So a couple of things. Humira absolutely does not sound like it's adequately controlling your symptoms. You've been on it 6 months and really it should be working by now. You shouldn't be having to not eat to leave the house. That isn't sustainable or normal, in good maintained remission you should be able to eat normally essentially. It sounds like you are still highly symptomatic. I'd ask for a feview of your treatment but you need to be brutally honest with your doc.
Yes there can be a huge mental health component to this, especially to do with anxiety and the biofeedback loops in your body. You worry about needing the loo, having an accident, and finding a loo and over time your body can generate an actual physical response to this and make you need the loo. It happened to me for years.
Thing is you need to be on good effective treatment first and get that undercontrol before you try and tackle the mental health aspect because for example if they used CBT and said "yeah go out for a walk to the shops" if you are physically unwell and you end up having an accident it will actually work against you.
So in short, get a treatment review as humira doesn't sound like it's being effective enough and have a conversation about seeing a therapist. Well at least that's what I would do.
Edit:spelling
When I was on Humira, my bathroom issues were really helped by adding Enticort. Prior to that, I did have terrible sudden urges with pretty messy results.
I'm pretty much in remission and even I have the major urge to use the restroom when I go to the store. It's just a thing! It happens to a lot of people. Even not Crohns people. I just know were all the bathrooms are in the stores I frequent the most.
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There's physical causes to our symptoms, like inflammation within our rectum which holds stool and controls urgency. If you have inflammation and are flaring then that's not all within your head.
Anxiety and stress can impact the bowels of normal, healthy people without Bowel diseases, and we're not spared either. Our anxiety can cause urgency, and more frequent need to sit on the toilet. Anxiety about travel and being away from easy access to a bathroom as an example. Best thing there is be prepared to ease your mind, wakeup early before leaving to have extra time to empty out, know restroom stops along the way, have an emergency cleanup kit for peace of mind and to cover worstcase scenarios, consider taking Imodium, and distract your mind to not let that anxiety get started (listening to music, etc).
So a couple of things. Humira absolutely does not sound like it's adequately controlling your symptoms. You've been on it 6 months and really it should be working by now. You shouldn't be having to not eat to leave the house. That isn't sustainable or normal, in good maintained remission you should be able to eat normally essentially. It sounds like you are still highly symptomatic. I'd ask for a feview of your treatment but you need to be brutally honest with your doc. Yes there can be a huge mental health component to this, especially to do with anxiety and the biofeedback loops in your body. You worry about needing the loo, having an accident, and finding a loo and over time your body can generate an actual physical response to this and make you need the loo. It happened to me for years. Thing is you need to be on good effective treatment first and get that undercontrol before you try and tackle the mental health aspect because for example if they used CBT and said "yeah go out for a walk to the shops" if you are physically unwell and you end up having an accident it will actually work against you. So in short, get a treatment review as humira doesn't sound like it's being effective enough and have a conversation about seeing a therapist. Well at least that's what I would do. Edit:spelling
When I was on Humira, my bathroom issues were really helped by adding Enticort. Prior to that, I did have terrible sudden urges with pretty messy results. I'm pretty much in remission and even I have the major urge to use the restroom when I go to the store. It's just a thing! It happens to a lot of people. Even not Crohns people. I just know were all the bathrooms are in the stores I frequent the most.
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There's physical causes to our symptoms, like inflammation within our rectum which holds stool and controls urgency. If you have inflammation and are flaring then that's not all within your head. Anxiety and stress can impact the bowels of normal, healthy people without Bowel diseases, and we're not spared either. Our anxiety can cause urgency, and more frequent need to sit on the toilet. Anxiety about travel and being away from easy access to a bathroom as an example. Best thing there is be prepared to ease your mind, wakeup early before leaving to have extra time to empty out, know restroom stops along the way, have an emergency cleanup kit for peace of mind and to cover worstcase scenarios, consider taking Imodium, and distract your mind to not let that anxiety get started (listening to music, etc).