IBD in family members

My Mom and Grandmother both used to have to go to the bathroom right after eating. I remember my Grandmother being a picky eater and she would/could only eat certain things.... but no one was on any medication nor were were they diagnosed with UC/Crohn's. No cousins have issues.... Everyone went out and did their thing and there weren't any mad dashes to the restroom until me. 😡

I have 5 siblings. I'm the only one diagnosed with IBD... although my siblings do have to go to the restroom pretty quick after eating... but I haven't seen any urgency urgency. They all seem to have no issues waiting for a bit.

My nephew called... he's older and just now starting to have issues. His joints ache, he can't eat certain foods and to control symptoms he's started fasting for 3 or 4 days--which so far has helped him. He said that his "gut" acts up first and then his joints start to ache so much he can barely walk. He denies urgency or accidents.

I advised him to get in to see a GI, get a scope and see a rheumatologist....

But it made wonder. How many people in your family have IBD?

Clo

Post Edited (clo2014) : 10/22/2023 7:51:01 PM (GMT-8)

That is lot of siblings Clo but how fun it must be to have so many life long friends (if you guys still talk). My mom is one of five and close with all of her siblings.

I just have my sister and she doesn’t have GI issues. My dad was diagnosed with UC at 24 but did a round of steroids and enemas and is still fine and med free at 58. He didn’t believe me or my symptoms and said the meds were killing me. There were many times security was called during my hospital stays because he would be yelling at me, my mom and the staff saying he needed to get me out and I wasn't an experiment. I did not allow him to visit me this year when I was in the hospital. I just couldn't handle it. Even after 18 years with UC, he still doesn't understand my condition. I have wished countless times that he could have my severity for a week and see how it affects his life.

Autoimmune is strong on both sides of my family. My mom had a lot of urgency and loose stool and her "piles" always caused a lot of blood. She smoked most of her life, and she did die from lung cancer, so I can only suspect the possibility of UC was going on there.
My dad had ankylosing spondylitis (genetically connected to UC) as does my sister (who also has Sjogrens and RA). As far as the rest of the family history genetics, I'm not in contact to get any info.

q

Had 1 maternal aunt who developed stricturing Crohn's by her late 30s. She managed to live a fairly good life into her 90s then was felled by stroke. Also on maternal side, the son of my mother's male cousin developed UC in adulthood. Then this son's nephew (his brother's son) also developed UC in adulthood. The brother had married to a woman whose sister developed fistulizing Crohn's in adulthood, but somehow achieved a spontaneous recovery after several years of suffering. Then ca. 20 yrs later, she got lymphoma, then survived an arduous chemo to successfully treat that! The IBD medical textbooks published since late 1990s say that heredity plays a part in our ills, but so does environment = industrialization, etc. U.S. President Eisenhower had Crohn's in adult life, much of that time spent in a demanding military career. (=stress, plus probably a middling diet over time). IBD is mysterious like arthritis, unpredictable in outcomes. Some folks have it worse than others. / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)

3x crohns and 1x UC (me) plus multiple other autoimmune conditions

Type 1 diabetes in my father and his uncle. No one else in the family with auto immune besides me. Fingers crossed it escapes my grandsons!

I agree with rusty. Believe it’s a combo of genetics and major stress. My diagnosis came 2 weeks after my mothers 3 yr losing fight with dementia. The stress was incredible. My fathers type 1 diabetes came on after his return from WWII.