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Ashley and Rebecca from The Crohn's & Colitis Dietitians talk about all things IBD-related. On this episode, Ashley and Rebecca talk about supporting family members with IBD and delve into a recent blog post we published on the Top 10 IBD Myths Debunked.

0-9 minutes
Ashley talks about her sister's recent Crohn's diagnosis and how this reminded Ashley of her own experience of being diagnosed and the associated feelings. There can be anger about the challenges or from being dismissed by doctors previously. There can be fear of the unknown and about how much treatment will cost. We discuss the grieving process and how hard it can be to watch a family member go through all of this.  Ashley said that she felt helpless at times when seeing  her sister in pain and dealing with  factors that are out of their control, such as what insurance  will cover.  Rebecca gave Ashley a compassionate reminder that being present for loved ones is an important role and we don't need to have all of the answers right now. 

9- 23
We discuss that when someone has IBD or any disease it is important to process emotions,  and allow oneself to go through the grieving process when newly diagnosed and even years after. We talk about some of the phases we went though after getting diagnosed with IBD. We felt validation, grief, and would sometimes feel frustrated when hearing insensitive comments from others. We agree that having someone support us and just be with us is helpful but we don't want people to feel sorry for us.

Ashley references a Brene Brown youtube video at 18:15:  Empathy vs. Sympathy

23-27
Rebecca talks about how her husband understands her fears around living with Ulcerative Colitis because he has Crohn's disease. He reminds her to not let IBD control her life. Rebecca discusses some of her worries, such as traveling, and how IBD can feel overwhelming at times. We discuss how nutrition can feel overwhelming too because there is so much information out there and not all of it is good. We acknowledge that some things can be partially true but that doesn't mean it is helpful.  Danielle did a recent blog titled: Top 10 IBD Myths Debunked. Feel free to use this as a reference if you would like to clarify things for people!

27- 36
We discuss a few of the myths in the blog:
Myth: IBS and  IBD are the same thing
Myth: my bloodwork is fine so I don't need stool test 
Myth: IBD is my fault

36-47
We delve into more myths with IBD
Myth: fad diets will cure my IBD. 
Myth: if you have no symptoms, there is no inflammation
Myth: If you have symptoms you are not in remission
Myth: all fiber is the same
Myth: stress causes IBD
Myth: you have to eat low fiber for the rest of your life
Myth: diet doesn't matter
 
We hope this podcast is helpful and that you feel less alone if you are experiencing challenges with your IBD!