Crohn's Disease Problems - Fat Crohnie

[Mine7766 0]

I had an illistomy for crohn's disease (over 20 years) and my band was released- I GAINED back all the weight I had lost and kept off for 3+ years. Now the illistomy has been reversed and I have NO ability to re lose the weight. I am having the band re filled tomorrow and I hope I can relose the weight but I have difficulty with a lot of food. Raw vegitables, nuts.chicken etc. Junk food digests fine. Does anyone have insight or experience with these issues?? currently on Remicade infusions. Hip and bone spurs make moving difficult- inflamation issues.

[biginjapan 647]

I have ulcerative colitis but have never had to have any surgery regarding it. Like you, I also have inflammation issues and bone spurs in my knees and heel. Similarly, I find the foods that are "good" for most people - fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole grains, etc. give me real problems, whereas slider foods like bread, rice, Pasta, fried chicken, chocolate, etc. have no problem going through my system. I always felt really frustrated that I have a disease that makes most sufferers thin, but that I am one of the outliers in being obese (although I did find an article somewhere that indicated about 30% of Crohn's/Colitis sufferers are obese). I'm on Pentasa which helps keeps things quiet and regular - but everytime I go on it I also gain weight as I can keep more of the food and nutrients "in" than without it.

I'm of a similar weight to you, but since I'm shorter my BMI is 48. I'm having gastric sleeve surgery in Mexico in 5 weeks, I hope it will help with a lot of my issues. My gastroenterologist here in Japan seems to think it will help some of my symptoms, but he isn't an expert in bariatric surgery. However, the problem is my large intestine, not my stomach, so I think I'll be okay with (and research shows that WLS really helps UC sufferers - although it's more mixed with Crohn's sufferers).

Sorry, I don't have any insights for you - as you probably know, people who suffer from Crohn's/UC can be affected by different foods (and stress and other factors). However, I've tried a few things in the past couple of years, and here's what I've discovered (for me anyway):

-symptoms are usually worse when I'm having my period

-alcohol often aggravates symptoms

-although I eat a lot of Protein (fish, chicken), too much beef can be problematic (I don't eat much pork other than bacon)

-I tried going gluten-free for a while (with real food, not "gluten-free" products from stores) and my symptoms pretty much disappeared after one day. It was amazing. I kept going to the bathroom and sitting on the toilet waiting for something, anything to happen, and nothing did. So clearly I have some level of gluten intolerance that makes things worse. That only lasted a month though.

-Any gassy vegetable is off-limits for me, which sucks, since in Japan almost all salads are made with cabbage, which makes it impossible for me to buy a salad anywhere. Broccoli, Beans, cauliflower, eggs (sometimes), etc. plus other veggies like carrots, potatoes, daikon (a kind of radish), peas are all problems. Raw is definitely out, but I can handle most cooked veggies (other than the gassy ones).

-I've also developed allergies to a lot of (raw) fruits and vegetables in the last 5 years. I don't know how connected that is, but my last gastroenterologist (who was fantastic - I miss him) was very much of the opinion that allergies are very common to sufferers of C/UC.

-I love spicy food but it's just not worth it anymore.

[keekes1014 0]

I'm a fat crohnie too and am so glad to hear both your experiences! I have been in remission and off meds for 2 years. I'm planning on surgery in Mexico in the next couple of months. I think VSG is the best option for me as I'm nervous about ulcerations forming in the anastomosis (sp?), malabsorption issues (I've had 2 rounds of Iron infusions and my recent blood work again shows significant anemia from heavy period bleeding), fear that any manipulation of my intestines may trigger a flare, and the similarity between dumping syndrome and rapid transit (which, too me, is equitable to living hell). However, my surgeon recommends the mini gastric bypass because I have GERD and VSG could make it worse. How did you decide on VSG over bypass? And, like you, the slider foods and dairy are what make my guts happiest. Nuts, green leafies and high fat have triggered flares in the past. Trying to figure out a modified, crohn's friendly but still healthy post surgery diet will prove interesting, lol! Thank for both your inputs!

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[Angie's_Ocean 213]

Hi guys! Ulcerative colitis here. I went to Mexico in October and had a full bypass not a mini bypass. I’ve only dumped once since then, and if anything I was used to it from all the years of flareups. Everyone is super scared of dumping syndrome; just routine for us! Lol.

I was initially scared of what the bypass would do to my large intestine and how my system would react but If anything now I find I can tolerate seeds and vegetables much better than before, and I don’t have to wait for the weekend to eat them just to make sure I don’t get sick while at work. I’m so happy I made this decision and went through with it, my life is 100% better because of this!

[keekes1014 0]

How is your bloodwork? Any problems so far?

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[Angie's_Ocean 213]

I’ll know in a couple weeks when I go get it checked [emoji4]

[Doite 0]

That's so good to hear! I have a viscious type of IBS and I'm terrified the surgery will make it worse. Even though it's hard to imagine how! It got worse with weight gain though so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will improve with loss.

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