Navigating a Crohn’s Disease Flareup Postpartum

Being sick again after healing from an autoimmune disease is incredibly discouraging. I already went through this. Why is it happening again? Over the past three weeks, my Crohn’s disease symptoms have come back full force. This time it’s a little bit different, caring for a 15-week-old baby in addition to myself.

For the past year, I have been vibrantly healthy. I reversed Crohn’s disease through diet and lifestyle and had a very smooth pregnancy. I still eat a whole foods diet and avoid gluten, dairy, refined sugar, and seed oils. It was frustrating to feel symptoms creep back in because I hadn’t changed anything during this period that would have normally caused a flare-up. I didn’t start eating inflammatory foods or give up a healthy lifestyle. It’s almost embarrassing to be sick again, because I felt like I had done everything I was supposed to do. So why isn’t it working this time?

Postpartum flare-ups of autoimmune diseases are actually quite common. Hormone shifts (specifically a drop in progesterone and estrogen) can impact the immune system and trigger an autoimmune response. The postpartum period also involves caring for a newborn while being sleep deprived and recovering physically from giving birth. This is a lot of stress on the body all at once, and stress can also cause flare-ups. 

On top of this, I had debilitating back pain for the first couple of weeks after birth. It was so bad that I was having trouble walking around the house. I took Motrin (a brand of Ibuprofen) and it provided exactly what I was looking for – pain relief. The downside of this is that medications such as Ibuprofen and Aspirin (NSAIDS) can cause gut issues by disrupting the gut microbiome, damaging the gut lining, and increasing intestinal permeability (which is how food sensitivities are developed). I took one of the highest doses of Ibuprofen that’s available, and I hadn’t taken any medication like that in two years.

I don’t know what is causing this flare-up now. It may be postpartum related, maybe I’ve developed new food sensitivities that I’m not aware of, or maybe my gut has become damaged from taking a high dose of Ibuprofen. Perhaps it’s a combination of all these factors. Whatever the cause, my gut is compromised again.

When I first started feeling symptoms, they were mild and came and went depending on the day. I didn’t think too much of it and hoped it was a fluke. About three weeks ago, I started having constant abdominal pain that had gotten pretty intense. I’ve been internally bleeding, which is scary but can be a normal symptom of Crohn’s disease. I’ve gone beyond losing the baby weight, and I’m back to being underweight again. Losing weight so quickly has made me feel so weak that I’ve been mostly confined to the couch. It’s hard to stand, walk around, or take care of my three-month-old baby. Thankfully, my mom flew out to take care of me for a week, and the following week, my husband was able to stay home from work.

I have to be careful of my mindset when I start feeling sick again. I tend to spiral and think 10 steps ahead of the worst-case scenario, when I should focus on the current reality. It’s easy to slip into the fear that I’ll feel like this for the rest of my life, when I know that God has designed our bodies to heal and that recovery is possible.

I have a doctor’s appointment this week, and I’m hopeful they’ll find the root cause of this flare-up and provide a direction forward. In the meantime, I am back on the carnivore diet, resting as much as possible, and drinking lots of bone broth. I’ve seen slow improvements since implementing this, but I am still not in a healthy state. I’m excited to share what I learn as I navigate healing my gut for a second time around.