Severe Problem !! Please advise

Hi Happyliving. I'm sorry you're having problems. The same thing happens to me. On days that I suddenly start flaring out of nowhere I notice it helps to double up on my canasa supps and do one in the morning/afternoon (which ever time you can and be around the house for an hour or so to make sure you don't have issues) and do the second one before bed. I do them twice a day until I get back under control. Try that and if it doesn't help make an appt with your GI doc. Good luck!

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Ashley

19 year old female DX Severe Left-sided Colitis after c-scope Oct 2005
Prednisone 40mg Oct 2005-Aug 2006
Canasa Supps Oct 2005-present
Remicade every 8 wks Aug 2006-present
C-diff in March-April 2006
Procedures to Date: 3 colonoscopies, 2 sigmoidoscopies
Semi Remission with mini flares controlled with Canasa supps and Immodium
Feeling: Extremely depressed
Zoloft 100mg June 2008-present

Helo All and Sandra,

I have UC since April 2006
Initial flare was severe and was hospitalised for 4 days
Later i was on Asacol for some days and doing good..
But what i noticed is my UC is never 100% in remission for long number of days..some way here and there,
there are bumps.
Later GI asked me to be on Canasa Suppository and I'm on that for few days and sypmtoms comes,goes away and comes back...
Recently one month back i was kept on Pred on low dosages from 20mg tapering down to 0mg with 5mg downs every 14days..
I'm out of Pred and now symptoms are back...but the most confusing part is symptoms are not there all days..few days are good and one day flare starts suddenly..so i'm not able to exactly define this to my GI, he says ups and downs will be there with this disease...........
I'm totally confused and not sure this is happening only to me or somebody else..

In this situation what would be the best solution..
Is it advisary to change the medications?

Please advise....and your expereices/solutions that helped you out to come out of this problem

Thanks all in advance and awaiting your responses

Hi, I am the same as you. I am currently down to 2.5mg pred, some days I go once and BM fine other days I am there 4 times. However, I have been like this twice before and thought I was flaring but had a scope each time and was told my colon was clear (no inflammation). When I am in a flare I can definately tell the difference as go about 8 times per day and usually once during the night and have a lot of stomach pain and urgency.

At the moment although I am going a little more I have little or no stomach pain and pretty much no urgency. At my last visit to the doctor he told me there are lots of other things that can make you go to the toilet more and not too worry excessively if I have a bad day as that will inevitably bring on a flare.

So now I really don't worry, I just think to myself could of been something I have eaten, could be a bit of IBS or could just be that my colon is so scarred from previous inflammation that it doesn't work aswell as it used to!!!

There are a number of things that could be affecting you, such as diet or med. You could try keeping a food diary for a few weeks to judge whether anything specific disagrees with you. (Are you lactose intolerant? Read labels of processed foods to see if any additives could be bothering you, etc.) What did your most recent scope report about your areas of inflammation? As Beth75 writes, another form of oral 5-ASA might help you more than Lialda, depending on whether you have right-sided or left-sided inflammation, or pancolitis. Another point for your doctor to consider is whether you are steroid dependent; if you have to keep returning to Pred to get real improvement it might be time to move to 6-MP or Imuran. Long-term use of steroids should be avoided for the sake of one's bones, especially. It sounds like your inflammation can be controlled with some combination of meds that still needs to be worked out-- so try to assess the situation calmly & stay as positive as you can about finding the solution. / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC; currently on 3 Colazal daily for maintenance of remission)

Your suggestions please on the selection of the medicines for left-sided UC.

How different is Asacol, Lialda and Colozal?

The generic name of Colazal is basalazide disodium, but it breaks down to mesalamine inside the colon. That is a different dispersal than Asacol, which starts dissolving in the terminal ileum, according to recent clinical studies. Therefore, many gastros who keep up with UC research now think that Colazal is more effective in treating left-sided inflammation than other oral 5-ASAs. Sulfasalazine, the oldest oral 5-ASA, is bonded to sulfa, which can cause changes to blood cells over time or allergic reactions, so a patient should beware of those negatives when choosing among available meds. As Judilyn writes, the use of retention enemas in combination with oral med can speed healing in the recto-sigmoid sections of the colon. Many members here can vouch for that. / Old Hat

bbc-- I bumped an earlier post for you & Happy Living. See "New Online IBD Article Summarizes Current Medical Treatment Options". Part 1 of the article discusses 5-ASA differences, among other meds used to treat UC. / Old Hat