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Did you have bowel problems before UC?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 4/3/2009 9:19 PM (GMT 0)
I had constant bowel issues leading up to 17 years old, when I finally had a major flare up, and was diagnosed with UC. I didn't complain much so I kind of blame myself a little for ending up with UC. I think that if I would have learned to eat properly to avoid having diarrhea and poor bowel function for so many years maybe I wouldn't be so sick now.

I am curious if other people were the same or did you go from healthy fully formed bm's to UC bloody diarrhea over night for no apparent reason?
Posted 4/3/2009 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
I had no bowel problems at all, and had never been ill before UC. Even catching a cold was rare occurrence.
Posted 4/3/2009 9:35 PM (GMT 0)
Not really. I've always been senstivie to MSG (it causes horrible bloating and diarrhea within 30 minutes of eating it), but that's about it. I had my fair share of tummy bugs as a kid, too, but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm pretty gassy, too, but most of my family is as well, and I don't really think that's related to UC.
Posted 4/3/2009 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
I had or still HAVE i should say urinary problems prior, going to bathroom every 7-10 minutes. I also had frequent constipation problems prior to my first flare.

I believed if I had changed my diet soon enough I could of avoided all this headache. Even after UC up until about Sept of last year I believe I could put UC in remission for good through dieting. I procrasinated and when I finally tried to take control I was too slow to adapt and it got out of hand.

I don't believe People are given a death message of IBD and there's nothing they can do about it. However if it gets to a certain point it can be hard to stop without medication, not that medication forever is the sentence. It's just such a complex disease that you have to get it right and depending on how bad it is you have very few chances to get it right.

My belief is that we were born with our colon as our weak point. That in addition to poor diet leads to IBD. I believe if we ate right (listen to our bodies we would never develop IBD. I know the prevailing thought is that its autoimmune disease and my view will probably be met with some skeptisim (I don't totally discount the autimmune thing for the record) but that is what I believe.
Posted 4/3/2009 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
I never had any problems growing up...my UC did seem to appear gradually though...first it started with more frequent than normal BM's - then mucous - then pain - then blood. It was when blood appeared that I actually thought I should get to the doctors, as it wasn't much of a problem before and I thought i would go away by itself. I wish I had gone sooner though! 
Posted 4/3/2009 10:24 PM (GMT 0)
Not in the slightest. Oh, what I took for granted...
Posted 4/3/2009 11:34 PM (GMT 0)
After I had been on antibiotics for a long time, I would have issues with diarrhea, bloating, and gas. And then I was drinking high-fructose corn syrup beverages everyday. I had these issues for almost 10 years before getting Colitis.

I should have listened to the warning signs. But I ignored them, because I had no idea that one could bleed out their ass.
Posted 4/4/2009 12:03 AM (GMT 0)
I never had bowel problems before getting UC. I had been constipated about 3 times throughout my life, but it went away after either eating a lot of fiber or taking a laxative. Other than that, my bowels were in pristine condition! Wish they still were.
Posted 4/4/2009 4:30 AM (GMT 0)
My whole life I have had bowel issues, I did not say anything to anybody about it. I had the need to go to the washroom all the time, I felt a lot of gas in my intestines... the noises and random cramps!
it was all normal ever since I was 6 and I believe I've had an issue my whole life, but at least I can take care of it now and I can confirm that my issue has to do with diet and a certain bacteria. Thanks for posting that question because I know that I felt alone in that end...

The answer is YES I have had issues before I was diagnosed and NO you should not blame yourself because of these so called "warning signs" since they were simply not that awful (or at least we thought)
Posted 4/4/2009 4:39 AM (GMT 0)
No! My UC seemed to develop after I was treated with 3 different antibiotics for tonsilitis, then later was prescribed the wrong antibiotic to treat an intestinal amebiasis. Many members have posted similar stories involving sinus infection treatment-- so antibiotics probably pushed a lot of us off the cliff. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
Posted 4/4/2009 5:42 AM (GMT 0)
I have always had problems. Mine was that I rarely moved my bowels. I would go weeks without a movement. I didn't often feel pain and I didn't feel constipated, I just didn't go. The amount of food that I ate didn't seem to make a difference. I never thought it was very good for me but I accepted it as the way that I was.

For the last 12 years, I would know that my proctitis was acting up because I would stop going for even longer. Now I have both, urgency and blockage.
Posted 4/4/2009 7:31 AM (GMT 0)
I had been fit as a fiddle my whole life. I was diagnosed with UC at age 28 - 6 months ago. Not used to being sick!
Posted 4/4/2009 12:09 PM (GMT 0)
Same here, never had a problem ever before UC. The only time I recall ever actually having D is being on a road trip and eating a whole bag of dried apricots - that would give anyone D! :)
Posted 4/4/2009 1:12 PM (GMT 0)
I only had bowel movements every 3-4 days but I was that way my entire life so I think it was just normal for me. My UC came on suddenly in the form of c.diff. One day I just started having D all day, then the next day I started having bleeding.
Posted 4/4/2009 2:19 PM (GMT 0)
When I was young I would often have bad stomach aches.... as in colon issues sort of stomach ache. I didn't have it every day or even every week but every month or so I'd have a pretty angry stomach with D. My mum always thought it was something bad I ate. Looking back I think it was just the precursor to what I have now.
Posted 4/4/2009 2:28 PM (GMT 0)
I had problems since summer of 1992. It wasn't exactly a flare up, but it was minor symptoms. I would feel constipated, or when I went I'd have a hard time going, and my bm's would look purple. The symptoms came and went. It went away when I graduated High School and then came back in 2002. Then when I got married in 2005 I was totally fine. No problems at all. Then in 2007 my major flare hit and that was when I was diagnosed.
Posted 4/4/2009 3:16 PM (GMT 0)
     As a kid I was almost always constipated.  When I was 21 I thought I was too fat...weighed 120 on a 5 ft 3 1/2 in frame, so I starved myself.  This was prior to even hearing about anorexia.  I went down to 102 before realizing that I was in a danger zone.  I am sure this screwed up my entire system.  That, and the fact my family physician prescribed erythromycin for everything from the common cold to a hang nail.
Posted 4/4/2009 3:43 PM (GMT 0)
The only issue I ever dealt with was gas, going back to when I was about 12 years old. The pain was horrible. But i never went to the doctor because I blamed it on my diet, and the fact that many in my family had the same issue. It was also manageable with otc meds.

But the year leading up to my UC diagnosis I was having problems with constipation. I began to eat as much fiber as I could stand and I took a stool softener everyday. Then the bleeding started and it never stopped. That was in December 2007 and by September 2008 I had "the surgery".

Melissa
27 years old
UC diagnosed Aug 2008
September 2008: surgery (step one of 2 step plan)
May 2009: Proposed TD (step 2)
Current Meds: Daily multivitamin.
Posted 4/4/2009 3:48 PM (GMT 0)
I noticed I was lactose intolerant when I was 13 and then IBS a year or so later and then I was diagnosed in 10th grade. I do remember this one time in 7th grade when I was sitting in music class and I had the worst pain. I didn't know it at the time but it was gas pain just like I get now.
My family seems to have a lot of bowel issues so I'm not surprised.
Posted 4/4/2009 4:39 PM (GMT 0)
Yep. "Nervous stomach" as a child, constipation. Had an upper/lower GI series when I was about 9-10 years old and found nothing. Diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome in college and suffered off and on until I was diagnosed with UC in my early 30s.
Posted 4/5/2009 12:46 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone for sharing. The mix of issues and no issues before UC is probably about 50/50 depending on how you interrpret some of the responses.
Posted 4/5/2009 5:09 AM (GMT 0)
I had severe constiption for years and was first diagnosed with Proctitis before it became colitis 4 years later.
Posted 4/5/2009 1:44 PM (GMT 0)
I did not have any problems.

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