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Comment by semi-extrinsic | Hacker News Reader

I also have Crohn's, been on anti-TNF and doing well for the past 12 years.

I think it's absolutely universally accepted that stress is a major factor in autoimmune and inflammatory disease. Reducing stress by working on mental health definitely has the potential to reduce inflammation levels in some people to the point where you need no medication.

But like everything it's not a silver bullet.

Another weird/fascinating factor for me at least is that less convenient access to a toilet seems to correlate with less symptoms. When I'm hiking in the mountains I never seem to have a high frequency of needing to take a dump. I've often wondered if there is something of an explanation there for the rise in rate of Crohn's diagnosis in countries as they develop.

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> Another weird/fascinating factor for me at least is that less convenient access to a toilet seems to correlate with less symptoms. When I'm hiking in the mountains I never seem to have a high frequency of needing to take a dump.

Not Chron's but a related disease. For me the symptoms are strongly correlated with how embarrassing it would be if I had to go. So hiking in the mountains is pretty relaxed (unless it's a date or something), just find a spot off trail. In the chair at the dentist with instruments in your mouth and a bib on? All of a sudden I've gotta go.

> All of a sudden I've gotta go.

Not to dismiss your observations but to supply an alternative explanation for your belief about them: Do you remember your embarrassing experiences vs the not embarrassing ones equally well? A selective memory can give the illusion of correlation. Moreover once you have some belief you may become better at finding and remembering confirming evidence for that belief.

Is interesting. I wonder if this is because in absence of stress, less chortisol is released and the body accumulates less "toxics" by that, at a level that can still manage to clean with common periods of rest. When people sleeps it cleans garbage chemicals from the brain, chemicals that may trigger inflamation. When people with Crohns wake up naturally in Sunday or sleep one hour more, their symptoms for the day would improve? If they drink all night and go to bed at 6hAM on a Saturday, those symptoms would be worse?

Just a speculation that came to me after reading the article. I could be wrong, but I would make a interesting test probably IMO.

AFAIK I don't have Crohn's or any inflammatory issues, but boy is this an accurate description of me. My theory has always been that my need to use the bathroom was strongly correlated with coffee and food. When I'm home I'm constantly drinking coffee and snacking, when I'm away from home I'm not.

Coffee is a common trigger of the need to use the toilet, yep. It does not happen with other liquids.

I don't have Crohn's, but I and many people I know experience "not having to take a dump" for various reasons; for me, traveling. The first few days of a trip I usually don't need to go.

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