Living

The pain is back. Like a jackhammer in my gut, I feel the pulsating, rippling high-tide of pain throbbing throughout my belly. As I draft these words, I sit hunched...

I recently was giving an oral medical history to a new medical provider. This past fall, I was diagnosed with asthma, and I had been seeing a pulmonologist to manage...

As a certified health coach, I work with a number of individuals who suffer from Crohn's and UC. While most of our work together involves identifying a diet and lifestyle that...

As an IBD advocate, I talk all the time about how this is far more than just a pooping disease. As anyone with IBD knows, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis...

Colonoscopies and living with IBD go together like milk and cookies – you cannot have one without the other. It is highly likely that as a Crohn's or UC patient...

Living with ulcerative colitis can be difficult, requiring constant attention. After being diagnosed, I felt that my life had been upended. I struggled to find ways to cope and often...

It is a pretty scary time when you start having symptoms that you cannot figure out or understand. It's sometimes even scarier having to go see a doctor, or even...

There are many routine questions asked at my doctor's check-ups and one of those is always: How much do you weigh? My relationship with my weight has always been a...

I will admit, I have an addiction. It's a good addiction. I promise. I am addicted to coffee. I really love it, and have acquired such a craving for it. I know...

Failing a medication is always a hard blow to deal with. When you first try a new drug, you think that this could finally be it. This medication can finally be the...

With Crohn's and ulcerative colitis comes pain, sickness, flares, and so many emotions. Through all of my difficult health struggles, having my service dog Piper by my side has been...

It is inevitable. If you have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, you will be asked for a stool test at some point throughout your IBD journey. For me, personally, I...

If you have Crohn's or UC, you have likely fallen into the "low iron" category. Malabsorption of key nutrients like iron, vitamin D, and B12 are common among IBD patients...

"Variability is the law of life, and as no two faces are the same, so no two bodies are alike, and no two individuals react alike and behave alike under...

We all remember those days in high school when they tell you, "You must use protection or your partner will automatically get pregnant." What they failed to mention was that it...

Being admitted to the hospital for a flare, procedure, or surgery is never easy and always brings about anxiety over how long the stay will be, what tests will be...

Crohn's disease is unpredictable but the one thing that's guaranteed is that it will flare up. In my 35-year experience with the disease, my flares have varied in length and...

Crohn's disease is a challenging diagnosis. For me personally, I had a very severe case that came on very quickly and intensely. For about 8-9 years, I was constantly flaring and struggling...

How often do we hear about health trends and wonder, "Could it work for me?" One of these is yoga. I've always been interested in trying yoga to see if...

After having had ulcerative colitis for over 5 years, I had begun to feel confident that I knew what food and drinks to avoid. More than that, I thought I...