help !

How many asacol?

I'd push for the enemas as well, because your pain may be very well related to your flare.

You can ask the doc to send you to a rheumatologist to see if your flares/UC is related to the pains you're having..or maybe it's something else going on.

Are you eating enough food?

How many asacol are you taking?

q

Have you had your blood checked lately to rule out anemia?

I'm taking 1600mg of Asacol in the morning and 1600mg at night. I'm not really eating a lot because I'm vomiting a lot of what i eat, plus I'm having a hard time swallowing food. I don't know if its from the Asacol cause i was experiencing the fatigue before i started taking it, but the pain not so much. I've also been drinking as much water as i can seeing as it is the only thing that will stay in my system without vomiting. And the doctor did say i was anemic before but he said my blood levels were back to normal recently which I'm not sure if that means i still am or not. He didn't say whether i should continue on my iron pills or not so i just stopped taking them.

So basically this could be something else because normally the UC doesn't cause a lot of pain or what?

Mesalamine enemas are exactly what they sound like. The medicine is in a liquid form that you insert into your rectum, usually once daily (at night). You are meant to hold it in for about 8 hours if you can. This is intended for people with inflammation in the rectum or sigmoid colon.

I'm concerned that you do not have right diagnosis (UC). If you are having trouble swallowing, experiencing nausea and vomiting and fatigue, and general achiness (is that joints? Muscles?) I recommend that you go into your GI to talk about what's going on.

You should get a copy of your most recent bloodwork and go over it so you understand all the tests that were done and what they mean. Anemia can be chronic and debilitating for sure, but other nutritional deficiencies like low vitamin D or low B vitamins can also make you tired and achy. When you were anemic, were you passing a lot of blood in your stool? If not, do you think there was occult blood in your stool? If not, perhaps you are not absorbing iron well from your diet, which to me would indicate another kind of inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's).

Are your parents a part of your treatment discussions with your DR? They should be; if they are not available or able to be a part of these meetings with your DR is there another adult in your life that you can bring along?

Oral steroids are extremely effective at addressing flare ups and while they should not be used extensively, can be a reallly great tool for managing this illness. Many people do well on them (I personally love the feeling of euphoria and energy that I get when on steroids) and do not have trouble getting through the taper. You should, of course, keep a record (that would be in your chart) of when you have taken steroids so that your doctor can make sure your lifetime use is not too much.

i had same as you i am on asacol hd just 4 a day but i am on 4800 iu of vitamin d a day and that has helped my so much with the pain and tired feeling. it takes a couple of weeks to feel better but i promise it has helped me so much. try it. have your vitamin d checked asap.