Crohn's Disease -- What IS it?

WHAT is it?  Crohn's Disease is an autoimmune disease where my immune system attacks my colon, causing inflammation.  It causes digestion issues including diarrhea, gas, bloating, abdominal pain, and much, much more.  Crohn's can happen anywhere in the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus.  It is diagnosed traditionally with a colonoscopy.

WHY is it a problem?  In one word: inflammation.  Too much inflammation can cause a back-up in the colon and/or small intestine.  It also prevents people from absorbing enough nutrients because the digestive tract is not healthy and doesn't work like a normal person's digestive tract does.  When I was originally diagnosed I had actually lost a lot of hair because I wasn't absorbing the nutrients in my food.  My iron was also dangerously low and I had to take an iron supplement.

WHERE do you experience Crohn's? Personally Crohn's attacks where my small and large intestine meet, which is apparently very common (something I learned at my last colonoscopy!).  Imagine when you get strep throat and your throat gets inflamed.  You can physically feel the fact that the throat is smaller than usual.  It is uncomfortable to swallow.  That same type of thing happens to me, just on a daily basis in my small and large intestines.

HOW does it affect your daily life? You probably get occasional stomach aches, or you ate something and you can tell that it isn't agreeing with you.  That is my daily life.  In a typical day I have diarrhea, gas, and bloating.  The abdominal pain fortunately isn't every day, but occasionally it makes an appearance on my bad days.  I constantly am on alert for the closest bathroom.  My friends know if they don't know where the nearest bathroom they can ask me and I will know.  :)

HOW do you cope with having Crohn's? I take daily pills and I give myself one injection every two weeks to take care of the swelling.  However, I still have good days and bad days and I always will.  It is not a miracle cure and there is no cure for Crohn's Disease.  I will likely need to take some sort of medication for the rest of my life.

WHEN are your symptoms worse? Stress makes my symptoms horrible.  My job can be stressful so that definitely does not help.  I am also sensitive to lactose in the form of milk and cream/ice cream.  I eat yogurt and cheese and generally I do not have any issues, however milk causes my issues to be worse as does cream.  I do not eliminate things completely from my diet, but those are among foods that I avoid most days.