The holiday season is a time of joy, shared moments, and cherished traditions. But for those in the IBDSuperHeroes community who are dealing with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, the festive season unfolds with a set of challenges. We engaged with our community members to understand how IBD has influenced their approach to celebrations – from the dishes on their tables to the gatherings they attend. Here are the insightful and illuminating responses: Alannah-Jayne Simpson: A Nostalgic Yearning In the midst of festive cheer, Alannah-Jayne shares her sentiment of missing out on the simple ..read more

Living with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis goes beyond the visible symptoms. It's a daily battle with a myriad of challenges that affect not only the body but the overall quality of life. In a recent inquiry within the IBDSuperHeroes community, members shared their experiences on the worst aspects of living with these inflammatory bowel diseases. Here are their unfiltered responses: Rene Blakely: The Loss of Weight “Loss of appetite and weight loss... I was not prepared to go from over 250 lbs to barely 90 lbs, and I can literally go 3 days with nothing to eat and not even notice, not o ..read more

Living with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis often means facing challenges beyond the physical symptoms. For many members of the IBDSuperHeroes community, these conditions have had a profound impact on their career paths. In this blog post, we'll explore their stories and how they've adapted to the changes brought about by IBD. Vicky Louise Ball: From Teaching to a Flexible Career Vicky's journey began as a teacher but took a different turn after her diagnosis in February 22. The long-term stress of teaching became physically taxing, prompting her to seek a more flexible and less stress ..read more

Hey there, IBD warriors! We've got some exciting news to share with you about a potential new treatment called Risankizumab for ulcerative colitis (UC). What is Risankizumab? Risankizumab, an interleukin-23 (IL-23) inhibitor, is currently marketed under the trade name Skyrizi and is approved for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis, moderately to severely active Crohn disease, and moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Researchers are looking into it for people with UC. It’s currently under review, which means doctors and scientists are checking to see if it can help people with moderatel ..read more

When you're living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), it's crazy how long you accept things as your normal, or new normal, so I've probably been experiencing 'changes' for possibly over 2/3 years. These changes, it turns out, are due to intestinal strictures (narrowings). We can’t be sure whether I have them because of my Crohn’s disease or from previous surgeries. The three strictures I have were picked up on a routine MRI scan around the end of 2021. Dilation procedure I knew surgery was on the table, but my consultant thought trying to dilate the strictures was worth a go before heading ..read more

Our featured fundraiser this month is Danny Callaghan, who’s competing in Tough Mudder 15K in Dumfries, Scotland! This Tough Mudder course is described as the ULTIMATE obstacle course, including 30 obstacles over a 15K (9.32 mile) run. Check out some of the crazy obstacles here. Electric shocks and ice baths don’t sound like my thing, so I’ll await Dan’s after photos and live through him, for this one! The goal was to raise £500 for #IBDSuperHeroes nominated charity, Cure Crohn’s Colitis. He’s exceeded that already, but with every penny funding IBD research, every penny really does help! We ca ..read more

Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week takes place annually, December 1st - 7th! As always, we're here with some resources for you to use and share for your awareness-raising efforts this year!  Resources First up, our frames for your profile pictures, available in purple and yellow! You can find our Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week header here. Find our awareness images in our Facebook album! Share your story We'd love to share YOUR awareness posts! To do that, you have to help us find them! Include the hashtag #IBDSuperHeroes on Instagram and Twitter, and tag the Faceb ..read more

This month, our featured fundraisers are Natalie and Simon. They have been hosting live stream music events through Facebook! We caught up with them to find out a little bit more about what they’ve been doing and why! Tell us about your fundraiser! What are you doing? We are hosting live streams on Facebook, where local artists volunteer to perform and it is free to watch with donations welcome on the night throughout the stream. All donations are made through our JustGiving link which means all proceeds go straight to Cure Crohn’s Colitis. Why did you choose to do THIS as a fundraiser? What ..read more

Being diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease can be incredibly stressful. Prolonged periods of flare, worrisome treatments, and the long-term impact on quality of life can add an additional layer of stress. Research continually shows that people who live with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are more likely to experience anxiety and depression. So, if you’re feeling a little lost, isolated, scared, anxious, or depressed, you really are not alone! Whether you’re looking for someone to talk to, or something a little more self-help focused, we’ve got you covered - we even found a self-he ..read more

Are you feeling up for a challenge?  ?‍ ⚽️ ? ? ⛹️ ? ?‍ ? ? ? ?‍ ? ?️?‍ ?‍️ ? ?‍️ The latest figures suggest that Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects one in every 125 people in the United Kingdom. That is projected to rise to over one in 100 by 2028. With that in mind, we wanted to make that 125 into a challenge for World IBD Day (May 19th), to raise funds for Cure Crohn's Colitis (C3)! We choose to fundraise for C3 because 100% of the money they receive gets invested in IBD research. Of course, we know that everyone’s physical fitness levels will be different ..read more