"Are you allowed to drink on your medication?" "Um, not really, but whateverrrrr"
Crohnies are people. That's something that should seem like a total no brainer, but people forget that we like to have fun and mess around and feel normal. Sometimes, this involves alcohol.
Before anyone gets their panties in a knot, I'm of legal drinking age in my country. Glad we got that sorted.
As normal as we like to feel, those of us who are dealing with a chronic illness do get affected by the sauce a little differently than others.
I distinctly remember my sister making a comment to me the morning after I had been at a party: "Your poop smells like rum" I guess there was no hiding what I drank the night before.
I'm not saying that drinking isn't dangerous. It totally is in large and frequent quantities. But just because you have a chronic illness, doesn't mean you can't enjoy the occasional cocktail. You totally can. We just have to be a little more careful about it.
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| Pretty much me the next day. |
As someone with Crohn's disease, the hangover can be brutal. Throw the dehydration, weakness, headaches, and upset tummy out the window. We get the frisky whiskies, the rum runs and tequila bum a lot worse than the average person. They send us running to the cocktail cockpit to relieve ourselves.
Some of our meds, conditions, and bodies can interfere with our processing of alcohol. Sometimes due to a lack of nutrition, rapid changes in weight or mood, can change our experience getting boozed up.
I think the biggest thing for us to remember that our bodies go through a lot on a daily basis. The poor thing gets enough stress. Alcohol is difficult for ANYONE to process let alone someone who is being bombarded with heavy medications and treatments. It's just going to take an extra toll on our bodies than other people's.
This has rarely stopped me from having a good time chugging away with my friends. Just because I have Crohn's doesn't mean I can't have a social life! I just have to be sensible and unafraid to have a social life without drinking when I need to.
