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If there was a responsible for your Crohn...
- Thread starter Lucy7
- Start date
I believe the disease is in you already and then something sets it off. Not that anything in particular can cause the disease per se.
For me it was the perfect storm of new promotion at work, stress, exhaustion, poor diet, working too much, etc. I had a lot going on at one time. Even now lots of stress and anxiety gets my gut going at times. I am also prone to allergies and eczema...all sorts of areas my immune system seems to like to attack.
For me it was the perfect storm of new promotion at work, stress, exhaustion, poor diet, working too much, etc. I had a lot going on at one time. Even now lots of stress and anxiety gets my gut going at times. I am also prone to allergies and eczema...all sorts of areas my immune system seems to like to attack.
- Location
- Reno, NV
I also believe that the potential for the disease is in you. I have an older sister and brother who have never had any symptoms when we were raised the same way in the same way.
My first flare was misdiagnosed but it was when I was 13 and my parents were divorcing. I had to move from the childhood home into an apartment with just my mother. Very stressful for a child. My second flare and when it was diagnosed was less then a week before my wedding at 19. I planned my entire wedding and made most things by hand, there was also a lot of stress.
I have come to the conclusion that stress is awful and something to avoid at all cost. It doesn't matter if you have Crohn's or high blood pressure; stress makes everything worse.
My first flare was misdiagnosed but it was when I was 13 and my parents were divorcing. I had to move from the childhood home into an apartment with just my mother. Very stressful for a child. My second flare and when it was diagnosed was less then a week before my wedding at 19. I planned my entire wedding and made most things by hand, there was also a lot of stress.
I have come to the conclusion that stress is awful and something to avoid at all cost. It doesn't matter if you have Crohn's or high blood pressure; stress makes everything worse.
I'll echo others that I believe that part of it is predisposition...Beyond that, I trace mine to a stomach bug I got while studying abroad in South America which was treated with a really heavy round of antibiotics. The next couple years after that I had more and worsening digestive issues until I finally got very sick and was diagnosed with Crohn's.
I was in remission for awhile, then flared again this past winter after again being on antibiotics and feeling a lot of stress around the election. So I believe stress and antibiotics have been significant contributing factors for me.
I was in remission for awhile, then flared again this past winter after again being on antibiotics and feeling a lot of stress around the election. So I believe stress and antibiotics have been significant contributing factors for me.
Common theme seems to be stress or trauma. I'm reading a book by Gabor Mate M.D
CALLED When The Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress. Good read. For me it hit on many key points on how we internalize our surroundings and how we express (or don't)
ourselves. Stress and trauma can change our gut flora much like a hard course of antibiotics.
CALLED When The Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress. Good read. For me it hit on many key points on how we internalize our surroundings and how we express (or don't)
ourselves. Stress and trauma can change our gut flora much like a hard course of antibiotics.
I may be an exception then for my first flare. It happened I believe when I was 6 years old. Nothing stressful in family life at the time, but I definitely was showing signs for about half a year or maybe more - diarrhea, sharp abdominal pain, vomiting. I remember going for lots of blood work at the time and I was prodded a lot to see if I had appendicitis. Had really bad luck with my teeth for a couple years too. It all just up and disappeared of its own accord. This was around 1975. Then it showed up again in '88. End of first year university, going into second. Family life still good, don't recall feeling stressed, was in great shape physically, good academics. However, that changed pretty quickly with crohn's. Happily things seem to be going well now. Recent gastroscopy indicates some inflammation in my stomach at the moment (I am on remicade and have been for 8 years or so, so I am curious to see what the biopsies show).
Was it during your first year school?