Crohn's disease and climbing

Hey fellow Crohnies,

Just wondering what you do to keep your Crohn's in check on either long days or long trips?

What do you do for backcountry meal prep?

How do you find your arthritis is affected by climbing?

Background, I've had Crohn's for 11 years and I've been climbing for 7. I think I have a relatively mild case of Crohn's, but I don't think it has impacted my climbing very significantly.

Two things that come to mind are that I poop a lot and I've had some issues with bacterial infections that may have been related to gym sanitation. The pooping isn't a huge deal since I mostly do it in the morning so I just plan ahead and make sure I'm in a poopable location for the first half of the day. I've had a few issues with skin abscesses that could have been caused by climbing wall, but these are pretty rare so I don't think its really holding me back. I have yet to have issues with arthritis or diet so those aren't an issue. 

Hi... one of my regular partners has it.

He carries substantial “clean up kit” at all times and has a harness with drop legs and knows how to hang and go.... way off to the side of a climb.

And yea, we never get Alpine starts.

Best of luck to you.

Guy Keesee wrote: Hi... one of my regular partners has it.

He carries substantial “clean up kit” at all times and has a harness with drop legs and knows how to hang and go.... way off to the side of a climb.

And yea, we never get Alpine starts.

Best of luck to you.

That's generally my M.O. Alpine starts happen, but I will have to pause hiking to take care of some bowel movements.

My daughter has Crohn's and started out with 6MP and ended up trying Remicade when the 6MP wouldn't work anymore. The Remicade infusions started causing adverse reactions. Fortunately, we discovered the SCD Diet. Dr. Suskind (in Seattle Childrens hospital) is doing studies with the SCD diet currently. My daughter has been on the SCD diet for 8 months now and with no medications and is growing and gaining weight. The test results are amazing. I suggest you look into it if Crohns your seriously looking into an alternative just by switching what you eat. Good luck!

Frogmen83 wrote: My daughter has Crohn's and started out with 6MP and ended up trying Remicade when the 6MP wouldn't work anymore. The Remicade infusions started causing adverse reactions. Fortunately, we discovered the SCD Diet. Dr. Suskind (in Seattle Childrens hospital) is doing studies with the SCD diet currently. My daughter has been on the SCD diet for 8 months now and with no medications and is growing and gaining weight. The test results are amazing. I suggest you look into it if Crohns your seriously looking into an alternative just by switching what you eat. Good luck!

I've definitely been reading about SCD! Glad to hear that it's helping your daughter. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Tim Lutz wrote: A friend uses Kratom for symptoms

https://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=83093

Interesting.  I haven't tried Kratom because of lack of research and the potentially addictive qualities. Has your friend seen success with kratom use?

Tim Lutz wrote:

She hasn't had addiction issues, and i take it myself and have no issues with addiction.  In fact, i find that I drink less when i take it, and people have used it to get off of pain pills.  I can see how one could form an addiction to it, but i think you would have a thing for opiods to begin with, which I don't.

i have had IBS for years since drinking dodgey water in Peru, and I know that it is no where near what Crohn's people deal with, but it has given me solids for months now, when it used to be water, especially when I had some gluten.

Woah. That's what I was hoping to hear. I'm gonna give it a whack! Thanks!

Hi there -

I have moderate to severe Crohn's, been climbing for about 8 years. I find that eating a minimal and clean diet the days before and morning of really (avoid junk food, drink water, minimize processed carbs etc; SCD is pretty awesome for this purpose) really helps. For bigger days/alpine climbs, I tend to expect the following day as a flare up since my body and immune system get pretty shot - just try to identify if the cost of the climb/adventure is worth it.

Single pitch or shorter climbs (<2-3 hours) is the sweet spot since you can just eat a banana or a piece of fruit and drink water/tea and be pretty sustained without any pain or intestinal issues. Also, planning for pooping a few times irregularly throughout the experience as needed. Busy, crowded crags are a general no-go for me because of IBD/Crohns haha. Not the worst thing.

Good luck.