Why Beyond IBD?

I thought now might be a good time to tell you a little more about why I started BeyondIBD.com and what I will be talking about in the coming months.

What’s it all about?

The About page gives an overview of the type of information I want to cover. Some of these topic areas, such as treatment and research, are already widely canvassed on other websites and news services. I hope to build an index to these resources on Beyond IBD, and also comment on particularly interesting articles from time to time.

There are a good number of informational guides on issues such as diet and exercise, particularly on the websites of Crohn’s and Colitis Associations in various countries. I hope to gather and distill the most widely accepted recommendations and discuss how these can be implemented in our daily life.

I also want go beyond a discussion of physical well-being, to encompass life strategies which improve emotional and mental well-being, strategies which help us: Continue reading →

Learning sickness and sharing stories

Learning Sickness: A Year with Crohn’s Disease by James M. Lang is a must read for those with IBD, particularly those who have not yet made contact, and exchanged stories, with other IBDers.

From diagnosis to understanding

As such, some might say it is a book for the ‘newly diagnosed’ but what does newly diagnosed mean exactly? Within one year of diagnosis? Two years? In practice, the transition from first symptoms to diagnosis to understanding and beyond can be a very different experience for each person.

Continue reading →

7 steps to improving day-to-day comfort

Over at the Happiness Project Gretchen wonders why she often forgets to use simple remedies (like over-the-counter anti-itch cream) to make her daily life a bit more comfortable. I can relate!

Recognise the problem (or itch)

It took me a very long time to realise that my sporadic sore throats were actually caused by ulcers and were, in fact, occurring at quite predictable intervals alongside other symptoms of my Crohn’s disease. I then concluded that, as my Crohn’s was already being treated with medication, the ulcers were ‘one of those things I have to suffer through’.

Of course that was not (and is not) true.

Continue reading →

Crohn’s disease – overview and latest treatments

The Wellbeing program on 2NURFM at the University of Newcastle (Australia) has an extensive collection of interviews available for download, including an interview on 20th February 2007 with Dr Thomas Borody, Director of the Centre for Digestive Diseases (Sydney, Australia).

The interview gives a brief overview of current thinking on Crohn’s Disease, touching on the common questions asked by the newly diagnosed and their friends/family, including:

  • What causes Crohn’s disease?
  • Is Crohn’s disease the same as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)?
  • Is it contagious?
  • Can you pass it on to your children?
  • Is Crohn’s Disease related to diet?
  • How do you diagnose Crohn’s disease?
  • What prompts a flare or relapse? What happens to someone when they flare? Can you predict flares?
  • What sorts of medications have been used to treat Crohn’s Disease in the past and what new treatments are emerging?
  • What are the long term effects of steroidal treatment?

Continue reading →