Skin Lesions.. new to UC

Hi,
I'm Emily and Im brand new to HealingWell.com. My boyfriend(Spencer) was diagnosed with UC in September of 2009, before his diagnosis he was extremely active. He was at college on a soccer scholarship, went to the gym 2-3 times/day ate extremely well and was living a happy productive life. But since the diagnosis he has faced soo many heartbreaking problems he hasn't seemed to go into remission yet and is currently taking lialda 3 times a day but our latest battle has been horrible skin lesions.. he currently has 5 lesions (one on left hip, one on right, two in between his legs and one on his bladder) although he has suffered from lesions before these seem to be the worst and biggest. Has anyone else experienced these???? He is taking antibiotics to help heal them and is also taking a steroid but they are soo extremely painful and debilitating and they drain all day long. Please help with any information or support.
Thank you!
-Emily and Spencer

I had a skin lesion once before on my leg and had to see an dermatologist for treatment. He RX me a cream and it eventually went away. But I still have a mark where it was. It was awful though before I finally got the cream it looked like a gunshot wound, I kid you not.

I made the dermatologist aware that I have a bleeding disorder, specifically UC, and he said this is a common with it, as such it is an "Inflammatory condition" and we are subject to inflammation in any parts of our body. Not just our stomachs...

There are some skin conditions that are considered extraintestinal manifestations. I believe one of them is erythema nodosum, but I can't remember the other one. If you haven't seen a dermatologist, I'd highly suggest it. Since he is taking antibiotics for it, its really important for UCers to take a good probiotic along with antibiotics. Antibiotics can kill off all the good gut flora and cause even more problems.
Also, you may want to add a signature about the meds your boyfriend is taking, some of his UC history, etc. It'll help us help you! :)
I'm sorry your bf isn't doing well but welcome to healingwell! It's a great place.

I've never heard of UC called a bleeding disorder, archiestyles. It's an inflammatory disease of the colon, but can have extraintestinal disorders that pop up with it.


q

wow! thank you all for your fast and helpful replies, its very much appreciated. The doctors are calling it Pyoderma gangrenosum, which only effects about 5% of UC patients..apparently he is the part of the unlucky 5%.
Archie: What did the doctors call your skin lesions? and what type of topical cream did they perscribe, if you can remember. Spencer's look just like bullet wounds too :(
Quincy: What are rectal medications and what do they do?

Thanks again for your replies!

Hi and welcome to Healing Well, even if I'm a bit late at doing so!

I'm not quincy, but I can answer your questions about rectal meds. They're pretty much what their name implies...medications that are "taken" through the rectum instead of through the mouth! quincy and I both use mesalamine enemas (essentially, a liquid version of the Lialda he already uses that you shoot up the bum, so to speak). The reason to use them is that the oral meds often don't do such a great job at treating the distal part of the colon, and the enemas do that very effectively. Studies show that people who use mesalamine enemas twice weekly in addition to oral meds stay in remission for longer than those who only use oral meds. I find that it's not a big deal to use them twice a week, if it means I stay in remission for longer!

I'm also not callalily, but I can answer your question about probiotics, too.  They're basically the "good" gut bacteria.  One of the theories behind UC is that we have an inbalance of gut bacteria...too many of the bad guys and not enough of the good guys.  My personal opinion of a "high-quality" probiotic is on that has several different species (mine has about 8 or so different species of Lactobacillus and Bifidiobacterium), is refrigerated, and has at least 10 billion active cells per capsule. 

Haha! My kiddo was taking a marathon nap this afternoon and I was hoping to avoid cleaning the bathrooms!