How to inform coworkers of your disease

Hi, I have a full-time job and there are definitely days when I call absent or when a flare up hits. My colleagues know that I have an auto-immune disease and that I can't eat all the food. Maybe I'm lucky as I have two other colleagues who have other auto-immune diseases: Sjogren and lupus. They know that if I eat any of the forbidden food, it will throw me into a flare up.
Why don't you prepare your own food and take it with and tell them then that you have a disease in your colon that doesn't allow you to eat all foods. Don't specify the name if you don't feel comfortable; not all people are aware of this disease.
If you can afford it, buy them a dessert or even get them beverages in order not to sound anti-social.

Yes - I am bringing a fresh fruit platter with a dip. When encouraged to eat, I'll just quietly say that as much as I would love to, I have Crohn's. They can take the conversation from there. I've always been shy about the questions people ask. It's just such a crappy (literally!) thing to have. Outside of this forum, I don't usually spend social time talking about my bowels LOL !! I'll have to focus on the humorous side of things. And there is humor in everything. Thanks for your comments!

It sounds like you have a plan that will work for you. There are tons of people on special diets for allergies, gluten or lactose intolerance, etc. If you don't feel like talking about your Crohn's disease, you really don't need to. I am currently in a play and suffering from c.difficile. It was just too overwhelming for me to try to explain Crohn's and c. diff to people who don't know me. They had pizza one night and I declined and said that my stomach was "acting up," (because I didn't want to eat at all) On "tech day" we had to be there from 10-6:30 PM. The directors brought a giant spread of different kinds of food. I thought it would be challenging, but I just put a few little things on my plate and no one even noticed. That was a tough day because I was starving and tired, but didn't want to spend 40 minutes in the bathroom, but I got through it. Tonight the whole cast and crew is going out for a drink after the show. I don't drink alcohol either, but I am going out just to be social....I probably will just order cranberry juice or water or something and not explain myself at all. I used to over-explain, and now I've learned that most people don't even notice.

I'm not at all embarrassed about having Crohn's.....I just want people to know me for something other than a chronically ill person. With work it's a little harder, because you might need days off in the future, so your plan makes sense to me!

Yeah, I get up three hours before work too! Even after I tell people that I've been sick they still make the "you look great" comments.....it is really annoying! I'm glad it worked out for you at work.

I've absolutely have people say things like "I need to get Crohns for a month so I can look like you," and yes, it's ignorant, but at the same time, I understand that many people in their 30s (most of my friends) live lives where they are ignorant about what it means to deal with a chronic disease, and I'm happy they are fortunate to be ignorant about that. So I never take the dumb stuff people say personally....I know it just comes from a place of ignorance, not from a place of trying to be hurtful or insensitive.

I talk about my disease when it comes up, but with most people I don't bring it up when it's not already part of the conversation. So at a potluck dinner, I'd probably just find a couple things I could eat and roll with it, but if someone said something like, "You've got to try my *insert cheesy/greasy/food that would give me explosive diarrhea here*!" I would say something like, "I bet that is really good, but I'll be in the bathroom all day if I eat that, and *nobody* wants that!" I was at a party this Christmas where the hostess was passing around shots. I don't drink because I'm on Remicade, and I figure my liver is already busy enough, so I turned her town the first couple times she offered. Later, all the adults at the party were standing around the kitchen, and the hostess pulled out some sort of "maple whiskey" and passed out shots. When I declined, she said, "Oh, you've GOT to try this - it's really good!" And I just laughed and said, "Sorry, I can't drink. I'm into harder drugs." (She knows I have a chronic illness, so she knew what I was referring to. I kept the mood light, but quickly reminded her that I wasn't turning down her drinks because I was trying to be a party pooper, it was because I have other stuff going on. But I didn't have to turn it into a big discussion about Crohns, so it was easy for me, and she quickly & completely understood where I was coming from.

I haven't had a situation yet like having to start a new job where no one knew what I was dealing with, but I have met new friends since dealing with Crohns. There are people I've been out to dinner with who don't know that I have a chronic illness (although I do have to "special-order" most of my meals at restaurants). They might just think I'm kind of a picky eater, but I don't care about that. Most times, new friends find out about my Crohn's because one of two things happens: 1) I have to cancel/change plans due to either Crohns symptoms bothering me or my Remicade schedule somehow interfering, or 2) They or their children show up somewhere sick and I explain that I am very careful about being exposed to illness because of the chronic illness I have to deal with and the medicine that I take puts me at a higher risk when I do get catch other viruses/infections. So I tell them I'm really flexible and am always happy to reschedule for a time when everyone is healthy. Other than those two situations, I don't really find that my Crohn's comes up.

Don't shy away from talking about it though. If people are ignorant, you're helping them understand something they don't know about. And if you don't talk about it, then you can't expect understanding and compassion from the people around you, because they won't know that you are dealing with anything. Just keep it short, keep it light, and don't give them any more info than is appropriate for the situation. :)

Thanks, everyone, your comments are reassuring! I need to see my GI soon, but not looking forward to it, since I went off the Humira against his wishes. I just got so fed up with the BS from the office and nurse I had to see to get the injection every 2 weeks. I'm one of those "sensitive" people" who cannot give themselves the shot - it's just too painful for the 10 seconds. I know most people say it's not bad, and I wish I could be like them. Anyway, the nurse I was seeing was nasty, unaccommodating, and not hygienic - she was often sick, and she didn't wear gloves. I caught her in a lie twice - regarding reordering my meds and/or telling me when I needed to get my TB test. The GI was not on top of my case - I went over a year without blood tests when he is supposed to be monitoring every 6 months. I know it's my responsibility to make sure these things get done, but I also believe that if a doctor reorders you a biologic, he should know what your blood levels are. I also found out after getting blood work that my B12 was very low, even though my PCP was refilling B12 nasal spray for me every 3 months. He obviously wasn't monitoring that count. So I feel like my doctors have really dropped the ball - probably too busy with too large a client base to really know what was going on. I'm just fed up with it all - fed up with this disease, getting older and tired! Wow, I think I'm depressed! LOL