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Crohns following pregnancy?

Hello,

I have recently been diagnosed with crohns and I firmly believe my first flare up and problems all started after giving birth to my first child. I know that environmental and particularly stress factors all can contribute to flare ups happening but was wondering if anyone has had the same trigger and if so how you have coped with the tiredness of motherhood and the tiredness of IBD? For me it's impossible to tell the difference!

Are flare ups more common after pregnancy?

Thanks!
 
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nogutsnoglory

Moderator
I have read of a number of women here who have had your experience. Your body went through major hormonal changes so who knows.

This snippet is interesting because it maintains IBD might fare better as a result of pregnancy:

"In some cases, IBD actually improves during pregnancy. That’s because in all pregnancies, the body suppresses the immune system to prevent it from rejecting the fetus. In women with IBD, this phenomenon often serves to put the disease in remission. One study of women with Crohn’s disease suggests that pregnancy also may protect against future flare-ups and may reduce the need for surgery. This has to do with a hormone produced by pregnant women called relaxin that prevents the uterus from contracting prematurely. Relaxin also may prevent the future formation of scar tissue, which frequently causes Crohn’s disease patients to require surgery. However, women should not use pregnancy as a means to treat a flare-up, even if previous pregnancies induced a remission." http://www.ccfa.org/assets/pdfs/pregnancyfactsheet.pdf
 
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