seasonal? smoking? stress? what the hell is it?

omg!  i am sorry to say that i am back.   yes, i am flaring again and bad.  pooey!

i cant figure out why though?

it seems i always flare seasonally and beginning of winter time (right now in australia).

i flare when im stressed, but not really stressed at the moment.

i flare when i quit smoking, and yes, i just quit smoking.

my last flare was medium and i started smoking to go into remission.

and it WORKED!

and now, when i weaned off the cigs and finally quit, BAM, flare up again.

and this one is bad.

so much pain and buckets of blood everytime i go to the loo.

crapty!

i was going to post a topic about mangosteen juice as i just met a lady swearing by it, but im glad it came up in another post here. thanx.  i wont be buying it.   ive tried the miracle cure-alls and they are just money suckers.

and yes, she is in network marketing and wanting me to buy cases and sell it.  sucks that they play on the misfortunes of other's health.

ive been taking tumeric and quercertcin together, which is supposedly really good for inflammation.  will let you know how that goes.

i just finished a 3 month prednisolone ride and now im flaring.

why why why

i hate that stuff. i blew up like a balloon, got moonface, was moody, eyes blurry, insomnia etc...  

finally get off it and was in remission for about a month or more and bam!  its back.

is it seasonal, stress, pred tapering, quitting smoking or maybe the whole lot together?

anyone else have any of these issues?

My first bout of UC symptoms and diagnosis happened right after I quit smoking for the first time in July of 2006. During that fun time I started back smoking again and got everything into remission (which I attribute to the meds & prednisone).

I quit smoking again last August, motivated by the birth of our first child, I have been symptom free from UC from 11/06 but have also noticed the past two weeks some blood which has me pretty much freaked out since the thought of going on prednisone has me freaked out. Anyways, my seasonal allergies have been pretty bad so far this year and I've always wondered if there was some combination of smoking and allergies that trigger for me. Smoking + allergies going off = no symptoms, Not smoking + allergies going off = symptoms.

My insurance program pretty much forced me to start taking generics due to costs so I'm wondering if that contributes as well.

I also flared in late winter/early spring. I attributed it to a lack of vitamin D (best obtained from sun exposure) and a possible link with Seasonal Affective Disorder. Using a full spectrum light box from late fall to early spring and taking oral D3 helped. But for me, other factors also played a part: poor diet, gluten sensitivity and gut ecological imbalance - too much of the bad gut bugs and too little of the healthy/beneficial.

My flares are completely stress related. I can attribute every flare since I was diagnosed to stressful times in my life. The seasons don't matter to me at all. I really pay attention now during intense periods and stay as cool as possible. I'm going through one now, and so far so good.

What about nicotine patches, lozenges or gum, do they help at all when coming off cigs to keep from getting a flare? Just curious, I don't have this problem from tobacco but I have had more flares in winter, usually december or January. I had a holistic dr say vitamin D could be an issue with IBD. I'll have to remember to take mine. One more pill to take! Ugh!