<p>Indeed, thus the reason why you should test what foods cause you to have issues and thus, then, avoid them.</p>
<p>My son has Crohns and is a junior in college. Luckily he had it under control before he went.</p>
<p>Things that I did talk over with my son before he went - </p>
<p>Did he want a single with his own bathroom. We would have had to get a doctors note, but that would not have been a problem. Talk to your DS about issues with using a Hall bathroom or possibly going into a suite that less people use the bathroom. In the end, my son did not opt for a single - he wanted the normal freshman dorm experience and it has worked out for him. Again though - his disease was under control before he went.</p>
<p>I also talked with him about taking his meds and the storage of his meds in his room. One thing you don’t want is your son to be “embarrased” because he has to take daily meds. It’s best that he’s out and open about it and then the curiosity of the roommate goes away quickly. I also told my son never to leave his meds out - always keep them in his desk drawer.</p>
<p>I scanned and emailed to him all important information that he may need in case of an emergency. That way - anytime, anywhere, he could always pull up the information on his phone if he needed it. </p>
<p>And just make sure that he knows that if he does have an issue to definetly go to the medical center of the university and not try and handle the problem himself.</p>
<p>Will send you a PM.</p>
<p>along the line of what Kleibo stated about having important info and records…an easier way to do that may be to join and set up one of the online medical records services that you and your son control. You can upload MD,insurance info, and even scan in medical reports and medication info. Then, you son will have access to that info where ever he is in the world. So will you. It is a great option for someone with this type of issue. You can often give access to specific MD’s as well. </p>
<p>if you google “online medical records”, a bunch will pop up. Some free, some for a small fee. Just identify the one that works for you!</p>
<p>DD was diagnosed with Crohn’s in college. CCFA is the best. One of many terrific features about CCFA is that in large cities they have workshops for patients and family members with top physicians in the field lecturing. Lectures encompass new treatments, living with IBD and all aspects of managing IBD. Those lectures are usually put on CDs and may be available even to those who didn’t attend the workshop. They also have a helpline which is staffed by professionals I believe. This is a great resource for specific questions.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your input. As I have been worrying about the months ahead I have a more immediate issue that just occurred to me as we are about to do the weekily grocery shopping. This strong energetic young man is loosing weight quickly and we are searching for foods and recipes that work. I would really appreciate any suggestions you may have or any cookbooks you can recommend. To give you an idea of what he is eating, and for those of you suggesting Gluten Free Diets it is a nightmare, but these are the foods that so far seem less offensive: Breakfasts which were previously normally milk and cereal, normally frosted shreaded wheat is now instant oatmeal or toast with water. Lunches which were usually some variation of Turkey sandwiches accompanied by an apple chips and granola bars etc is now soup in an insulated bottle with crackers and some gummy candies. Almost every dinner has a variation of poultry and pasta or rice or potato. He is eating very few fruits only apples and bananas and few if any vegetables and has essentially eliminated dairy products, and most juices from his diet, he is occassionally supplementing with 350 calorie Ensure. As we enter Day 4 of medications I am also wondering how long it will take before we know if the medications will work. He seems to notice some improvement but has a long way to go. I’m also wondering about multi vitamins and calcium supplements.</p>
<p>To summarize the question I’m looking for suggestions for quick breakfast and brown bag lunch foods as well as a cookbook for prepare ahead recipes as well as for sit down dinners. I’m also concerned about vitamins and minerals being depleted especially calcium. Mostly I’m worried about if the medications will work.</p>
<p>Hard boiled eggs for breakfast if eggs sit well? I sometimes add some rice to oatmeal to add variation; walnuts add protein but might not sit well…Turkey breast on gluten free bread (available at most supermarkets - two sandwiches if fruit/granola bar irritates)? Meat n’ potatoes for supper or rice instead of gluteny pasta or gluten free pasta? Lots of soups and stews for dinner and leftovers for bfast and lunch? Note that ensure is milky - if it sits well then fine but do know it’s a big milk jolt. Soy milk may or may not sit better. Chocolate soy milk is available in one portion sizes and is yummy if it sits well. Also know that some vitamins (fewer than just a few years ago) are bound with lactose. This is how I found out I was lactose intolerant - I put a note on a web board that vitamins seemed to cause me tummy ache, and got lots of fast replies about “excipients” which are the binders used to make medicine pills. They used to be routinely made of lactose (ouch) but you will note that many vitamin bottles state clearly nowadays that no lactose, wheat, blah blah is in the pills. Clearly the health industry is taking note that folks are sensitive to dairy and wheat (gluten).</p>
<p>^^^^I second the above about eggs. Could he at least eat a hard boiled egg white? Eggs are really protein rich.</p>
<p>I have this book and have not cooked out of it. It came as a freebie but the recipes looked like food a family would eat.</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> How to Cook for Crohn’s and Colitis: More Than 200 Healthy, Delicious Recipes the Whole Family Will Love (9781581825923): Brenda Roscher: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Crohns-Colitis-Delicious/dp/1581825927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330291031&sr=8-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Crohns-Colitis-Delicious/dp/1581825927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330291031&sr=8-1)</p>
<p>My husband was diagnosed with colitis at a pre-teen. It was awful back then, but now as an adult, it’s under control except for an occasional flare up.
He was told by his doctor that when he has a flare up, to eat lightly, and eat dairy. Like noodles and cottage cheese.
His brother was diagnosed more recently and told to avoid dairy.
So I think it really is an individual thing. My husband NEVER eats lettice. His doctor told him it’s like eating glass. And he avoids red meat. Never eats steaks. I make meatballs out of ground turkey, and tacos with ground chicken.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I don’t know about the eggs he never liked them in the past and he is resisting them for now. I may need to hide egg whites in other foods. It is so hard to tell what creates a problem. This was his first episode ever. It began with chicken nuggets and was exacerbated the next day by a frozen pizza. These items are clearly off the diet! There are a few foods since then that have rapidly made him worse but again difficult to tell what component of the food was the offender. He hasn’t had a lot of Ensure but he hasn’t noticed a problem with it, he is also OK with home made mac and cheese. But of course he’s not really ok just not noticably worse with these foods so its hard to tell if he totally eliminated lactose or gluten if this would make a significant difference. When we first went to the doctor prior to being diagnosed son was advised to stay off of milk because the milk proteins are among the most difficult to digest. That is the main reason he as avoided milk. I’m wondering if that is still important or not so he is being cautious. Hugcheck, I read about soaking walnuts for a while to make them easier to digest, if he wanted to go with walnuts that might help. Rice again isn’t very appealing to him. I made a rice pudding for him before he had a diagnosis and guess who ate most of it. Mimk6, I just ordered a book from Amazon based on the reviews I saw it is titled: What to Eat with IBD: A Comprehensive Nutrition and Recipe Guide for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. I’m looking forward to receiving it. It had good reviews but its hard to tell how user friendly it will be since I didn’t get to look through it. Please keep your suggestions coming. The answer to what’s for dinner, breakfast, lunch is getting increasingly difficult to answer.</p>
<p>It can’t hurt to try the gluten free diet (it may seem like a nightmare now, but it may help). You can eat wraps with corn tortillas, gluten free pasta (the corn type) is really good, more stores are often carrying GF goods, progresso has a line of soups that are GF, chex is as well, etc. I udderly adore chiken with corn starch coating.</p>
<p>If he were to go on it, i don’t think he would have to be as strict as someone with celiac disease (where one crumb could harm them).</p>
<p>As for the medications, if i remember correctly some meds take up to a month before you notice a difference.</p>
<p>It could not hurt at this point :/</p>
<p>Well, couldnt you make your own pizza like things and chicken nugget like things? Just a thought :)</p>
<p>We cross posted Lefty, noodles and cottage cheese sounds most like the kind of thing that appeals to him. This is soooo confusing!!! Yikes though, this kid LOVES steak. He’s avoiding it now, I don’t know if the appetite for it will come back.</p>
<p>When my DH was going through chemo for colon cancer, they advised him to eat easy to digest foods, like white rice, white bread, and baked potatoes. Perhaps you could get some eggs down him by making him french toast? If he likes baked potatoes, that could be a nice adjunct to some grilled chicken.</p>
<p>I’d be interested to hear what your book tells you. Please keep us posted.</p>
<p>Years ago I had temporary colitis because of a reaction to an antibiotic. It was awful and I was losing weight like crazy. The doctor put me on a white diet. I believe there was no dairy but everything else was essentially white – white bread, rice, banana, white meat chicken, cream of wheat, etc. It worked in conjunction with medication.</p>
<p>I was diagnosed with UC maybe ten years ago, when I was in my 30s, and I was quite sick for a while, but at this point it is mostly in remission and does not affect my life. I take meds as needed but not every day. I think reducing stress was a big factor in getting the disease under control. </p>
<p>I don’t think I have a problem with gluten but I do with dairy. Yogurt is okay but other forms of dairy are problematic except in small quantities. It’s sad because I love cheese. Fried food is bad, big meals in general are bad. </p>
<p>Best of luck to your son.</p>
<p>^ hard cheeses have very little to no lactose in them. Have you tried those?</p>
<p>I can eat lots of Parmesan, THANK GOD. 
I guess that is a hard cheese?</p>
<p>Yes! It is. </p>
<p>Here is a list:</p>
<p>[Cheese.com</a> - hard cheeses.](<a href=“http://www.cheese.com/texturesstep2.asp?Textures=hard]Cheese.com”>http://www.cheese.com/texturesstep2.asp?Textures=hard)</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>