Crohn’s, diarrhea, and a heating pad

I’ve been lucky enough to only have about two days in the last four months that I’ve felt “Crohn’s-y” at work. Unfortunately, today was one of those days.

I’ve always found that I feel like going to the bathroom when I’m cold, even before I had Crohn’s. I don’t think it helps that I’m anemic and I get cold easily.

Luckily, at home, I can just grab a heating pad, and I feel much better. After a few minutes of using the heating pad, I’ll go to the bathroom maybe one more time, and then not so much (if at all) after that. I feels like the heat gets the bowels going and gets everything out at once, rather than dragging it out over an hour, which is the worst part for me.

Unluckily, at work, I don’t have a heating pad. And while I probably could bring one, I’d rather not make my Crohn’s so visible. I’m thinking about getting those heating pads that come in a pack that people use for back pain and keeping one in my purse for emergencies. We’ll see how that goes (but hopefully not too soon!)