Hi. I just found and joined this group today because I am really frustrated and looking for advice from others who may have found themselves in the same boat. I am 41 year old woman who was diagnosed with Crohn's at 30. Most of my past battles have dealt with pesky fistulas and abscesses, but over the last several years, I have managed to remain virtually symptom free while on a gluten free diet. I decided to take charge of my life, get back into running and I even accomplished my life long goal of completing a full marathon. At 41, I felt like I was in the best shape of my life. Then, boom, out of nowhere, I find myself in a pretty bad flare. In addition to joint pain and chronic fatigue, I have been losing weight, as everything I eat goes directly through me.

One of the things that has me super depressed is not knowing what to do about exercise. I have worked so incredibly hard to get to where I am and was hoping to shoot for a PR in a fall half marathon. However, not only is running difficult right now, I know in my mind that I should not be doing it when I am already undernourished and dehydrated from all of the diarrhea. But it is hard to think that everything I worked for will be gone so fast if I skip out on it. I know that my health comes first, but this is truly making me depressed. Has anyone else dealt with this situation before? How do you handle it?? Also, any advice on things to eat that are going to be calorie and nutrient dense that will cause minimal pains and diarrhea?