Guest Blogger Post: Fighting Fatigue When Dealing With Crohn’s Disease

Please welcome guest blogger for this week Holly McCartney.  You can read her bio at the end of this post.

Crohn’s disease can be difficult to live with, but can be managed through the use of medications and other dietary adjustments that are suggested by your doctor. Fatigue can become another thing to battle when dealing with Crohn’ disease, as the body is working hard on two different fronts. Since Crohn’s is an autoimmune disease, the body is working had at attacking itself on the other hand, some medications can be the culprit that is causing your fatigue.

Some common causes of fatigue with Crohn’s disease and their treatments are:

Flare Up: As your body battles to fight the disease, fatigue may ensue. Using different drugs prescribed by your doctor to fight the disease may help with the fatigue that it causes.

Depression: This is very common with people who are dealing with chronic and/or autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s. Depression can be quite debilitating, causing severe fatigue, among other symptoms. Medications to treat the depression or other forms of therapy may be recommended by your doctor.

Anemia: Crohn’s is associated with blood loss as well as malnutrition, both of which can contribute to anemia. Some drugs may be more potent than other, and could also contribute to the anemia. Iron or a change in medication may be recommended as part of your treatment plan.

Side Effect: The medications used to treat Crohn’s disease have various side effects. Your doctor may decide to change the dosage or medication as he or she sees fit.

Other factors in your daily life can also affect the level of fatigue you experience with Crohn’s disease. Follow a healthy diet, get plenty of exercise, and rest well every night for the best possible results in dealing with this disease. Work with your doctor to figure out what is the best possible method for managing this disease and let him or her know if anything changes suddenly so that adjustments can be made.

This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of the nursing assistants. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com.