why does this Disease happen?

I was just wondering why I have the colitis. I believe it could have been a virus but then it could because I had health problems since I was born. Why do you guys think that you have this?

Accutane destroyed the balance of my colon.

That is the 5 million dollar question. My mom, and my sister have bowel problems so it runs in family some, but my other siblings don't have a problem.

The thing is at one point we didn't have this and for some reason colitis took over. Now when I think back on it, I was having some symptoms many months before, I remember I started having more urgency in the morning long before colitis reared its ugly head. My BM's were normal and no pains, but boy I had to go and could hardly hold it, I thought nothing of it. Until stressful situation came up and it started, it started with a very strong ache in my lower colon so bad I could hardly sleep. Then the real symptoms began, and its been a battle from hell ever since.

I wonder if genetics and diet work together with stress to set this off. I ate lots of carbs, I love toast and cereals. I'd eat 4 pieces of toast before bed sometimes. Chocolate oh yeah.

I read an article on plant proteins called Lectins, which I found interesting as a possible cause to autoimmune diseases. If you follow the low carb diet you eliminate most of these Lectins. Here is a link http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html#Plain%20English

I am hopeful that this stuff and other autoimmune diseases is reversible contrary to what doctors say.

I subscribe to the bacterial overgrowth theory. Some broad spectrum antibiotics can cause colitis(pseudomembraneous colitis), that mimic our disease state. Since our small intestines can't break down complex carbs, it produces an environment where bad bacteria can multiply. Through stress into the mix and the body deteriorates.

I don't believe in the autoimmune disease theory anymore. Why would the body attack itself? I believe it is the bacteria's toxins and bacteria itself that cause the immune system to be activated.

That's why after a while prednisone stops working. It dampens the immune system, but are bodies are so fantastic that they find ways to surpass the effects of the drug. That's why you see failure after failure after new drugs are added. The body wants to rid itself of this state, but we aren't helping it.

I truly believe if you remove the offending agents(bad foods), the body can heal itself.

Again, these are just theories that explain how I feel about my disease. I don't discourage the use of pharmaceuticals since that is my career field. I just won't take them.

I have no family history of autoimmune disease and wasn't diagnosed till I was middle aged. But I have ALWAYS felt stress in my stomach, from the time I was little, anytime I felt guilty, stressed, anxious, any negative feelings, always manifested in stomach issues. No one really knows definitively what causes UC.

Not sure but when I developed it I was drinking massive amounts of black coffee, taking tons of caffeine, fitness supplements like ephedrine, and high stress from a new job. Sometimes I have to wonder if all those energy supplements and stress contributed to it, although I hear the stress angle has been pretty much disproved. Either way the time for surgery is drawing near :(

I used to think no one else in my family had UC, and the question of how I got the disease tortured me. Recently I found out my uncle has it and he keeps it a secret. That was really selfish of him. So on the one hand there is a genetic component, but on the other hand, I don't see how people could have had this problem and survived back before there were medications to treat it. It has to be related to modern food and bacteria as well.

The Million dollar question: We each blame ourselves. My daughter has the disadvantage of a maternal Uncle with a colostomy from UC, an aunt with Crohns and a grandmom with Diverticulitis. Her father and mother(me) are fine. She went on a 2 month course of antibiotics for her acne(
not Accutane, some milder stuff) over a summer, and in December found her first blood. Was that it???? Could the trigger have been so sensitive? Now, it doesn't much matter the cause, it is here.

It didn't start until I started taking hard antibiotics for my wisdom teeth removal. These antibiotics leave me to believe that they caused an imbalance in bacteria which led to a confused immune system that I have now. Personally, I believe UC may be from a multitude of causes just with the same, or similar, symptoms. Thats why what works for some doesn't work for all. For some it may be autoimmune caused by genetics or for others caused by intestinal gut bacteria unbalancing the reactions in the colon and causing an autoimmune response.

I think mine started with a viral infection too. I had what the docs thought was mono but blood work showed a "non-specific" virus. After a few months I felt normal but less than a year later got it again ... a few months after recovering from the 2nd bout, I started getting UC symptoms, although I did not know what it was at the time. Doc said we all carry dormant viruses in our bodies and anything from a simple cold, stress, bacterial infection, etc. could "wake" the virus up ... from there it is a chain reaction. Before the virus, I had a cast iron stomach, could eat anything, never had heartburn or reflux and now have it all along with the UC ....

I wish I knew. I started getting symptoms within days of quitting smoking (after 10 years of smoking) and have not been in remission since (August, 2007). My grandmother also has it