IBD (General)
Zi, The Grumbling Gut, shares his experience of using My IBD Care. 'It’s practical, supportive, educating and it helps you to form good self-care habits.'
My name is Ziyad and I am the person behind The Grumbling Gut. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2007 and I created The Grumbling Gut blog in 2017 to raise awareness of inflammatory bowel disease. My goal is to help those with Crohn’s & Colitis to live better lives by providing education and support.
I first heard about My IBD Care through the community on Instagram and I’ve been using the app for some time now.
My self-management journey
For years, I had explored different ways to track and manage my Crohn’s. It’s difficult (!) Outside of my IBD clinics, navigating my life with the condition was hard at times. Over the years, I’ve realised that self-management is a very big topic. Actually putting the advice you read into practice is not as easy as it sounds.
For me, the My IBD Care app is a powerful tool to help me track, manage and improve my health and wellbeing. It fills that gap of – ‘what can I do to effectively self-manage – staying happy and healthy?’
I really like the appointment reminders, the lifestyle and symptom trackers and the personal health record, where I can save my operation and test information. When I first started using the app, one of my favourite features was the ‘Newsfeed’, which is where I can find the latest news articles, blogs and research about IBD. The team are also able to share my YouTube videos here – which is great for spreading my self-management tips.
My experience using the My IBD Care Courses
Earlier this year, My IBD Care announced a big update to the app. This has been the real game-changer in terms of supporting me to make changes in my life to enhance my health and happiness.
The My IBD Care team launched ‘Lifestyle and Wellbeing Courses’. These are supportive courses developed by experts, clinicians and people living with Crohn’s or Colitis.
You can access short courses and longer courses up to 28 days that help you improve aspects of your life you want to focus on. This could be sleep, physical activity, medication habits, general wellbeing and more. There’s currently 11 courses in the app and more to come.
Sneak peak at the course videos!
What I love most about the courses is that they are led by people that understand living with IBD. This makes the advice feel more relatable and relevant to me. I also really enjoy the daily activities that they give you below each video. For me, the daily activities are what drive real change in my life and habits. They help me reflect and make plans to put the self-management advice into practice.
Tracking my progress and changes in health over time is really important to me. The weekly reports on the Courses feature helps me do this. I can see how control over my symptoms changes each week, alongside other things, such as my sleep diary results.
When I’m in between courses, or just fancy something extra, I can still access quick Single Activities which help me when I need it. For example, If I’ve had a long day at work, I can access a short relaxation audio or breathing exercises that reduce stress and inflammation.
Why is Self Management Important for Crohn’s or Colitis Patients – Hear from Consultant Gastroenterologist, Dr Gareth Parkes.
My message to others living with IBD
The new Lifestyle and Wellbeing feature has more than met my expectations. I didn’t think I would find something so in line with my perspective on the importance of wellbeing for IBD. My mood, happiness and general wellbeing were all good. However, using the app and spending a bit of time focusing on aspects of my physical and mental health only improved them further.
Over the years, I have had real success in managing my own illness through a massive change in attitude and improvements in lifestyle and wellbeing management – this app helps others to do that.
Whether you’re newly diagnosed, in remission or if you’ve been managing your condition for some time, the app has so much to offer regarding ongoing support for people living with IBD.
It’s practical, supportive, educating and it helps you to form good self-care habits. I would definitely recommend trying the 7-day free trial to explore how the new feature could help you.
It’s really exciting to hear that there are more courses on the way. The team are currently working alongside Clinical Exercise Specialist, Sarah Russell, who is an advocate for ‘intuitive exercise’ and has experience of living an adventurous life with a stoma.
If you’re like me, and like to get involved to contribute new ideas, the team would love to invite you to their workshops and interviews they carry out.
You can sign up to be a part of this community by filling out this short survey here.
We thank Zi for sharing his experience of using My IBD Care.
If you’d like to share your experience of using the app – email rachel@ampersandhealth.co.uk. You can also tag us, DM us or interact with us on our Instagram or Facebook pages. We enjoy hearing your progress and feedback as you work through your courses on My IBD Care.
Try the IBD management app
Now you’ve read about Ziyad’s experience with the My IBD Care app, why not download it for yourself! The advice, courses and tracking features will help you manage your IBD and feel more in control.
