New to forum! and newly diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis..

I'm sorry your Colonoscopy was a bad experience. I was out completely during mine and don't remember anything about it. Are you on any other meds? When I was first diagnosed, they put me in the hospital and I was immediately put on Asacol, Prednisone, and antibiotics. I was never prescribed what you're on.

I am currently on a low fiber, low fat diet and it's working pretty well. I eat a lot of turkey and chicken, and my body handles it pretty well.

With the enimas,

First ensure you try to go to the bathroom before using them.

Next before using it make sure you expel the little bit of air thats usually trapped in the enima.

Now I use the kneeling position and stick my butt up in the air.....once youve done it keep that position for 30 minutes and relax as best you can so you arent using your stomach muscles, have a book handy to read lol

now continue this as prescribed and hopefully after a week of using them what little gets into you wil start to have an effect and then gradually it will get easier to retain them.

I always do mine just before bed and stick a pillow under my butt while watching TVto help.

Its not natural to stick a liquid up your butt so your body has to get used to the idea.

I hope this helps

also how long do you have to do 2 a day?

Are you on an oral too like Asacol?

Hi Mela,

So sorry that you are struggling with this horrible disease. I have a 19 year old who recently got diagnosed with UC. I really feel for you. Enemas are sadisitic and my daughter HATES them. Not something that is easy to do but I would imagine as a young person even far more unpleasant.

Are you taking anything in addition to the enemas ? Supplements ? If you are bleeding alot and feel weak I would recommend Liquid iron (easier on the stomach).

I asked my daughter re: enemas. Her advice is to bare down when inserting the enema. Insert slowly. When you go to remove the enema tighten your rectal muscles and remove slowly. Stay lying down for a good 30minutes to 1 hour. Maybe bring in something to read or listen to music. Do something to distract your mind. When you can ...move to a bed and try and go to sleep.

We hope you are feeling better soon.

Hey there! Thanks for the reply, and tell your daughter I say hi and i hope everything goes well for her! We definetly have something in common :)

Im not taking anything with the enemas, i havent been instructed to do so. My bleeding has gone down lately,although I was bleeding heavily for the 5 months before i got diagnosed with UC. I do feel weak sometimes, there has been days where I just wanna lay in my bed and not be bothered by anyone. I have noticed that my symptoms do tend to get worse when im on my menstrual cycle.

I usually never have a problem inserting the enema, although it is very uncomfortable and akward, is just when its inside my body just doesent seem to want to accept it lol. I lay down and watch tv or read while I do it but I always get interrupted by intense urges. I dont know wether I should ask my doctor for other medication or not, but I guess if i dont see any improvements with it then i should. Thank you so much for the useful tips and i hope your daughter is feeling better soon too!

Welcome to Healingwell Mela! To expand on Wolverine's explanation, it also helps to warm them up a bit. This helps ease any cramping the coldness of the enemas can cause. You can run them under warm water or roll them around in your hand for a bit. If you can't do the whole enema, try doing half at first and work your way up to a whole one. The first few minutes are the roughest. Once you are past that, it begins to get easier. Once the inflammation starts to go down, it will become easier to retain.

Thanks so much for the tips! Im new at all of this so it helps alot!! Its all very much appreciated and definetly makes me feel more at ease. Thanks again everyone :)

Does anybody know how long it takes for this Salofalk to take effect?

melax0x said...
Does anybody know how long it takes for this Salofalk to take effect?

it deppends on your stage of disease, on your diet and so on.
Probably if they are effective you will be switched to salofalk pils.

I've took enemas for 14 days, then switched on pills. I use sometimes enemas when inflamation gets worse for 1-3 days.

You should know that UC is a Chronic disease - so you can live with it forever, or get into remission and it will never bother you, or you will have periods of remission combined with disease activity.

Salofalk pils are supposed to be a wholelife treatment - in various concentration.

Anyway - regarding steroids - my opinion is to avoid them until things are really really bad.

The longest I was on the enemas nightly ws for 4 months.

Where exactly is your UC?

You really should be on both the pills and the enemas (both ends treatment)...I don't think you'd need the enemas twice a day.

q

Hey mela, I was thinking you should be on oral meds as well. Its a pain in the butt having to do the rectal meds once a day, nevermind twice. I had a hard time with them too at first. It was logistics for me. I had three very young children when I was first diagnosed and having rectal meds laying around for easy access when it was time to use them was kind of difficult for me. I was like a headless chicken back then. Now I think Ive found what works best for me. Im on rectal meds in suppository form and that is so much better for me then the liquid or butt-foam sort.

You might discover the same thing, but the dr's Ive seen know how to treat the disease as opposed to the person. You know your body best, its ok to go in there and request certain meds. If the foam/liquid stuff isnt your thing, ask for the suppositories. Keep going in there, asking whats available to you to find what works best. Im serious, its taken me five years, but thats bc I had some pretty inept gp's. Maybe they were very nice people and good dr's but ...well, they werent always very helpful tbh. Ive found that a combination of diet and meds are finally helping me.


Also, ask a lot of questions here. I can honestly and truely say that I learned more in the several months Ive been a member here then I did during the five years I struggled with UC on my own. You've got a wealth of information and experience here at Healingwell.

Just a comment - MOM mentioned the suppositories; Canasa is also a 5-ASA like Salofalk, not a steroid. I always have some on hand for bottom inflammation; you might ask for some of those.

Okay so i have another issue that has been bothering me since i have been diagnosed..HOW do you end up getting Ulcerative Colitis? What triggers it?

I have never had any health issues until this year. although i have been thinking lately about what has caused this disease since i was perfectly healthy before. over the last year and a half my life has been the most stressful ever. In Feduary 2009, I got into a bad car accident, i hit my head and had a closed head injury, shatterd my wrist and moved my hips out of place. I lost my job, and i was forced to quit school because i couldnt sit in class without crying of pain. With my job lost i wasnt able to pay any of my bills, i maxed out my visas and I have a few personal loans that i still havent payed back. I also waited 10 months for surgery on my wrist, and in the meantime i wasnt allowed to go back to work due to my hip and back problems. While all of this was going on, my stress level was at its maximum and the way that my body deals with stress is by losing weight. I had a really hard time eating which caused my weight to drop from 120lbs to 102lbs. I have also noticed that everytime i get stressed or upset i need to go to the bathroom asap.Its been over a year now since the accident, im still not back at work, and i still didnt finish college. My insurance company has denied me any advances that i had asked for in the past due to stupid excuses. And again i am still broke, didnt finish college and lost complete enjoyment of life, with no way out. And living with this disease isnt helping either considering the meds arent cheap. My doctor also told me to keep stress to a minimum..but how is that possible when i have a problem everywhere i turn.

Is there anyone else out there that thinks that stress can be a cause? I definetly think so, because before i had any of these stresses i was perfectly healthy and happy.