Water consumption

Do eat actual food....that can't be stressed enough...you need to keep your colon "functioning" rather than reacting.  An antispasmodic medication prescribed from your doc helps with spasming colons and helps to slow that process down a bit....I use dicyclomine...awesome stuff!

If you have diarrhea, drinking a lot of water will make it worse...the colon isn't able to absorb it all..so, keep that in mind.

You can add a fibre supplement to help absorb some of the water from the digestive tract...not too much, however, or you can cause other problems.

Most of the vitamin waters, propel or whatever other concoctions people deem "healthy" are full of artificial sweeteners. If it were sugar, at least, the body could use it...but it doesn't use artificial sweeteners and many are irriants to the colon which can exacerbate or cause diarrhea.

You should be on rectal meds...I can't stress that enough.

Do you need to be on iron as per a blood test? If your iron isn't low, then don't take the pills....start eating foods rich in iron such as meat.

What are you eating by the way?

Do eat small meals often throughout the day.....if you can eat eggs, have one in the morning to give you a protein energy to start the day.   

quincy

Hi Socalsd,

If you have diarrhoea or are going to the loo a lot, do keep drinking fluids to keep yourself from dehydrating. The cheapest way to keep yourself topped up if fluids seem to just go straight through you is this Oral Rehydration Solution recipe: 1 litre of water, 8 level teaspoons of sugar, and 1 level teaspoon of salt. (This will keep your electrolytes balanced out as well) - there's more info about it here (you'll need to type this link into your browser) http://rehydrate.org/solutions/homemade.htm
Bananas are good as well, as they are a good source of potassium which is also lost during a bad d attack. (they're full of other goodness too).

You mention that drinking milk might not be good. Is that because you feel worse after drinking it? If so, you might be lactose intolerant, which is common among people with UC. It may be worth getting a check-up with your doc - there's a simple test for lactose intolerance.

I agree with quincy that if you can get your iron through food, do it that way - iron pills can upset the stomach. If you do have to take them, do it with a meal.

I notice that you're on 4 tabs of Asacol three times a day - that's quite a lot of pills in one go - I was up to 12 tabs a day like yourself at one point, but had to do it 3 tabs four times a day. When I took 4 in one go I got diarrhoea, and had to switch. It's worth swapping about if you think things have gotten worse since starting the Asacol.

Feel better soon,

Hi socalsd,

A good vitamin to take would be Forvia, which is especially made for IBD'ers. However, you can only buy it from their website--www.forvia.com.

As for liquids, I drink water and juices (Pomegranate and V8), and occasionally tea. There was a thread a while ago that said pomegranate could have anti-inflammatory properties, so I tried it. It hasn't helped my UC very much, but I like the taste. I rarely drink soda b/c of the carbonation and caffeine. I do drink Powerade and the artificial sweeteners don't make my symptoms worse, but everyone's different.

Hi and welcome. My opinion is that regular water is good for you. I need to drink more water. I go in spurts when i do good. Also, I take a Centrum and calcium plus D. I tried taking iron pills a few years ago because someone told me that they make the dark circles under your eyes go away. The iron pills gave me terrible upper stomach aches. So, I stopped. I usually have a tough stomach but it doesn't like iron.