Crohn's disease
Living with Crohn's disease day to day: tracking flares, activity scores, food, and what to bring to appointments.
Crohn's diseaseFood Diary After Crohn's Bowel Resection
After Crohn's bowel resection, record your surgery details, intake, bowel changes and follow-up plan. A practical diary supports your team, not a generic diet.
16 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Tests: Ultrasound vs Colonoscopy
Intestinal ultrasound and colonoscopy answer different Crohn's questions. Compare what they assess, their limits and what to ask before your appointment.
16 min read
Crohn's diseaseCan You Drink Milk With Crohn's Disease? Most Can
Most people with Crohn's can drink milk: of 1,121 surveyed, about 9% named milk as worsening symptoms. Where your Crohn's sits decides the rest.
26 min read
Crohn's diseaseHow to Help a Teenager with Crohn's: 6 Key Steps
Help a teenager with Crohn's by handing over care in stages from about age 12 to 14, setting up a school plan and tracking growth. What the research shows.
25 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Disease Diagnosed at 60: What Changes
Yes, Crohn's disease can start at 60 or later. How late-onset Crohn's looks, why it gets missed, whether it is milder, and how treatment and surgery change.
28 min read
Crohn's diseaseWhat Does a Perianal Fistula Feel Like?
A perianal fistula usually feels like pain and pressure near the anus that builds, then eases when pus or fluid drains. How it differs from a fissure or hemorrhoid.
25 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Disease and Breastfeeding: What to Know
Yes, you can usually breastfeed with Crohn's. The Crohn's-specific questions are perianal antibiotics, methotrexate, upadacitinib, B12 after resection and flares.
25 min read
Crohn's diseaseDoes Crohn's Disease Affect Fertility? The Evidence
Crohn's lowers fertility slightly, more than UC does. Active disease, perianal disease and repeated surgery drive most of it. In men the effect is small.
30 min read
Crohn's diseaseIs It Safe to Get Pregnant With Crohn's Disease?
Yes for most people with Crohn's, especially in remission. What raises the risk, what perianal disease and past surgery change, and why 'too risky' is rarely right.
25 min read
Crohn's diseaseWhen a Biologic Stops Working: 4 Causes, Next Steps
Biologics can stop working: about 60% of infliximab responders lost response by year 3 in a UK study. The 4 usual causes, tests that sort them, next steps.
30 min read
Crohn's diseaseWhat to Expect at Your First Biologic Infusion
Plan for a longer visit than the drip itself: checks, a cannula, the infusion and an observation period. Reactions are mostly mild and nurses are ready for them.
30 min read
Crohn's diseaseWhy Do I Need Blood Tests on a Biologic?
Blood tests on a biologic do three jobs: catch side effects of the drug or its partner, check drug levels, and track inflammation. Here is what each line means.
27 min read
Crohn's diseaseCan Crohn's Affect Your Teeth? Yes, Mostly the Gums
Yes, mainly your gums and jawbone; the cavity studies are split. How acid, dry mouth and steroids harm teeth with Crohn's, and what to tell your dentist.
32 min read
Crohn's diseaseCan You Be Overweight With Crohn's? Yes, and Often
Yes. In one matched study, 40% of adults with Crohn's were overweight or obese. Why weight says little about disease activity, and what to track instead.
37 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Disease Brain Fog: What the Studies Show
Brain fog in Crohn's is measurable, mostly in attention and working memory, but the evidence conflicts. What each cause predicts and how to record it.
38 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Eye Problems: Symptoms and When It's Urgent
Crohn's eye problems range from harmless episcleritis to uveitis and scleritis, which threaten sight. Symptoms, why pain misleads, and when to go same day.
32 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Disease Hair Loss: Usually Grows Back
Crohn's hair loss is usually telogen effluvium: shedding 2 to 4 months after a flare that then regrows. Why a ferritin under 100 can mislead, what to test.
42 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Night Sweats: Flare Sign or Something Else?
About 24% of people with Crohn's report fever or night sweats in any 3 months. The 5 likely causes, why a thermometer helps, and when to call your team.
34 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's With Constipation, Not Diarrhea: 6 Causes
Constipation is a real Crohn's symptom: nearly half of newly diagnosed kids in one survey had no diarrhea. 6 causes, stricture signs, what to log.
37 min read
Crohn's diseaseDoes Smoking Make Crohn's Worse? The Evidence
Yes. Smoking raises the odds of a Crohn's flare, first surgery and repeat surgery. Here are the actual numbers, what quitting changes, and where vaping fits.
38 min read
Crohn's diseaseFlying With Crohn's Biologics: Out-of-Fridge Limits
Flying with Crohn's medication: biologics go in your cabin bag, never the hold. Out-of-fridge limits: 30 days Stelara, 7 Cimzia, none for Skyrizi.
43 min read
Crohn's diseaseHow to Explain Crohn's Fatigue to People
Stop describing the feeling and describe the cost, the recovery time and the score. What works when people say I'm tired too, and what the evidence supports.
37 min read
Crohn's diseaseHow to Gain Weight With Crohn's: Fix the 3 Causes
Trouble gaining weight with Crohn's usually comes from eating less, absorbing less and inflammation, not metabolism. What helps, why shakes backfire.
38 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Mouth Ulcers: Causes, Signs and Treatment
Crohn's mouth ulcers affect about 1 in 10 people with Crohn's. What they look like, how long they last, what helps, and whether they signal a flare.
47 min read
Crohn's diseaseNausea After Eating With Crohn's: 4 Likely Causes
Nausea after eating with Crohn's usually traces to a stricture, slow stomach emptying, upper gut Crohn's or a medication. How the timing tells them apart.
40 min read
Crohn's diseaseWhy Junk Food Feels Better With Crohn's
Chips and white bread sit better than salad and steak because healthy and easy to digest are different properties. The measured mechanisms, and what they mean.
44 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Disease and Alcohol: Can You Drink?
Crohn's disease and alcohol: most people can drink, and the largest study found no link to flares, but drinkers often report worse symptoms. What changes that.
36 min read
Crohn's diseaseCan You Exercise With Crohn's Disease?
Yes, and the trial evidence says structured exercise lowers disease activity scores. What it does not show, why training is harder, and when to stop.
29 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Fatigue in Remission: Why You're Tired
Fatigue persists for roughly half of people with Crohn's in remission. What the evidence says is behind it, what is worth checking, and what actually helps.
33 min read
Crohn's diseaseIleostomy Blockage Foods: 8 Culprits, Warning Signs
Corn, popcorn, nuts, mushrooms, skins, pith, dried fruit and casings survive chewing intact, so they top every list. Warning signs and when to get help.
37 min read
Crohn's diseaseHigh Calprotectin but No Symptoms: What It Means
A high faecal calprotectin while you feel fine usually means real inflammation you cannot feel, but not always. What the number means and what happens next.
30 min read
Crohn's diseaseHow to Keep a Job With Crohn's Disease
Most people with Crohn's disease stay in work. What the cohort studies say actually costs people their jobs, and the adjustments that follow from it.
34 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Joint Pain: Causes, Types and Treatment
Crohn's joint pain is the most common symptom outside the gut. Which joints it hits, whether it tracks flare-ups, and how Crohn's arthritis is treated.
43 min read
Crohn's diseaseWhat to Eat During a Crohn's Flare Up
Softer, smaller, more often, and more calories than you think. What the evidence says about eating during a Crohn's flare, and why strictures change it.
34 min read
Crohn's diseaseCrohn's Worse on Your Period? Why, and Flare or Not
59.6% of women with Crohn's had diarrhea during periods in one survey, vs 28% of healthy women. Why, whether it is a flare, and safe period pain relief.
36 min read
Crohn's diseaseFood Diary App for Crohn's: What to Look For
The best food diary app for Crohn's is the one you keep using. Here is what to look for, what the research says tracking can do, and how to test one.
27 min read
Crohn's diseaseHarvey-Bradshaw Index Score: What Each Range Means
Harvey-Bradshaw Index scores: under 5 is remission, 5 to 7 mild, 8 to 16 moderate, over 16 severe. What the 5 items ask, and why a 3-point drop matters.
23 min read
Crohn's diseaseHow to Tell If You're in a Crohn's Flare, Not a Bug
A Crohn's flare is a change from your own baseline, but symptoms track inflammation poorly. How to rule out a bug or IBS, and the test that settles it.
30 min read
Crohn's diseaseIs Low FODMAP Good for Crohn's? For Symptoms, Yes
Trials show low FODMAP eases bloating, pain and urgency in quiet Crohn's but leaves calprotectin unchanged. What to rule out first and how to run a trial.
32 min read
Crohn's diseaseQuestions to Ask Your Doctor About Crohn's Disease
The questions that change what happens next in Crohn's care, what a useful answer sounds like, and how to fit them into a ten-minute appointment.
30 min read
Crohn's diseaseCoffee and Crohn's: Usually Fine, With Exceptions
Most people with Crohn's can drink coffee; no guideline bans it. Decaf moves the colon too. The exceptions: flares, a high-output ileostomy, a stricture.
23 min read
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best app for Crohn's disease?
- Clairop, because it logs meals, stools on the Bristol scale, blood, mucus, urgency, night-time episodes and medication, calculates your Harvey-Bradshaw Index from that, and produces a one-page GI visit report. A good Crohn's app also tests foods across delayed windows and exports something your IBD team can read. It is iPhone only.
- What is the best diet for Crohn's disease?
- There is no single best diet, and it is worth planning with your IBD team or a dietitian. During a flare most people do better with soft, low fibre, calorie dense food in small frequent amounts, plus fluid and salt, but no trial has tested a flare food list. A low FODMAP diet eases symptoms, not inflammation.
- What is the best way to tell if I am in a Crohn's flare?
- Compare today against your own written baseline, rule out common look-alikes, and tell your IBD team. A Crohn's flare means active inflammation, and symptoms track that inflammation poorly, so tests such as faecal calprotectin help. Blood in your stool, fever or unexplained weight loss need a doctor promptly.
- What is the best exercise for Crohn's disease?
- Almost everyone with Crohn's can train, and pooled trial evidence shows structured exercise improves disease activity scores, though the certainty is low. The best exercise is one you can keep up, and strictures, stomas and painkillers change the answer, so agree a plan with your IBD team.
- Can you drink alcohol with Crohn's disease?
- Most people can. The largest prospective IBD cohort found alcohol intake was not linked to flare risk. But most drinkers with IBD report worse gut symptoms afterwards, so it is worth testing your own response and mentioning it to your IBD team.
- Can you drink coffee with Crohn's disease?
- Most people can, and no major guideline tells them to avoid it. Coffee, including decaf, can stimulate the colon within minutes, so it may worsen urgency or diarrhoea in some people. Your own log will show whether it affects you.
- Can you drink milk with Crohn's disease?
- Most people can, and no major guideline tells them to stop. Lactose malabsorption is more common when Crohn's affects the small bowel, and full-fat dairy is reported as a problem by some people. Test your own response, and ask your dietitian before cutting dairy out.
- What does the Harvey-Bradshaw Index score?
- Five things about your Crohn's: well-being, pain, liquid stools, abdominal mass and complications. Under 5 counts as remission, 5 to 7 mild, 8 to 16 moderate and above 16 severe. It measures symptoms, not inflammation, so it is read alongside tests.
- Does smoking make Crohn's worse?
- Yes. Smoking is the best-established modifiable factor in the course of Crohn's disease: pooled observational data put the odds of a flare about 56% higher in smokers and first surgery about 68% higher. Your IBD team or GP can help with stopping.
- Why am I still tired when my Crohn's is in remission?
- Fatigue that continues after Crohn's goes quiet is common: a meta-analysis put the pooled figure at 47% of people with IBD in remission. Tell your IBD team, who can check for treatable causes.