James, I know what you're feeling.
I've had Ulcerative Colitis (very similar to CD) and Epilepsy since 1979.
Both conditions are stress related (in my case).
I've had everything under managable control until 6 yrs ago, my 12 year old son was diagnosed with bi-polar (manic depression) and has been puting this family through hell.
Then my petit-mal siezures became more frequent(almost daily) from the added stress in the household.
Then my UC flare-ups started to be more frequent as well and more severe. As a result I had to increase my UC meds, and since this effected the metabolic rate of my epilepsy medication, it has to be increased to the point where I am a walking zombie and afraid to go out for fear that everyone would think I was a drunk. This shows me that there are still so many people that are still uneducated about this topic.
Some people still think that if you have epilepsy, you're possessed by satin.
This effected my social life big time and causes depression.
It even effected my personal life.
My own family was embarrassed to be seen with me. I just had to learn to deal with it.
In a lot of cases stress is a major trigger for epilepsy, CD and ulcerative colitis, if that flares up then you will have to increase your meds and that can throw everything out of wack.
I thought I was living a fairly normal life but it must be worse than I thought as my employer of 29 years has put me on medical retirement and I'm only 48 yrs old.
Randy (Ontario, Canada)