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Posted 8/6/2009 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
I'm just curious as to what our pre-UC bowel/immune system health was like to see if any of us are similar. Here's mine:

I guess I had a constipation problem, but it wasn't uncomfortable; I would go once every one or two weeks, completely normal stool. I thought this frequency was normal.

As for my immune system, I very rarely got sick and always contributed it to my appetite for oranges lol. Anyways, when I did manage to get sick, it could get very bad, even resulting in trips to the hospital or ER.

And yeah, now I have UC. So just curious! =)

Posted 8/6/2009 9:57 PM (GMT 0)
I think i visited for #2 a couple times day, mostly morning. Just got the typical colds. Never went to the doctor for a sickness though since I was a little kid. Actually, I still haven't been to the doc for anything other than UC. I do think I needed a psychiatrist a few times though, lol. yeah
Posted 8/7/2009 12:02 AM (GMT 0)
ElephantPipe- sounds exactly like how I was pre-UC.  I was very rarely constitpated, but only had 1-2 bowel movements a week (or one small one if I drank coffee!).  I am pretty small and dont eat a lot so I figured I just didnt have that much in there! 

Also very rarely got sick with colds or whatever, although I did have a series of small infected bumps occassionally for about a year (for which I was put on antibiotics each time and have the feeling it contributed to the UC).  Then had cervical dysplasia (got a LEEP).  And a few months later the UC started.  This is probably more info than you wanted BUT, bottom line is, my BMs etc were just like yours.  Wonder if this is an early indicator??

Posted 8/7/2009 12:06 AM (GMT 0)
Never, ever got sick before UC -- even getting a cold didn't happen. The only times I needed to go to the doctor was for typical stuff when I was a kid...vaccinations, annual check-ups....That's why I didn't think much of it when I was diagnosed with UC as I figured that I'd be over it soon.

Pre-UC I had 1 BM, once a day in the morning, and that was it.

ElephantPipe -- having 1 BM every 2 weeks sounds crazy. I can't relate to that (That must have been one hell of a bowl-clogger!)
Posted 8/7/2009 1:45 AM (GMT 0)
TripleKiss, that's what I've been wondering, so I started this =)

Rio: It felt completey normal to me then! lol, granted, it took me a while to poop, I'm still a slow pooper (and I can't go without a book lol). But really, they weren't too big.
Posted 8/7/2009 1:50 AM (GMT 0)
I honestly don't think I had any bowel issues before being diagnosed. With constipation or D. I believe I was normal - it's hard for me to remember because it was 17 years ago. But my immune system was whacked out. Right around 19 years of age, I started getting really bad infections. Anywhere from bronchitis, ear infections, strep etc. These repetitive infections continued until I was diagnosed (which was about 3 years) and it continued for quite some time. It wasn't until I hit my 30's that my immune system started to settle down a bit and now I hardly ever get sick.
Posted 8/7/2009 2:35 AM (GMT 0)
No bowel issues for me pre-diagnosis. I was a once a day (or once every other if I ate really binding foods) kind of girl. I never had a problem there. I went through one period of adjustment when I went away to college and had stage fright, lol, but otherwise was definitely normal in that regard.

I rarely got sick, but then in the last year before starting to have kids started getting sinus infections and was put on antibiotics constantly, then had incision infections with my deliveries and had MORE antibiotics for those. It was the day after my last course of erythromycin (I'm allergic to pen.) when my youngest was born that I started seeing blood and a few months later was diagnosed. My current GI said that without question all of those antibiotics played a huge role in triggering my disease.
Posted 8/7/2009 2:54 AM (GMT 0)
at first I was fine, but then I was showing symptoms of bleeding. That was when I was a child. I would have problems going #2, but it wasn't a big deal. I told my mom, but I didn't stress it much. I would not really eat lunch as I was in jr. high, and highschool. My eating habits weren't all that great. Now that my UC surfaced, I now HAVE to eat 3 to 4 times a day or else I'd feel like I'm starving.
Posted 8/7/2009 8:10 AM (GMT 0)
I had no health problems before U/C i was always the one who did not get anything am sure making up for it now lol.
Posted 8/7/2009 1:40 PM (GMT 0)
I guess I'm the odd one out right now.

Before UC I went up to 3 times a day everyday. I have a fast system.. It was never runny or anything, but there was always a lot. I thought about this a while ago, and what I did back then looked like what I do now after I'm feeling much better. Before UC I would go in the bathroom and feel pretty sick until it was all over. Super weird... My UC showed up after I spent a full two semesters in the dorms at my local college. I had a few symptoms of it then, but nothing bad enough to impact my life too much. I ignored it and went away when I moved back home, but came back full force a few months later.
Posted 8/7/2009 2:24 PM (GMT 0)
when i was 5, we moved away from my grandparents, who i had lived next door to my whole 5 years, my parents said my poop was bright green and i was doubled over in pain, so they took me back to grandmas for a week and i was better,
i have always been a worrier, keep things bottled up and worry about EVERYTHING; my dad thinks this is a big reason i am sick, im not sure.

most recently tho, the year i graduated high school we went to a graduation party and a little girl had a virus or the flu, me and my friends had diarreah and threw up for about 24 hours, and they got over it, but my diarreah stayed, and i have been sick ever since..
the first time i got sick, i was in bed for 2 weeks, lost 20 pounds and couldnt eat anything, my fever was so high, i was halucinating..(wrong spellin), they took me to the ER and they said i had the flu

oh ya, someone mentioned infections, i used to get ear infections all the time, and now, ever since i can remember, my ear has itched! its so weird, but if any water is in my ear it itchs so bad and i have to clean/scratch it a few times a day with rolled up TP, not sure if thats an immune issue?

Posted 8/7/2009 8:13 PM (GMT 0)
I never had any health problems before UC. Hardly ever missed a day of school growing up. My mother was the school nurse, so we probably built up good immunities.

Oh, I had severe acne in my teens, I guess that's a minor health problem. Nothing helped, so I took Accutane. I am convinced that Accutane caused me to develop UC.
Posted 8/7/2009 8:16 PM (GMT 0)
I never really had any bowel issues before UC. I got the occasional tummy bug (but most kids do) and I have sensitivities to artificial sweeners and MSG, but I don't think that's related to UC. I'm gassy, but I'm from a family of farters! :)

I was so prone to strep that I had my tonsils out when I was 5...but after that, I was relatively healthy and not on antibiotics all that often. I also had problems with UTIs when my husband and I first started having sex (pre-marriage...gasp!) and were at each other constantly.
Posted 8/7/2009 9:01 PM (GMT 0)
I didn't have any health problems at all. And my bowels were great...I thought I was so lucky b/c so many people I know have IBS and I never did at all.

I took Accutane as well, so I"m wondering about that. Of course they didn't tell us colitis was a risk did they?
Posted 8/8/2009 2:11 AM (GMT 0)
I remember having some problems with hard stools when I was a kid, but it was honestly probably my diet. Also, I rarely got stomaches or threw up.

I have several allergies and would get a yearly strep or sinus infection up til probably the end of high school.
Posted 8/8/2009 2:47 AM (GMT 0)
I too had hard stools as a child but I was wondering if any of you noticed this? Years before I got UC, anytime I went to the Doctors for a well visit or blood work they were always alarmed that my white blood count was high and off the chart. They were amazed when they could find no fever or infection.

Looking back now my autoimmune system was already out of wack way back then and was probably the beginning of the end, so to speak.
Posted 8/8/2009 2:57 AM (GMT 0)
I think I had pretty normal bowels when I was younger. A few months before I started having colitis symptoms I had a bad bought of hives. I also had a few surgeries prior to developing Colitis. I always wonder if any of this is linked but I kind of doubt it is. My parents both constantly complain about their guts. I think it runs in the family but I am the only lucky one who has a chronic condition.
Posted 8/8/2009 3:05 AM (GMT 0)
Before UC I was a once a day kind of person. In 7th grade I started noticing my intolerance to lactose and probably the next year IBS and then the summer before 9th grade I had an h-pylori infection and was diagnosed in 10th grade.
As a kid I was ALWAYS sick. I was a strep throat carrier (normally when you are a carrier you don't get sick...but I did). I had at least 3 cases a winter, if not more. I had a lot of ear infections too and have tubes put in.
Posted 8/8/2009 4:09 AM (GMT 0)
Ya know, before I got sick with UC I had my wisdom teeth out. I had a really bad time with that, and I was on Lortab for almost the entire summer. I got the flu about 3 months after that and the rest is history...
Posted 8/8/2009 8:14 AM (GMT 0)
as a child, had yearly bouts of bronchitis with loads of penicillin and aniobiotics (my teeth went yellow!)
grew out of those bad attack and was relatively fine till my teens when I took Accutane as well. I also think this contributed.
My bowels never gave any troubles until early 20s when I worked out that I shouldnt drink milk, but as soon as I switched to soy, all was good again.
Most recently in November last year I had first bout of hives that lasted 6 weeks (I was going nuts with the itching!), followed by a smaller bout early in Feb. In March the blood started and May I had my colonoscopy and was dx with UP.
*sigh* I wish I had never taken that darn acne drug. I swear it is the cause of many peoples ills. I read somewhere there is a class action by a bunch of US ppl that developed UP/UC after taking it. I will have to look for that again and see how it progresses.

jerkygirl
Posted 8/8/2009 1:01 PM (GMT 0)
I was completely normal. I could eat anything and it didn't bother my stomach.
I would get normal colds and they always seemed to last longer than most people, but other than that, I was never sick and never went to the doctor
Posted 8/8/2009 5:56 PM (GMT 0)
I didn't get sick more or less than everyone else.

I did have to take antibiotics a lot due to infections. I got ear infections, because my ear canals point down, at least that's what my doctor said. Like my dad, I got a lot of sinus infections, which were probably allergy- or weather-related, because I only get them in cold climates. And then like my mom and dad, I got acne.

Everyone in my family has strong colons. Mine was strong too until I moved to Asia, got a horrible skin infection, and took antibiotics for two years straight.
Posted 8/8/2009 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
When i was younger, i had pretty normal bowels habits...i guess like once a day or so.  However, during my early teenage years, i started holding my bowels for weeks at a time, and ignoring the urge to go until it got so bad that i would HAVE to take care of it.  That was a rough few years, and finally I stopped doing that - decided that no matter how much it hurt each day, i would go #2.  I had been all "regular" again for a few years when i discovered that i had UC.  Totally thought it was a direct result of my earlier bowel habits, but the doctor assurred me it wasn't. 

Other than that craziness, I was pretty normal sickness-wise...normal colds and things, but no major illnesses. 

Posted 8/9/2009 1:03 AM (GMT 0)
I forgot all about sinus infections and ear infections... I had a few sinus infections, not a TON, but I did get frequent earaches. My eardrum actually burst once. Thankfully they stopped before they had to put tubes in as I was terrified of that happening lol.
Posted 8/9/2009 1:03 PM (GMT 0)
I nevr ever thought about bowel movements etc. before I got UC, I was a classic case of healthy guts, I guess. I went when the urge became strong, could hold on forever, always had formed stools, never constipated or diarrhea. It all changed when I quit smoking. I stated to notice urgency during the day at work and hadd to go. Then seemingly undigested bits were in the stools. Then days of bloating and trapped gas, followed by days of 5-6 urgent movements. Then blood and mucous and you all know the rest... a year after quitting I was in colonoscopy and prednisone world!
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