Best Blogs for IBD

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Screen Shot 2018-11-10 at 11.55.41 AMThese days, many people blog about their personal experiences, and blogs about IBD, IBS, and other autoimmune disorders are common. While they all have something to offer, I would like to highlight six blogs that helped me when I was struggling after being diagnosed.

 

  1. Girl in Healing

This blog is great for general tips about how to take care of yourself if you have IBD, specifically if you have Crohn’s disease.

https://girlinhealing.com/

 

  1. Colitis Ninja

This blog showed me that I’m not alone and that IBD isn’t a weakness. Reading the blogger’s posts gave me a much-needed confidence boost.

http://colitisninja.com/

 

  1. Heal Me in the Kitchen

As someone who has had to follow a strict diet for years, it’s nice to know I’m in good company. This blog is full of great ideas about cooking for a paleo diet.

http://www.healmeinthekitchen.com/p/httpsstatic.html

 

  1. Ali on the Run

Through her blog, Ali shows that you can be an athlete even when you’re dealing with IBD. Her blog is extremely inspirational, and it will show you that anything is possible.

http://www.aliontherunblog.com/

 

  1. Lights Camera Crohn’s

This blog is also great for general tips and for understanding someone else’s personal experience with the disease.

Home

 

  1. It Could Be Worse

True to its lighthearted title, this blog has helped me to stay positiveeven during difficult times.

Published Work

 

I followed these blogs when I was first diagnosed, and I still keep up with some of them now. They are informative and inspirational, and, most importantly, they let me know I am not alone. I hope these blog recommendations will help you as much as they helped me

Healthy Paleo Snacks

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Over the years, I have found a few favorite snacks that I would recommend to everyone, but especially to those suffering from IBD. Not all of these snacks are paleo or SCD friendly, but none of them have bothered my stomach. Please note that I do not consume these snacks when I am in a flare – during a flare, I try to follow the more basic form of the SCD diet.

1. Smartcakes 

These are muffins that come in four different flavors: chocolate, cinnamon, tangerine, and coconut. My personal favorite is cinnamon.

2. Fatsnax

These are keto-friendly cookies. They come in multiple different flavors, but my favorite flavor is chocolate chip.

3. Lentil Chips

Lentil chips can be found in most grocery stores now, and they are a great replacement for other types of potato chips or corn chips.

4. Beef Sticks

Organic beef sticks without any sugar are great as protein snacks.

5. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Honey Mints

These chocolates are SCD, and they are one of the first desserts that I was able to eat. They are only available at Trader Joe’s.

6. Lara Bars

Lara Bars are available pretty much everywhere and are great protein bars. My favorite flavor is peanut butter.

7. Snapea Crisps

These crisps are amazing, and you can even find them at the airport, so they are great for traveling.

 

Flying with IBD

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If you have IBD, you may be concerned about traveling long distances by plane. Even though you may be worried and feel that it’s impossible for you to travel, there are ways for you to prepare for long journeys.  

 

Medication

  • Make sure to bring an adequate amount of medication to last for the entire trip, as you don’t want to end up without any medication.  
  • Bring your prescription forms just in case you do run out of your medication, so you can get it refilled as soon as possible.  
  • Keep your medication close by, preferably in whatever bag you may be holding. Do not keep it in a checked bag if you are traveling- your luggage may get lost. 
  • Take over-the-counter medications with you to help manage milder symptoms. 

 

Documents

  • Keep some form of your medical history with you while traveling. 
  • Keep your doctor’s phone number saved in your phone for emergencies. 
  • Keep your insurance card with you at all times. 

 

 

Booking and Preparing  

  • When booking your flight, try and find a seat available in the aisle and close to a bathroom. 
  • Book a specific meal plan for your flight ahead of time, so you can eat on the plane. 
  • Bring snacks that are appropriate for your specific diet needs. It’s better to bring them from home than it is to buy them at the airport. 
  • Buy a water as soon as you arrive at the airport, so you don’t become dehydrated on the flight.  

 

 

Asking Questions  

  • See if you can find a map of the airport or ask an employee where all of the bathrooms are located. 
  • There are cards available that allow you to skip the line in the bathroom if you let the airport know ahead of time. 
  • Ask if you can upgrade your seat to a more comfortable area if possible. 

 

Being Safe 

  • Get all of your vaccinations ahead of time, especially if you are leaving the country. 
  • Don’t travel if you feel like you are getting sick. It could make your symptoms worse. 
  • Be careful with eating. Airport food is not always the freshest or the healthiest, and it could potentially harm your digestive system.  
  • Get travel insurance to cover your IBD problems if possible. Make sure that you are fully covered before flying.  

 

It is fairly easy to fly with IBD after you do it a few times.  Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask the employees’ questions if necessary. Don’t let yourself suffer in silence. Traveling is meant to be fun not to feel like torture.  

 

Diet or Nutritional Supplements

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Along with taking medication, many Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients either adopt specific diets or take nutritional supplements to help manage their symptoms. Going on a diet or taking nutritional supplements can both help with IBD, so it’s difficult to choose whether one or the other is best.  The best option is to do both.

 

Going on a diet can seem daunting, especially when looking at long lists of foods you can no longer eat. Diets can, however, help manage your IBD alongside medication.  Eliminating foods that cause you to feel sick or in pain, such as gluten or sugar, will reduce symptoms and make your life easier. On the other hand, removing too many foods from your diet can seem complicated.  One dieting strategy is to try a diet for a week or two just to see whether it affects your symptoms at all. If you find that your symptoms have improved by dieting, you should stick with it.

 

Taking nutritional supplements, such as vitamins or probiotics, is also crucial when dealing with painful symptoms.  Supplements can improve your overall gut health and digestion, and they can give you more energy, which IBD patients tend to lack. Taking supplements in addition to medication can have a serious and positive impact on your day-to-day life.

 

Going on a diet and taking nutritional supplements alongside medication can, in some cases, make a person with IBD seem to forget that he or she has a disease at all due to reduced symptoms. If you aren’t comfortable going on a strict diet, then you can just take supplements; likewise, if you aren’t comfortable with taking supplements, you can try a variety of diets. Many people still suffer from IBD symptoms even while taking medication, which shows that medication may not be doing enough for them. If you are one of those people, you should seriously consider going on a diet or taking nutritional supplements as an added strategy to ease your symptoms. While dieting and taking supplements together represents the best option, even trying just one or the other could help you greatly.

Thanksgiving (Paleo/AIP)

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Happy Thanksgiving! I probably should have posted this before Thanksgiving, but I totally forgot. It’s a hectic time of the year, so I hope that you can forgive me. I also would like to apologize for not posting for so long. I started school again, and I’ve been busy trying to catch up on all my work.

I am on the SCD diet for my UC, and I know some people have some issues with the diet and others love it, but that’s beside the point. I have added in a few things to the diet, so I am not as strict as I could be with it. Last year, my mom made all my food for Thanksgiving, and I know that it was stressful for her to make my food in addition to the normal Thanksgiving food. However, she managed to pull it off, and it was very good.

This year, my mom decided to try something different. She found a website called Paleo on the Go, and they offered a Thanksgiving dinner along with many, many other products. My mom ordered the Thanksgiving Feast (serves 4, Paleo/AIP), which includes Herb Roasted Pasture Raised Turkey – Non GMO, soy free organically raised, grass fed, no hormones or antibiotics, pesticide free. (32 ounces), Southern Homestyle Gravy, Cranberry Orange Sweet Potato Casserole, Rosemary & Sage Pork Stuffing with Apples and Cherries, Spiced Triple Squash Medley, Mixed Braise Greens, and Cinnamon Apple Crisp. It was pretty amazing! I did not eat the turkey and the gravy, as my mom had already cooked a turkey and gravy, and it was fine for me to eat anyway. The only thing that I did not enjoy was the stuffing, as it just kind of tasted like meat and not like stuffing.

Thanksgiving Feast
Pumpkin Pie
Carrot Cake
Pumpkin Spice Tarts

My mom also ordered Pumpkin Spice Paleo Tarts, which are kind of like Poptarts. I thought those tasted pretty good too. I actually had one for breakfast this morning. In addition to the Thanksgiving Feast, my mom ordered a Paleo Carrot Cake and a Paleo Pumpkin Pie. My favorites were the Carrot Cake and the Apple Crisp. They were delicious!

I also had some Coconut Bliss Ice Cream with my dessert. I bought three flavors: Cherry Amaretto, Coconut, and Chocolate Walnut Brownie. They are all amazing, and I love that I can still have ice cream that tastes like ice cream.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and I am so happy that I can still enjoy the food that I love. Hopefully, this website can help you out a little bit if you are paleo or like me. I hope that you all had an amazing Thanksgiving with your families!

 

 

Lisey

 

Side Note: I will be posting about my 2nd and 3rd Remicade infusions soon! Sorry that it has taken so long.