Background: I was born and raised in India. I moved to USA at the age of 23. I was diagnosed with Crohns Disease (CD) at the age of 27. I am now 35.
I go to India to visit my parents every 2-3 years. Interestingly, everytime I went to India, I have noticed that my Crohns symptoms are significantly reduced. Last time I went India, I stayed there for a month and CD went into remission and stayed in remission for 1 year. I am not sure what factors were helping me when I was in India.
I thought of moving back to India but that would be an expense of a good career in US. Surely,there are no guarantees that Crohns will stay in remission if I stay in India. Does anyone has any similar experiences? Any thoughts?
Thank you,
Pradeep
Reply posted for pradeep78.
This is so interesting. I think I have the reasoning behind it. You mentioned re-living childhood memories. Stress is a huge trigger I have learned over the years with this disease. I'm thinking it isn't necessarily the environment itself but the reduction in stress level.
Reply posted for kman484.
Thank you for the reply. I have been on Remicade, Humira, and Cimzia. All these medications worked really well for me for first six months and lost response afterwards. I am currently treated by first rate GI specialist at the University of Pennsylvania Health system. I have a good doctor but my disease is very progressive. I think I have used all medications approved by FDA expect Tysabri.
Reply posted for pradeep78.
I saw in another thread that you are taking Prednisone for your IBD. This is not the best form of treatment--too many undesirable side effects. You should ask your doctor about a biologic drug such as Remicade--it has worked wonders for me. If your current doctor is unwilling to prescribe it, you should get a second opinion from a first-rate GI doctor. Go to the US News Top Doctors Web site at http://health.usnews.com/doctors . Fill in the relevant information, and you will get a list of the very best GI specialists in your vicinity as determined by extensive polling of medical professionals. Go see one of them!
Thanks for the reply. My diet doesn't change significantly. However, Indian food tastes a lot better in India. I don't live in an urban environment in US. My health improved a lot when I went to my grand parents village in India. The drinking water in that village is not of the best quality. Houses are not super clean like we have in US. Still, I was extremely happy recollecting my childhood memories and visiting families and friends.
It occurred to me that since I didn't live in a super clean place, my immune system was probably busy fighting with other worms or infections rather than hurting its own body. Nevertheless, CD went into remission when I went to that village last time.
Thanks
Reply posted for pradeep78.
Does your diet change significantly when you are in India? If so, how? Also, in the USA are you living in an urban environment? Is your environment more rural when you are in India? Is the air quality better there? What about the quality of the drinking water--does that change significantly for better or worse when you visit India?
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