New member -- how do college students manage???

Hello everyone.....

I just discovered this forum today after looking for updated info on Crohn's. You can see my signature that I was diagnosed in 1988, have had two children, and had numerous flares and am currently in remission. I've taken prednisone, sulfasalazine, and most recently Entercort. But overall I have to say that I've had a relatively mild case in that I've never had any surgeries.

However, today my 19-year-old son was diagnosed with Crohn's after I suspected it for some time.... He was a freshman in college this past year and every time he came home he looked like he had lost weight.... and we noticed that he often had diarrhea when home on visits. He always said he was fine.... but then I really pressed him about it and he finally admitted how often he was having diarrhea. Once he got home from the spring semester in early May, I started with appointments, blood work, and a visit to my GI doc. He had an endoscopy and colonoscopy today, and while the bad news is he has Crohn's, it is thankfully limited to just the ileum at this time.

I am hopeful he will have a relatively mild case since mine over the years has been, but I know there are no guarantees.

He lives in a dorm on campus and eats in the cafeteria, and will do so again next year. I would like to hear from other parents and/or students in college as to how they manage their Crohn's. What types of foods/drinks/snacks do you keep in your dorm that have helped you most???

I'm waiting to hear from the GI doc for a follow-up appointment in a week or so, but I'm thinking my son needs to meet with a nutritionist: He wanted to eat at Wendy's on the way home! I've been telling him that he'll have to change his way of eating, but he hasn't been open to it.

Any advice would be most appreciated....

Hello,
I am so sorry about your son and I haven't got any answers but I would be interested to see the responses you get as my son(hopefully) will be off to uni next year(which is a whole new set of worries) He too is not prepared to change his way of eating although to a degree he is eating better since he came off enteral nutrition. I guess that the more weight they need to gain the more 'typically bad' food they need to consume(in relation to most people) High fat/calories etc.
At the end of the day you can only suggest/advise and hope they act on some of it-I have found that son is more likely to do something if the info has come from the consultant or IBD nurse rather than me!

I was in my worst flare during my last semester and I also talked to my professors and they were very understanding after that and didn't take off attendance points if I had to leave class early some nights.  I didn't live on campus, so I didn't have to eat campus food, but there should be some choices on campus that aren't as bad as others.  Even Wendy's carries grilled chicken sandwiches that don't bother me.  It's just a matter of making good choices when faced with bad ones as well and learning what does and doesn't bother him.  I also think he should keep a food diary. 

As far as drinks go, the only thing I drink other than water is diet caffeine free stuff.  Not real tasty, but keeps my stomach from getting upset by the caffeine.  As easy as it is to keep handy, quick snacks around, limit those with a lot of sugar or fat.  Baked chips work for me, but I know some of them can cause problems for some people if they have olean or other stuff like that in them.  Carbs really seem to help settle my stomach, so I'm big into crackers (goldfish, saltine, kinds with cheese in between them, etc.) for easy snacks.  It may be embarassing or hard for him to not get to eat what all of his friends are eating and to seem like a "picky eater," but it's better than the alternative.  It's just something he has to decide to do.  My boss's daughter was recently diagnosed and she is in college and just isn't willing to forgo the "normal" college food yet.          

I feel for your son. So far I know what foods I have to stay away from, but other than that I eat as I please because I hurt whether or not I eat anything. Before I was dx with UC I was going to class, even during my spasms. The next semester I was taking online classes (mostly because I was going to be a new mom but that didn't happen because she died in utero) however after a month of online classes I was dx with UC. I haven't been back to school since. However I do plan on going again next fall and get a business degree. Hopefully things stay well enough with me that I feel safe going to class, if not, online classes again.

As his mom, be his biggest advocate, my mom definitely was mine when I was in undergrad and dormed. Check with your son's college they usually have a department that help people with disabilities/illnesses/etc. I forgot the name of it, I just know I went to FIT and they called that department the "FIT-able department." But every college should have one. I was able to get accommodation forms to give to my teachers letting them know I may need to leave early, extended absences (We were only allowed to miss 2 classes or our grades would go down), and other things that were set and defined early in the year by me and the woman in charge at the FITable office. In addition to the accomodation forms for my professors, I was able to dorm all 4 years instead of the 1 (Since my college was in a city, we were only granting housing for the first year and then had to be put into a lottery) and most importanty, I was able to get one of the coveted studio apartment style dorms instead of the normal dorm room where people had to share a bathroom with a whole floor and eat in the cafeteria. I had only one roommate, and the 2 of us shared a bathroom and a kitchen so I got to make my own food. We never would have even known this department at the college existed had it not been for my mom's friend who told us about it.

This department helped advocate for me. As far as getting the better dorm room it was just a simple note from my doctor. I only had one teacher give me a problem. I technically didnt even need to tell them what I have, but I tried to be open about it. He once accused me of using my illness as an excuse to not be in class, which got me so upset because its the exactly opposite of me (i'm a total academic nerd! haha) He was in the wrong, since he was given the accomodation form at the beginning of the semester but we had a talk and were fine after that. That was really the only instance I had a problem with anyone.

Definitely look into finding this type of department at your son's school, it will help!

Good luck! :)

i dealt with crohn's all through college...it was tough, but dealing with the University Heath Center and a GI doc on campus helped. teachers were understanding. my biggest issues were dealing with prednisone at times and learing where all of the "best" bathrooms were on campus. I think socially it was difficult at times but i think i certainly made the most of it on that end. i managed to make it through with my secret intact- i wasn't mature enough at the time to realize friend wouldn't care if i had to run to the bathroom all the time...now at 36 years old i can finally admit that Crohn's is a very large part of who i am (unfortunately but oh well...) as far as foods etc...i relly didn't have to watch what i ate back then- didn't really seem to affect how i felt (other than greasy pizza etc.) i just knew whatever i ate would send me to the br sooner than later so i'd have to pick the times i ate a bit more carefully...good luck to your son in school!

I am currently in college. 20 y/o f and I didn't even think about moving on campus because of my crohn's. I opted for a one bedroom apartment close to campus. Gave me more privacy to do all those nasty crohns things I have to do without the embarrassment of other people. Of course, I know alot of situations dont really allow for that to be an option though. I do have to work full time on top of school full time to maintain this private lifestyle, which has its drawbacks. I had a bad flare last spring semester and my professors wont so understanding. I should have withdrawn from classes but I am still covered under my parents insurance, so i had withdrawn I would have no longer been covered. Kind of a catch 22 for me, but my gpa suffered and I am slowly bringing it back up to par. As far as wendy's goes, when I am not flaring I can eat wendy's, or almost anything else for that matter. But not fiber. I try to stay away from that.

I was diagnosed with UC right before my freshman year of college. Have your son sign up with the college's disability services. They can help find housing (I was able to get a single room with a private bathroom) and let professors know that he may need to miss classes, etc.


I haven't had any problems with Wendy's :) He should keep a food diary for a month or so and see what (if any) foods bother him. I used to take a bunch of health snacks from home, and my mom would cook me food that I could freeze or refrigerate so I wouldn't have to buy unhealthy food from the college everyday.