I found in my own case that a reaction to wheat was secondary to the Crohn's. When my Crohn's was waaaaay out of control, I'd get really sick if I ate even the teensiest bit of gluten or dairy (aside from yoghurt). The joint pain also seems to be a secondary symptom of a flare-up. It could be so bad in my hips that I had to stiff-arm myself up off my feet using the backs of chairs in order to turn around while walking through the house. The solution was usually to put on warm woolies and windproofs, then go out and walk til I was thoroughly warmed up. Only once was that not enough and I had to resort to a vicodin. ... And of course, I'd check with my doctor as to whether I needed a round of steroid treatment to get the Crohn's knocked back under control.

Once the Crohn's is back under control I can eat most anything ... only now I have scarring here and there through my small intestine so I have to go easy on fiber, e.g raw fruit and veg., especially stringy ones like most citrus (mandarin oranges are OK if I only eat one or two a week), also red meat, and things that produce gas (cabbage, beans, carbonated beverages). But as long as I eat small portions and avoid "culpit" foods but for even smaller portions on rare occasions, I can stay free of pain and nausea.

I can also DO most anything. But yes, there is the tiredness. There's less of that when I'm on steroids, but they entail other problems (hair loss, weight gain, thinning of skin and of blood vessel walls). I'm hoping that now I'm off steroids, I'll slowly be able to build myself up to where I'm not feeling so tired. Unfortunately I've had a work schedule the past half year that would have left me exhausted even on steroids, but we'll see if I can get less work and more training into my schedule Spring term.

As for suppressed emotions ... Weeeell, I doubt that can be proven. After all, who doesn't have suppressed emotions? There may be an emotional side to this, since stress hormones are involved. But oddly enough, some of the meds that work ARE stress hormones. So the hypotheses are out there, but the verdict isn't in.

All in all, the message from me as a "Crohnie crony" is that this disease is to live with if you just learn what your body needs in terms of food, rest, exercize and meds. In the words of J. Golden Kimball, "The secret of a long life is to get yourself an incurable disease ... and take care of it." Sounds to me like you're off to a good start in taking notes on what your body seems to do well on. Keep up the good work, and keep up your optimism.