Getting diagnosed with Crohn’s disease can be a whirlwind experience. Your doctor may have listed off a ton of confusing medical terms, offered you a pamphlet and prescription, and encouraged you to reach out with questions (possibly via an online portal—another thing to figure out). It’s understandable if you nodded, smiled, and trudged out of the office in a total blur—and frantically googled “What is Crohn’s disease?” on your way home.
Deep breaths—you’re going to figure this out, just like so many others have. Crohn’s disease, a lifelong condition that causes inflammation and irritation in your digestive tract, is pretty common. It affects an estimated 1 million people in the United States, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Although it can take some time and planning to get Crohn’s symptoms under control, people with the disease can typically continue on with their usual activities, like working, dating, and traveling. So take heart: You can still go about your day-to-day, except now you’ll have a better grasp on how to handle bathroom emergencies and other Crohn’s-related discomforts.
Symptoms often start gradually and intensify over time, per the NIDDK. That makes it crucial to nail down a treatment plan sooner rather than later, even if you feel relatively okay at the moment. Having a plan in place ensures that you can keep living your life without too much disruption. Bring these five questions to your next appointment to help you get rolling—and start feeling better.
1. “What physical and mental symptoms might I experience based on what you see so far?”
For some people Crohn’s disease is a mild nuisance that causes annoying bouts of diarrhea every so often, according to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. For others with the condition, flare-ups can involve additional symptoms that are extremely painful or even debilitating. The NIDDK says diarrhea, stomach cramps, and unintended weight loss are common issues, although you may also experience anemia, fatigue, fever, nausea, joint pain, and soreness. You likely have a sense of the symptoms you’ve experienced thus far, but it’s a good idea to ask your health care provider if they think you could develop anything else down the road.
While a doctor can’t magically predict how your symptoms will manifest over time, they can give you an idea of what you might expect based on what you’ve already experienced and which part of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract has been most affected. Typically, where you experience symptoms depends on which subtype of Crohn’s you have, Lea Ann Chen, MD, a gastroenterologist at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, tells SELF. These include ileitis and jejunoileitis (where parts of the small intestine are inflamed), ileocolitis (where the last part of the small intestine, known as the ileum, and colon are inflamed), and colitis (where only the colon is involved).
