Most people with Crohn’s disease know all too well what a flare feels like. Symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and exhaustion can be uncomfortable and embarrassing. So it’s a relief when they disappear. But if you don’t have any symptoms, does that mean you’re in remission?
The answer is more complicated than you might imagine. There are several types of remission. And “remission” tends to mean something different to patients than to their doctors, says Ariela Holmer, MD, a gastroenterologist with the NYU Langone Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center.
“Patients focus on symptoms, because those are what cause decreased quality of life…
