‘I have to regulate how much energy I use, like, if I have to work then I'm more tired when I get home, but since I know this, I try to rest before leaving home’.

‘I was talking with a friend who also has the same situation and she told me that when she went out with friends and didn't know if there was a toilet nearby, what she did was not to eat, so that she wouldn't want to go to the bathroom, so that's what I do too’.

self-protection was accompanied by an open distrust on the health system.

necessary to control their emotional situation and avoid stress so as not to worsen their illness: C10 ‘I suffer from stress, which I try to control’;

However, Crohn’s disease is not a condition for which there is a regular screening tool. The diagnosis is based on symptoms leading to testing. One test procedure is a colonoscopy (a flexible tube with a camera is inserted through the anus to visualize the colon), in which biopsies (tissue samples) are taken to be analyzed in the lab.