Having a Social Life Part 2

Here's an addition to the last post about having a social life in college while also having IBD.

You're finally caught up enough with homework that you actually get a night off! Right? Wrong. Your IBD has decided to be all sorts of fun and keep you in the bathroom all night. How do you handle situations like this? You could go out and hope no accidents could occur or you could stay in, wishing you were out with your friends and dreading the next day when all they can talk about is the fun that occurred that night.

This is definitely a judgement call. During college you need to be able to understand your body well enough to know how much you can push yourself. Sometimes you might only have a small spurt of diarrhea, but can join your friends afterwards. This is another example of why you should be open about your IBD during college. If your friends know what's going on with your health, they'll be less likely to bug you about why you don't go out with them every weekend.

If you've made the call that there is no way you can make it through the night without possible accidents and are spending the night in, enjoy it! Don't make yourself do a lot of work. Relax, and feel better soon.

If you think you can go out and have some fun, remember not to go too crazy. As much as we like to not limit ourselves because of our disease, it's still necessary to watch what you put into your body and how you treat yourself. If you aren't comfortable with all of your friends knowing about your IBD, make sure you have one good friend along who knows so they can help you in case you need to find a private room.

Along with treating your body well comes along the responsibility of whether or not you drink. If you're on medications in which they specifically tell you not to drink, don't do it. Many medications are super harsh on your body, and adding alcohol to the mix could just complicate your health even further. If you're not on medications that warn you about drinking, make sure you know your body well enough before you start drinking. Know your limit and try drinking in small amounts before you go crazy so you know what you can handle.

Having IBD doesn't have to stop you from going out and having fun, but you have to be more responsible than all of the "normal" people out there.