Joining the army.

Erm im just wondering if i would be able to join the UK army as a nurse with Crohns disease. Ive been diagnosed with it since January 2010 and some forums/websites say you can join it depends all upon the severity of it and other forums say that you cant get in with a medical condition such as Crohns. Im currently on an infliximab infusion every 8 weeks so would that even lower my chances to get in? Thanks

Hi, I'm actually in the Canadian Army; I haven't been officially diagnosed yet, so I'm still in for now. In Canada you have to meet universality of service, which essentially means, regardless of your trade, you have to be deployable in order to be employable. I'm not sure what the deployable criteria is for the British Army, but Infliximab definitely violates the criteria in Canada.

Hello

I wanted to join the army after I left school but when I spoke to them about joining up I wasn't able to as I had asthma I wasn't diagnosed with crohns at this point. I had a quick look at the site and it's listed as one of the conditions that may affect you joining I think the best thing to do would to see about setting up a meeting with them or phoning to see if you can get any more information about whether it is possible.
Wishing you luck

Ill see what they say about it, i havent had a flare up since last year since ive been on infliximab but doubt they could keep sending me home every 8 weeks for the infusion, ill have a chat with my hospital about other treatments that are avaliable that i could do myself. thankyou for your help x

For Canada, medical follow up every 8 weeks is too frequent. Most deployments are 6 months, so if you have a medical condition, you can't require follow up more frequently than every 6 months indefinitely or they show you the door. Definitely recommend talking a recruiter though.

what medication are you currently on? someone i know also has crohns and i know she has to inject herself with a medication most days, so ill ask about being trialled on that and hopefully if all goes well i might have a better chance at getting in

Just on Prednisone right now, Remicade soon, I have multiple fistulas and surgery was unsuccesful. Fistulas also violate the framework for our medical system, so I don't have much hope of being able to stay in. My GI doc (civilian) hasn't made my diagnosis official yet, so it hasn't caught up to my military medical file yet, so I'm in career limbo until he does so and the medical officials in Ottawa make a decision of whether or not to release me :-/

Ive been on prednisone, do you have regular blood tests and blood pressure checks? ive got pockets in my abdomen, forgot what the medical name is but i havent been in pain in ages now. Aslong as your not in pain and the tablets are working then i think you should be able to stay in! its a truly horrible disease to have. I wish you all the best in your career though!

My daughter wanted to join the armed forces (Australia) and even though she was solidly in remission and only taking Imuran the answer was no.

Good luck, I hope you are able join.

Dusty. xxx

I can tell you after I got out of Marines I got diagnosed and wanted to re-enlist but denied due to disease

so guessing i do not stand a chance at getting into the armed forces, thankyou for all your comments anyway. xx

HI Shanine,

I have checked this for you and Crohn's is listed on the MOD web site
You can find this by going to the

army.mod.uk/join web site (I cant print the full web address here as I am not on the site long enough)This will take you to the web page you need.

Look for the link on the left of the page (Medical conditions) then click on the link in the middle of the page (Abdominal problems). You will see it listed there as (Chronic abdominal diseases such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.) this is listed as one condition that would stop you from joining. Hope this answers your question.

Yeah, It is sad. I wanted to join the a branch in the US and talked to a recruiter but couldn't due to it.