Bleeding Frequency during Remission?

How common is it to experience almost daily bleeding during remission?

My first flare up was about 4 years ago and I have been very fortunate not to have a second. I do however experience almost daily, mostly minor, bleeding and I was wondering how common this was for other Ulcerative Colitis patients in remission.

Thanks for your time.

When I see blood, that's how I know I'm flaring.... What makes you say you're in remission and yet bleeding?
And - welcome to HW, by the way! Tell us more - how long ago was your diagnosis, how much of your colon is affected, what meds do you take......?

Hi - Well, if you're on Mercaptopurine, do you have your blood tested to see how the levels are doing, and do you talk to your GI?
The Colazal/Balsalazide is/are 5-ASA meds.....

If you're not having frequency or urgency, I wouldn't be too alarmed, but, still, you want to have that bleeding checked out. So... an appt with your doctor is a good idea!

me too! all the time! mine doesn't seem to be serious, but it's always there. Wow. does that mean its a flare, i thought i was in remission too? it's not bothersome but maybe i should up the canasa. do you take daily meds?

i went to a local UC support group and when I said I was doing pretty good except for the daily bleeding, all their jaws dropped. The facilitator said, "would you say you were doing good except that you've been on your period for the last 3 years?" Okay, good point! But I know what you mean about bleeding being the least life-disruptive of the symptoms. Too easy to ignore, I suppose. Must follow up!

in remission no blood in stool . but according to the tests i always have hidden blood even i'm in remission

It's amazing how the human body can get used to almost anything. I, too, started to think that just a little blood was OK, and I'd tell my GI that I was doing really well when I wasn't.

But it's *never* normal to bleed on the toilet! We can't forget that!

Bleeding wouldn't be the last to leave in a flare....that means that the tissue is fragile and inflamed enough to bleed. I don't consider minor bleeding that's UC-related anything other than flaring.

The bleeding "could" be from a fissure or hemmie, so it's best to get it checked out.

Oh, and it just wouldn't be me to not suggest you get on rectal meds asap. I'd suggest initially to try the 5-ASA mesalamine retention enemas.

Welcome to the forum!
quincy

Blood is the number one symptom I look for with flaring too. The only reason you could be bleeding without flaring would be hemorrhoids.

Kops2da,
do you consider yourself in remission if you are still on prednisone?
ellen

well, I get intermittent bleeding- it's not dripping into the toilet blood, but the tp is usually pink, there may be little bloody pieces in the toilet, or some on the stool. And, I consider my self to be doing really well these days! I think if your #1 indicator of flaring is blood- not D, not urgency, frequency, or cramping, then it indicates inflammation in the rectum. If the hwole colon is involved, generally one would experience lots of D, mucous, etc. Note that I say "generally"- everyone is ddifferent! When my stools look "ok", but there is some blood, I'm not concerned. Maybe I ought to be, but.... my labs look ok too, so things can't be too bad.

If I see blood I consider it a flare. I agree with the others that blood is never normal. If I were bleeding daily or even every other day from a cut on my arm that never completely healed I would not think that was normal so blood from my colon is not normal either... For me bleeding is the sometimes the last thing to go away when I am flaring badly.

Resurrecting an old thread to say that I have a similar issue. I've been in remission for at least 18 months on some combination of azathioprine, probiotics, and omega-3s. I've had bleeding on and off the last several months with no other symptoms. I had a colonoscopy, and they found no sign of colitis even at the microscopic level. Here's the only discrepancy noted in the report:

"From 40cm to the rectum there was loss of vascular pattern and at the rectum there was mild erythema and friability."

I didn't completely understand the explanation, but he said that the disease left scarred or otherwise weakened tissue in the rectum, and that's where the blood is coming from. The colitis is completely in remission, however. Does that sound plausible? Coincidentally, the almost daily bleeding stopped right around the time of the colonoscopy and was gone for about 4 months until the last few days.