Alcohol

Hi...I don't know what meds you're on....but if it's Imuran and pred, please limit your intake. At least DO NOT binge....a few beers over the evening should be fine so that you can allow your liver to process it more easily. I personally would think beer would be easier than hard liquor.

However it affects your colon can depend on how you would normally react to alcohol/ beer, how much you drink and what else you eat. You might have diarrhea for the next day or it will speed up your colon during the evening and you might be inconvenienced having to run to the bathroom.  It won't worsen your UC, and  If you're having symptoms of flaring, it can exacerbate your symptoms .....an inflamed colon will react more quickly.

Enjoy your birthday celebration...remember that alcohol doesn't agree with everyone and you are on meds that you shouldn't be mixing with alcohol anyway (according to your sig). Reserved moderation.

quincy

I am.. was .. a great lover of drinking on the weekends. While was on Asacol I would have maybe 3-4 beer on Friday or Sat night and find that I would have a big bout of diarrhea the next day... I thought it was worth it to have a few beer. Since my flare that began in March, however, I have not had any alcohol.. I ma too afraid it will make my symptoms even worse so I have avoided it all together. Hopefuly when I am back in remission I will be able to enjoy the occasional few again. one thing I have learned NOT to have is energy drinks, especially REDBULL.

Sometimes it bothers me and sometimes it doesn't and I am by NO means a big drinker, actually I don't really like it so it all works out for me :)

alcohol has never affected my UC. I like to drink hard cider and also like stoli & diet coke, caramel martinin's, pomegranite martini's, sangria........ I have a few drinks a week (I used to drink a lot more) and sometimes, a bit more = )

I notice w/the pred and azathioprine, I am tired so I usually do not want to drink that much and I am not sure but I also think it may affect me more.

I think if you are not used to drinking, I would stay away from anything w/a high alcohol content like hard alcohol, I think the low carb michelob light is not high in alcohol content.

Thanks! I will try and drink darker beers like Blue Moon. Are there any other brands of beers you could suggest for me to drink besides the Bud and Miller beers that run rampid on campus? Thanks for all your help!

I'm not a dark beer drinker. I've found that in small doses, I can drink almost any beer, but larger amounts do me in. I seem to do best with Mic Ultra, or Coors Light, and i can even tolerate Bud Light in small doses. Beers that are very grainy, especially microbrews, don't agree with me. And then my GI says if I need a drink, drink wine, especially white. Hard drinks just don't agree with me anymore, even if I'm feeling okay otherwise.

happy birthday! enjoy your day in moderation, don't let folks pressure you into overdrinking. find some "volunteers" to consume in your stead if you have to :) I'm drinking amstel light right now, and it's yummy. i always get full on Guinness - if i'm drinking guinness i have one beer and drink it slowly. it's like drinking bread to me... delicious bread. I'd advise you to not drink anything weird -- have something that you've had before without problems.

don't do what my husband did - his friends gave him tequila and mint schnapps until he could barely walk, then dropped him off afterward for me to take care of. neither of us could drink mint schnapps ever again

Thanks for everyone's help! I had a great time last night, saw Ben Folds last night! I had a couple of drinks and felt good this morning! Actually, the symptoms are better than they've been in awhile. Does that make sense to anbody. Either way, I'm happy with it!

hi;

I've had UC for many years and lately I've been told I also have IBS.  My symptoms were very similar to a flare up without the blood...mostly very bad cramping after bm's.  This has been going on for months before I was diagnosed this time.  But one thing that I found, that really helped me with the cramping/rectal spasms, is if I have one single beer.  It seems to help me relax and slow down the pain.  Now, if I was to have 1/2 doz beers at a party, of course that is a different story and I pay for it the next day.  I make my own wine, therefore it is cheap and I can afford to have it every day if I feel like it.  I find I can have one glass or sometimes two without too many problems.  If I was to overdo it though, the results are many times worse than with beer.  Hope this helps, but of course like with everything else, we all react differenty.