Hi,

I'm here for my friend Alison.
She has had Crohns now for about 5 years or so maybe. She has also got collitus as well.

Lately she has been having so many flare up's and been off work so much that it is really getting her down. we live together so i can see first hand how much she is suffering.

she isn't the healthiest of people, she is very over weight, she smokes and she could eat better. she also does no exercise.

lately she has been trying a gluten free, wheat free diet but she isn't cutting it completely and is still eating stuff that she shouldn't.

i think she has gotten to a point where she doesnt seem to care about what she does as she doesnt think that anything is going to help her.

i want to help her and make her feel like life is still worth living.
i don't know what to do as i don't have crohns but i have diabetes so i know what it feels like to be so isolated.

any advise would be much appreciated.
i suggested to her that a forum helped me but i don't think she took any notice so im here on her behalf.

thanks in advance for any advise you can give me.

thanks.

Hi Alison,

Sorry to hear about your friend, she sounds really down in the dumps

Most people on hear will tell you this disease can get you down, In my opinion there is no easy way to manage this disease, so I think you have to do a combination of things that will assist you, the first one would be for your friend to get to a decent level of fitness, if possible you could join a gym together, or simply take an evening walk once or twice a day, you don't have to be a gym freak to get a decent level of fitness, but you do have to persevere and keep doing it, im not amazingly fit but I do try to be active, and the way my illness is, I shudder to think how it would affect me if I didn't have a degree of fitness. Also, the fitter your friend got, the more it would help with her outlook on things and her mental well-being, it might also make her want to stop smoking, which is a big factor in Crohn's (so they say). You haven't mentioned that she sees a specialist/doctor for her illness? I'm assuming she does and she is on different types of meds, if not, that would be the first thing to advise (seeing a specialist).  Good luck to you and your friend and i hope she finds something that helps

Hi,

I just wanted to say I think you friend is very lucky to have someone as caring as you .... I think that will help her an amazing amount..

I don't know anything about diabetes.  Is there certain food groups that you could eliminate to help you that would possibly help your friend at the same time it may give her some more determination with her diet...

Not sure that helps x