After my crazy January was over, it was time to get my focus back onto healthy living. I was starting to feel the affects of not sleeping enough, eating correctly and being stressed. My body felt burnt out and like I was running on 0 energy and I was very conscious of getting myself back into flare mode so I had to turn it around.
I really notice when I let my diet slip, and as I am 100% strict with it most of the time, on the occasions where I diverge my body really notices. At the end of January, I went to Disneyland Paris for the weekend with some girlfriends and despite the rain it was a lovely trip. The only thing I struggled with was food. As it was a sort of theme park, most food was fast food or sweets and donuts which I cant have. This meant that for most meals I resulted in having chips, which I didn't mind at all as chips are my favourite food in the world!! But really, I should only have them as a treat as they are deep fried and not great for my insides. By the end of the weekend, and having had chips for breakfast lunch and dinner, my mouth had come up in very painful ulcers - a sign that my Crohns was flaring up. I was only away for two days, so really it is mad that it can affect me that much and that quickly. But if I am honest, I think it was a build up of everything. Stress from mums party, drinking too much, lots of walking around Disney making me tired and then of course poor nutrition. I really didn't want things to get bad again as I had just started to feel on top of things, so as soon as I got home I began doing all the right things to mend my health.
Monday I was working from home so that really helped me as it meant I wouldn't be even more worn out with the train journey etc. It was also helpful as I could regularly gargle with the oral steroids to help my ulcers as this is quite difficult (and grosse) to do at work. For the first few days it seemed that the steroids couldn't even touch my ulcers, but along with eating lots of veg & clean foods they seem to have now died down. Although my mouth still is sore, the angry ulcers seem to have gone. I am going to continue with the steroids in the hope the soreness dies down. Also what I find really helpful is pineapple, so I am going to keep up with my green juices in the mornings - pineapple, cucumber and spinach.
As well as my mouth being sore, my abdomen has felt sore to touch which isn't a normal occurrence. The pains I have had in the past with my Crohns have been cramps inside so I wondered what it could mean. I decided to keep an eye on this an also monitor my bowel movements to make sure everything is ok. Things definitely haven't been 'normal' and I have seen the dreaded red colour appear again which makes me worry like mad but I know this isn't good for my body. My doctor told me previously that what's going on in our mouths can be a reflection of what is going on in our bodies, so me bleeding again may just mean that the inflammation inside me has flared up due to diet/stress. It really is crazy how much can affect our bodies! So I have been in contact with my IBD nurse and have gone back on to the steroid enema's to stop the bleeding. My next appointment with my consultant is on the 26th February so I am focused on that.
In the mean time, I am going to continue doing everything right for my body and focus on not being stressed!! Working out is a great stress reliever for me so I am going to exercise as much as I can without burning myself out. It's all about finding the right balance. I am also going to work on my relationship with food. Pre Crohns I was a massive foodie and lived to eat but after being diagnosed I have fallen out of love with food. I don't enjoy it anymore and get tired of eating the same boring food all the time. So my goal is to work to create different foods and recipes I can enjoy and keep healthy. To see my trials and tribulations, follow me on instagram - xoxocrohniegirl
XOXO Crohnie Girl
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