Drinking with UC

I asked the same question of my GI last week. It was can I go for wings, and a beer or two. He was fine with it, stressing that I should avoid fat more than anything as it will seriously irritate the colon.

Like yourself, my flare started in Dec/Jan 09 and progressed to sever Pancolitis ( second scope next week ).

I've had 1-2 pints of Guiness ( chosen because of lower alcohol content and no carbonation ), with a meal with no issues. I try to avoid carbonated beer, and stay clear of red wine. The only time I had a problem is when i had 2-3 pints with no food.

That being said, abstinence is probably bes but if your going to drink beer I'd keep the volume low as it doesn't mix with Prednisone and will be hard on your colon. Like yourself, beer was a stable for me prior to colitis...now 1-2 beers is a treat once a week with dinner.

Heineken has seemed to be okay for most UCers who try it.

YEAHHH. it's pretty hard to party without booze. I'm never taking 15 shots of vodka in an hour again. Maybe just 1-2 shots now.

When I was in my 20's I had no trouble recovering from a night out of drinking, even with Uc. Sure, I would have looser stools but it didn't seem to bother me as it does now. I am not a big drinker but I used to party every weekend when I was younger. Now that I'm older, I find that it's harder to get over a night of drinking and sometimes it doesn't seem worth it anymore.

I don't like beer, so I can't help you there. I can, however, have a few drinks with Vodka and it doesn't seem to bother me much the next day.

I also read somewhere that those who drink often or moderately are 2-3 times more likely to have a flare.

Sigh..tough to life when you love the barley shakes....

I've also heard from those with UC who can't drink beer that scotch is on their green light list. Good thing I like scotch and whiskey although I'm not risking it while in flare and on the prednisone.

Happy St. Paddy's day.

Great Question asked!! I am suffering with that too... what to eat and what to drink. Mainly what I can drink that won't kill me for days. I grew up in an Italian familiy of drinkers so being around the family and not drinking just feels so weird~ Hopefully soon I can figure out what it is that I can drink/eat and how much before it puts me over the limit. I went to watch the ponies run at the Racetrack last weekend and had a few beers there - Miller lites, and I am still paying for it today. I know 2 glasses of white wine settle ok with me but the red seems to kill me too. I love wine so that sux. Jratt, where did you find that study about the moderate drinkers flaring more?? That worries me... I keep justifying in my head that food and what you drink doesn't cause flare-ups but it sounds like that study says something different :(

Just to keep you all posted I spent most of yesterday evening drinking cider, had a curry later on (lamb saag as spinach seems to be the buzzword on the board). Can't remember getting home and have a severe headache but stomach is not too growly. I guess that whilst i am on a relatively high dose of prednisolone I can get away with it, I will keep you informed about my extensive test of lagers and ciders as I go along, a better test would be to try the same whilst under no medication. My father was half Italian and as such a family lunch and dinners were / are always accompanyed by wine. I have stayed off the red wine for the past two weeks as the pain is just not worth it I think it is now mentally inplanted in my mind that red wine equals pain even moderate amounts. I do personally agree that drinkers are more likely to suffer flare-ups, I think that makes sense as even without UC the stomach is more sensitive after a night out. I know many here will say - just give up the booze but I suppose it's the pleasure pain syndrome, I just love a drink, enjoy looking out for different brews, flavours etc and go to the beer festivals but it does hurt sometimes hence my original question. Oh well back to the sunflower seeds ;-) Best regards D1

Dynamo1 said...
Just to keep you all posted I spent most of yesterday evening drinking cider, had a curry later on (lamb saag as spinach seems to be the buzzword on the board).

I made the switch to Chicken Saag's for the same reason. I don't do phals or vindaloos any more but did find that there was no difference in my guts whether I had a saag or madras so I dropped the saag's fairly quickly, I'm not keen on all that green stuff.

just like to say that after extensive trials I can now drink what I like. I have come off the Predniolone and now on Imuran. The usual effects of UC no longer appear thank goodness. 10's of pints of beer / cider no noticable effect apart from headache.
Red wine is the only time my stomach starts gurgling.
But Imuran does seem to be giving me aching joints, arthritis seems to be paying me a visit now. Skin (especially head) really hurts after going out in the sun so have to wear sunblock or cap.

Interesting, because I seem to be the opposite. One or two glasses of wine seem fine, but even with half a shot of hard liquor, I can feel things going out of whack right away.