I recently took a road trip to Dallas, Texas over the past weekend. Work has been a little rough lately so I am glad I could take a little break (I like to work but a break every now and then doesn't hurt). I felt on Friday a tad minor flare up as I woke up early to leave for my trip. After the drive I was pretty tired however after a hot shower felt pretty good. During the trip I tested a theory I had about cold weather and Crohn's. So I rolled down my window while traveling in cold weather (under 34 degrees). I had very minor pain but realized that I felt better the longer my hand was outside. This is an interesting phenomenon. It is pretty similar to putting yourself in cold water which I did here. I don't know what the scientific underpinnings of this phenomenon but it sure is interesting.
I got pretty goods night rest last Thursday night. On Friday night I slept pretty well but still felt a little bit tired (my sleep cycle has a debt to it). I have noticed sleep does make a difference in terms of how I feel. This has been seen in some of the here and here. I wish more studies could be done like these types of things since as someone with Crohn's disease know when they feel better or worse. Knowledge from patients is important since we have some idea of what works and what doesn't work. As more people develop Crohn's and we share this knowledge we will continue to have a better understanding and refine why people get Crohn's and hopefully find a cure.
Today (Monday) I woke up for work and felt a little tired. I felt like I was just walking through the steps this morning when I woke up. Tomorrow I don't have work due to an ice day so I plan to catch up on some rest. When I don't get my sleep I also seem to crave snack food. My weight is getting up to about 166 (I am 5'11). I feel a little heavier and plan to slowly wean this down some. On the positive side I would rather have a few extra pounds then be a very skin (a few extra pounds gives me cushion in case of a flare up).