I don't flare unless under extreme stress (like adding a new baby to our family or watching a friend burn to death). Everyday stress doesn't trigger it, just extreme stress.

Is there anyone else out there like this?

 

[Archeogirl]

What are your flares like?

I feel like extreme emotional and psychological stress brought on my Crohn's this past year (I'm currently being diagnosed). I was in an abusive relationship, changed countries three times and jobs three times. My Crohn's really flared up (arthritis attacks, erythema nodosum, weight loss) when I was living briefly in Hong Kong and going through post break up emotional and psychological crap, therapy etc. And I don't think the climate helped at all either - horribly hot and and humid outside, freezing A/C inside so my body was continuously stressed out as well.

However, the past five years I've had some digestion issues but I just put it down to lactose intolerance and avoided dairy, and cut out caffeine and cut my wheat intake in half. That seemed to work for me until the past year when I began my flare.

I've been going into remission this week with a new drug 5-ASA and starting to break away from the IBD diet that I was experimenting with the past 3 weeks. I don't know if certain foods bring on a flare for me, but I decided to go easy on my digestive system while the inflammation in my large intestines heals by eating lots of cooked food such as home made soups, cooked veg, meat, egg, and rice noodles (not on the IBD diet however). For the past month, I've cut out wheat, corn, soy, barley, refined sugar, and all the dairy with lactose (I have still been eating aged cheddar and parmesan though since they don't have lactose) but I'm not sure if any of these were the triggers or directly responsible for causing the inflammation. I really can't pinpoint any of this on my diet. I'm sure refined sugar hasn't helped me at all this past year as it feeds inflammation but I don't think it caused the flare for instance. I think some foods don't "help" the situation but then again, everybody's body is different and reacts differently. I hope that once the inflammation is gone I can go back to eating my low gluten, low dairy diet because I felt that that was working for me for years.

Hope you find my experience helpful!

 

[ronroush7]

I have had to be cautious about different foods and beverages like caffeine , dairy, nuts, seeds and gluten.

 

[stylinmama]

When I'm not flaring I can drink coffee in copious amounts. Lol. I can handle refined sugar no problem. Fast food is a "sort of" issue but..fast food is an issue for regular people as well (I assume due to fat content lol). My flares are strictly abdominal pain and diarrhea. No joint issues. No other issues. Had an MRI 3 weeks ago that showed 24 cm (altogether) of inflamed bowel.

I do find your experience interesting as my crohns all began when I was having extreme relatiosnship issues and had moved to a new city alone with my infant son to attend school. So a highly stressful time. It was over a year before I was diagnosed. What's odd is that crohns medication does nothing for me, it actually makes things far far worse. Prednisone is the only thing that does anything at all. So when I flare I start high doses of pred and then am off it within 6 weeks. i take nothing in between flares. I stay in remission until the next highly stressful life event. Sometimes I'm in remission for 3 years the next time for only a year. Each flare lasting as long as it takes for me to see a Dr and get pred. It seems stress sets something off in me...but then I wonder...how is this crohns if I don't actually have symptoms from ANY food? Only stress...it's weird. Lol.

 

[stylinmama]

I should mention that I do also have fatigue. Which is another crohns symptom. I just find it odd that I have no food restrictions and my only crohns symptoms are pain, diarrhea and fatigue. I do have inflammation in two different areas of my bowel which warrants a "crohns" diagnosis. But I'm wondering if in my own personal case if I actually have crohns...or a stress related reaction causing inflammation in my body, in which case obviously crohns medication won't help as its a stress issue. Once I'm done the pred taper, I'm perfectly fine indefinitely until the next highly stressful event. I do believe that stress can do many different things to persons physical health. So maybe since I've been "diagnosed" my drs and specialists are just sticking to that, when in reality my body just doesn't handle stress well? 5 ASAs make my symptoms increase ten fold. My GP stopped prescribing pred for me a few years ago stating it would mess me up, but how does a six week taper once every 1-3 years "mess you up"? Lol. I don't really consider 6 weeks as "long term use" or is it? The drugs used to keep most people in remission CAUSE me to flare. Pred is the only thing that works and I have no issues when I taper off. Yes, the side effects while on it are completely awful, but once weaned off of it, I'm perfectly healthy again and able to eat and drink whatever.

 

[teeny5]

I do believe stress is a trigger for me. I can eat pretty much anything in moderation when not flaring...for example I can eat a salad or a steak now and then, but if I ate them every day I would start having issues.

 

[stylinmama]

I can eat anything without moderation and still have no signs/symptoms when I'm not flaring. Anything except fast food, which I feel has such a high content of fat in it that any person, crohns or not, would have issues if they didn't moderate fast food. Maybe I'm just in denial?? I've had diagnosed crohns for over 7 years a strange time to start denial? Bahaha. I've been tracking everything I eat (literally EVERYTHING EVERYDAY for the last 961 days lol) there is absolutely no pattern for my flares. Only stress. So, I guess I'm now wondering is it really crohns....or does my body react weird to stress causing inflammation? Orrrr....is that crohns? Lol. When you're body causes inflammation due to only stress? I have always been under the impression that crohns is an autoimmune disease and that the people who have it either have food triggers or the disease flares randomly. I do not have food triggers nor does my disease flare at random. In fact, I know when I'm going to get sick a week or two before symptoms even start. I KNOW when I've had a highly stressful event, that I will flare within two weeks. So my flares are actually predictable.

 

[ronroush7]

What is the doctor saying?

 

[Lam123]

Stress is a very big trigger with me. If I am not working, I can eat whatever I want. As soon as I have the stress of work, it changes things for me.

 

[stylinmama]

The specialist is saying its crohns. Lol. I have a love/hate relationship with drs. They are trained to order tests and to believe them unconditionally. So I have just had an MRI and have 12cm of inflammation in one place and 10cm of inflammation in another place. So it's "crohns" according to tests. But will be gone with 6 weeks of pred and will not return without major stress. No matter what I eat or drink or do, as long as there is no major stressor in my life, there is no "crohns". I don't know. Is it still crohns if you're only trigger is high stress? Everyday stress doesn't do it. It has to be a highly stressful event.

 

[stylinmama]

Oh and is 6 weeks of pred once every year or three considered "long term"? What would be the reasoning of my GP to deny me pred if six weeks is not considered "long term"?

 

[my little penguin]

The thing is if you can see it on an MRI it's been there much longer than your big "stressor"
Crohns can be invisible on the outside but have slow simmering inflammation on the inside which wouldn't show on an MRI until after damage is done.
Constantly cycling inflammation will lead to scar tissue ( strictures) which typically need to be surgically removed .

6 weeks of pred once a year is long term and can cause osteoporosis , glaucoma , diabetes , mood issues etc.,,,

Is your Gi recommending long term meds ?
When was your last scope?

Tagging Clash

 

[my little penguin]

Fwiw short burst of steroids is only 3-5 days
After that long term symptoms and rishs are associated with it
Shirts burst are only used once a year for asthma
Do you see your Gi every 3-6 months for follow ups and monitoring
Symptoms alone can't be an indicator of disease activity
How is your bloodwork?