The Bad Day Guide – Crohn’s & Endometriosis

We’ve all been there many times, you wake up your whole body aches, your stomach is at a 7/10 on the pain scale, bathroom urgency, nausea and extreme fatigue. I’m at a stage where I have really good days and really bad days with not much in between. I try my absolute best to still function on my bad days but sometimes it’s just not happening. After suffering for many years with endometriosis and now the addition of Crohn’s I’ve got my own bad day routine which definitely helps to make the days better.

My first go to is around food and just eating what you want, I know a lot of people online will tell you to focus on being healthy and eating good food but when I feel terrible I just want to eat whatever I fancy. My usual go to’s are chicken nuggets, sausage rolls and pizza. If you are up to eating at all then just eat, there is no point in trying to eat chicken and rice or vegetables when you already feel sick and just need some comfort food you know you’ll love.

Secondly my appearance, if I am having a bad day and I’m not going anywhere particularly important then make up is a no, I do try to keep up a good skincare regime but I am not going anywhere near make up and wasting precious energy. Clothing wise I’ve invested in lots of lounge wear which can be worn in and out of the house without looking like I’ve just rolled out of bed. Joggers and a hoodie are much better on a painful stomach than jeans and a crop top, yes I’d love to look like I just walked out of a fashion magazine everyday but comfort needs to come first on a bad day.

If you don’t have to go out anywhere then the best place to be is on your sofa with a blanket and some form of heating device, I suffer with almost daily stomach pain and I also get really bad lower back pain a lot, I love having a hot water bottle on my stomach and a heating pad on my back, it really does reduce the amount of painkillers I need to take and keeps me feeling all warm and cozy. Add in some peppermint or camomile tea, pop on Netflix and relax! Also if you can have a bath and then get the heat pad / hot water bottle out this is truly amazing, I love adding Epsom salts to my baths which relax me and give some pain relief.

Pain relief is something I have a love hate relationship with, I can’t take ibuprofen or codeine because of my Crohn’s and I can’t take paracetamol because I’m allergic so my only real option is Oramorph, I am terrible for leaving the pain get too bad before taking any and then waiting an hour for it to kick in and by this point I’m miserable as sin usually in child’s pose on my living room floor. If the pain gets above a certain level just take some pain relief, it’s not worth waiting and suffering.

Lastly is sleep, used with, without or in combination of the above sometimes it’s better to just go to bed. Remove the guilt from your mind about whether it’s a nice day or your missing your nieces birthday or you had a million plans you wanted to do and just go to bed. I love staying up late, something about the night just wakes me up but I know if I’m achey and tired at 8pm its time to get in bed and get some sleep. Even if it’s the middle of the day if your fighting pain and fatigue go and have a nap and let your body and mind rest.

Thanks for reading

A x