Newly diagnosed with UC

Hello everyone,

I was newly diagnosed with UC today via my first colonoscopy. I have been reading this forum for quite some time. I just want to say thank you to you all. Reading your stories gave me the courage I needed to go to the doctor and have my issues checked out. I'm 29 years old (turning 30 on Sunday) and have finally felt like I did something good for myself. I have been healthy my entire life - the colonoscopy was actually the first type of any procedure I've ever had. The light at the end of the tunnel was how calm and stress free I felt with the fentanyl/Versed combination. The doctor said that I have mild/moderate active inflammation through the entire colon sparing about 1 foot (he saw no incidence of Crohn's). The past two weeks have left me with doing stool cultures, various blood tests, and finally the scoping. I got so fed up with having to rush to the toilet every time I felt the surge through my stomach, waking up in pain in the middle of the night only to pass blood and mucus, and the weight loss (that was actually welcome as I can stand to lose a few).

This forum has given me the support I don't seem to get from anyone around me. They tell me that it's all in my head and that I just need to relax and not stress out.

Interestingly enough, my doctor told me that there have been studies of people developing UC from chronic acne medications such as Accutane (I refused to take it), doxycycline, and minocycline (the latter two I have been on and off of since I was 12 years old). I can attribute both flares I've had within the last 2 years occurring shortly after I started taking a round of minocycline for acne and then earlier this year the doxy for rosacea. Has anyone else heard of this?

This terrible disease is such a curse and I can only hope the medications I've been given will help. I'm a Pre-Pharmacy student (and have worked in the pharmacy field for over 12 years) so unfortunately, I know that isn't always the case and that most come with some nasty side effects.

Again, I just want to express my gratitude to you all for making me feel less "alone" with this darn disease.

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
Yes, I have heard of UC from doxycycline and minocycline. You might check out the newsletter of the American College of GI, or Medscape.... I know I read about it in one of those places.
I, too, appreciate this forum so very much. Having been diagnosed years ago, I'd read what I could at that point but had kind of stopped updating my knowledge..... Since coming here, I have been challenged to learn so much more and to think in so many new ways, thanks to the excellent people on this site!

What meds are you on? I hope they do work for you and get you into remission soon!

Thank you all for your kind words! The doctor has given me samples of Asacol HD to try just one pill to make sure I don't have an allergic reaction to it as I get hives from aspirin and other NSAIDs. I took one at 9am this morning and it is now 9:15pm and so far so good! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. He also prescribed me prednisone 20mg daily for 1 month. I'm to call on Tuesday after the holiday to give him a status update on the Asacol. I'm going to Disneyland for my birthday next weekend so I'm hoping that the steroids will have kicked in by then. I can't even imagine enjoying myself at a theme park in the current state I'm in.

Hi! I feel much the same way you do. My doctor has been helpful, but the information I've found here is SO MUCH BETTER. I feel more in control of the decisions about my health. I also really appreciate how "candid" the topics are. Who else but other UC sufferer's want to discuss what's discussed here.

Hope you have a fantastic time at Disneyland next week, and have a blessed birthday. I spent 10 days in Orlando in July and visited EVERY single bathroom at the parks. Seriously. All I could say was a little prayer thanking God that there were so many and that they were clean and well stocked with tp.

Guategirl - I'm definitely grateful for this forum, for sure. I've only seen my GI doctor once and the doctor who performed my colonoscopy wasn't mine - so he kinda seemed like he didn't want to bother other than giving me some prednisone. I have so many questions and I don't know where to start in asking my doctor. :( Thank you so much - I will definitely be able to enjoy Disneyland much more now that I'm no longer in pain - not 100% yet by any means, but I think I can handle the rest. I know - I have been trying to remember where all the bathrooms are so I can map them out in my in head just in case.

Astar - I was thinking of giving Align a try. My aunt is an office manager for an Internal Medicine doctor so he said I could have their samples as long as they don't run too low for their own patients. I heard that it's quite pricey - but it seems like some people have had great luck with it. I'm hoping it will do the same for me. The prednisone is great so far - the only thing I'm really having trouble with still is the bleeding/mucus. However, today is only day 2 so perhaps I should be a bit more patient. ;-) I would definitely like to take a more "natural" and holistic approach to this disease...I just don't know where to start so perhaps this will give me a jumping off point to get things where they need to be.