Can you work a physical job with Crohn's?
Sun, March 22, 2020 7:47 PM
Hi friends;
I have just started a new, very physical seasonal outdoor job (I was hired in November BEFORE I got diagnosed in February) -- I have so far survived the first week just fine other than the new building of muscle after losing so much weight in a bad flare, and we're off for a week now due to coronavirus 'flattening the curve' but should be back at it on the 30th.
My question is - do you guys find that you're even ABLE to do a highly physical job? I know exercise is supposedly good for it in some ways, but I was lucky enough to recover just a little bit before the job started, because the week before I was literally too weak and fatigued to do anything other than be extremely grumpy and nap a lot between trying to actually get things done.
I am taking dessicated liver for iron (because iron supplements are too hard on the gut) as well as vitamin C and D (C to help absorb the iron, D for the fact that there's not enough sun up here in winter) and I do believe the liver has helped -- my blood levels of iron were quite low. (And I know very well what low iron feels like; I got so low twice in the past few years before knowing I had crohn's that it actually completely disrupted my life for years and set me on a different career path due to being so exausted all the time.)
I found I was doing OK during the work, though sometimes the muscle fatigue by the end of the day prevented me from doing what I was supposed to. (Starting pull-cord equipment or pruning above my head, etc - anything with a lot of sustained muscle use.)
I have always been a very fit slim person but lost a lot of weight since being diagnosed (23 lbs in 4 months) and basically look skeletal now (underweight on a BMI scale), although I'm trying hard to build back some muscle and keep eating to stop losing weight. I seem to be levelling off now, hopefully.
I am managing with diet (early stages of the SCD diet currently) and budesonide, and have managed to eliminate (mostly through diet, I think) the terrible gastrointestinal symptoms, but I still absolutely have crippling fatigue sometimes in the evenings.
So, do you guys feel it's possible to work a demanding physical job? Do you think flares, even if the worst bowel symptoms are managed, would cause enough fatigue to make it almost impossible? I am just curious of your experiences, since I am very much a 'get it done' kind of person, and I don't usually have doubts about my physical capabilities, but I am seriously questioning how I feel about this level of physical work at this point in my life. (I am only 32 but never have been so floored by a health issue.)
(It's also a job where you don't see a bathroom for 4-8 hours sometimes... which, so far has been manageable since I'm doing well with bowel symptoms, but it scares me a little - I definitely don't want to eat anything new during the work week to make sure I'm not urgently needing a bathroom when there really isn't one around..)
OliverianJoined Mar 22, 2020
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