I am in 20+ years of remission from Crohn’s.
I had surgery, but since then have not had a relapse and take no medication. My diet is primarily food with no artificial additives.
It is getting more difficult to eat out because I find restaurants use artificial ingredients and flavoring, not to speak of the preservatives that is sprayed on food to make it last longer.
Stress also plays a factor in Crohn’s Disease. When I learned to give my burdens to the LORD, everything fell in line.
Stress plays a role in UC as well. I have had to learn how to handle stress, not perfectly, but it does make a difference.
Before my kid had his surgery, we really saw how stress exacerbated flareups, or flareups exacerbated stress.
He was only 16 or so, so he didn’t have such a great handle on his emotions. When he was really acting up, we’d ask if his Crohn’s was kicking up and then he’d look at us like “Oh, yeah, so it is.”
He’s an OTR trucker but is able to prepare most meals in his sleeper cab with a hot plate, microwave and air fryer.