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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/6/2009 4:52 PM (GMT 0)
Why such a wide range of ages for the initial onset of UC? Does everyone have a different "clock" that eventually triggers the auto-immune response associated with IBD? I am aware of the genetic markers that have been identified among IBD sufferers but it seems that not only do genes determine if you get UC/Crohns but also when the disease takes hold if one were to minimize the impact of the environment.
Posted 2/6/2009 5:05 PM (GMT 0)
I doubt there is a predetermined time bomb waiting to burst in to UC. There's no way to know if everyone with UC has a predisposition for it and there is no way to know that its just caused by environmental factors. My guess would be that if there is a predisposition its just latent until some environmental stimulus set its off. Its kind of a gray area and its like that with a lot of diseases.
Posted 2/6/2009 5:44 PM (GMT 0)
I got it after my baby was born, so I think that set my bomb. But I'm glad it happened at my 30, when everything is settled and I had school and fun without all these terrible symptoms. And when I read about people in their earlier 20th, I really feel bad for them, not talking about children! Don't even want to think about it! It's horrible! shakehead
Posted 2/6/2009 8:23 PM (GMT 0)
No one, not even doctors or researchers, can agree on what sets an IBD off but you're right that they DID find that code in our genes. That was a recent discovery so I'm hoping that if they got that far that they may not be too far off to finding the triggers. Of course there are so many variables related to the trigger that I doubt they will ever be able to pinpoint it to just ONE thing. If what they are saying is true so far about the trigger: food poisoning, genetics, over antibiotic usage, past illnesses and environmental etc. Then I just didn't have a chance! I have no idea why some don't get it until their 40's while others get hit with in their 20's. But it may have something to do with the fact that the ones that don't get it until they are older, may not have been exposed to their trigger yet. It's one of those things that can circle in your mind and not get anywhere. :)
Posted 2/6/2009 8:31 PM (GMT 0)
I believe some of us got it from taking Accutane, or even antibiotics... so that's when we got it.

No one else in my family has the slightest bit of digestive or intestinal problems, they are a hardy bunch.
Posted 2/6/2009 8:34 PM (GMT 0)
I think I got it from when I was smoking. When I stopped thats when everything started happening. No one in my family has anything close to this. I didnt take alot of antibiotics growing up. So thats the best I can ever think of.
Posted 2/6/2009 8:53 PM (GMT 0)
Mine seems to be triggered from pregnancy but who knows if that was just a coincidence.
Posted 2/7/2009 2:22 AM (GMT 0)
Typically IBD's tend to affect young adults, but that's not written in stone either, it's just the more common age group to get hit with it...however, babies/toddlers/children/teens and older people get hit with it too.


:)
Posted 2/7/2009 2:40 AM (GMT 0)
Doc told me many people who quit smoking get it.

I quit in 2000, and got UC 2005
Posted 2/7/2009 3:03 AM (GMT 0)

I had IBS for about 30 years but did not have UC at age 56 when I had my first colonoscopy.  I was diagnosed last year at age 67.  I believe a long term of using Amoxicillin for infection of the mouth triggered mine.  No one in my family has digestive diseases.  I am thankful every day - while fighting this DD that I did not have it when young!

ElaineNY

Posted 2/7/2009 2:42 PM (GMT 0)
I was 40years when first diagnosed with UC about a year or so after giving up smoking so I'm convinced there is some correlation there,also I became pregnant
at 41,and the condition turned from mild to severe about six months into the pregnancy since then I have'nt acheived full remission,am currently on azathiopine
Its terrible cause one of the reasons I managed to give up smoking was because I became determined not to have any props,and I was worried about the usual cancer and lowered immunity,now I dependant on azathioprine instead.
Posted 2/7/2009 3:02 PM (GMT 0)

You were smart to give up smoking!  Believe me - I have UC and my husband has lung cancer from smoking - I would not trade with him for anything!!

ElaineNY

Posted 2/7/2009 3:17 PM (GMT 0)
I was 19 when dx'd but have had digestive problems from birth that I've been told were "precursers" to IBD. My mom said that I have never had a normal bm in my life, even as a baby. When I was dx'd I was under a lot of stress. I was never a smoker. Have been on antibiotics only two or three times in my life (and no where near the time of dx). I am the only one in my family with digestive problems. My paternal grandmother always had what she called "a bad stomach" but was never dx'd and never had bowel issues.

It seems that some of us are born with the predisposition while others have a sudden onset. I was not suprised by my dx. I was relieved they finally figured out what it was after a lifetime of GIs and tests.
Posted 2/8/2009 6:17 AM (GMT 0)
I read that there is a bimodal distribution in the age of onset for UC, with the first peak occurring between the ages of 15 and 25, and the second in one's 50's.

I was 43 when I had my first flare. Like Peety, I think I got mine not from genetics. No one in my family has had any digestive or intestinal problems. I was on antibiotics for many years, and then I aggravated the situation by becoming a chocoholic and consuming beverages with high fructose corn syrup at least twice a day. It was only a matter of time before before my body said enough is enough and my colon became inflamed. I should have listened to the warning signs--diarrhea and gas for many years--and treated my body better.
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