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Should I go to the hospital?

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Posted 3/21/2011 7:04 PM (GMT 0)

I'm on day four of watery diarrhea. Sometimes waking me up at night even after taking anti-diarrheal medication. I'm having some bleeding (as usual for me), but I'm just not getting it under control. I feel like I have a stomach virus that is just much harder on me because of UC. How long do you think I should wait it out? Thanks

Posted 3/21/2011 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
what meds are you on?

How many times a day of diarrhea?

Are you on any probiotics at this point?

q
Posted 3/21/2011 7:14 PM (GMT 0)
I had to be admitted several times over the years dealing with UC. It was usually due to the fact that I was severely anemic and needed a blood transfusion. Basically I knew it was time to go to the Er if I was really weak (due to the bleeding) to the point where I just couldn't function. I used to also have that feeling like I had a virus and I would sometimes run a fever. If you are really feeling that poorly...don't wait to long.
Posted 3/21/2011 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
My prescription meds are Lialda and Zofran. I haven't been taking probiotics - but plan on starting back up on some after I get over this. I just moved to a new state and it has been very stressful. I do feel like this is different from a normal flare for me though - like I have a virus or something. I would say on average I'm going 8 times a day. I'm alreay at about 5 times though - today and it's only a little after two. Water goes right through me. I had this happen last year and I ended up in the hospital for 5 days. I had gone about 20 times in one day though.
Posted 3/21/2011 7:56 PM (GMT 0)
If you were in the hospital in the past, maybe this is time to go...

But, your UC isn't being treated properly at this point, not to say you might not have a gastro bug...stool samples would be helpful.

ARe you eating at all?

q
Posted 3/21/2011 8:04 PM (GMT 0)
Oh yeah, I have canasa to use as needed too. I think it is a stomach bug and my body just can't handle it. I have been eating saltines. Thank god for Zofran.
Posted 3/21/2011 8:04 PM (GMT 0)
My way of thinking is......If you have to ask if you think you should go to the hospital, then you need to go. Hope you feel better
Posted 3/21/2011 9:28 PM (GMT 0)
If in doubt, just go! Take it from me! I've been in the hospital since Thursday and I contemplated it for a while. I should've come in much sooner.
Posted 3/21/2011 9:46 PM (GMT 0)
micky phone your doc or ER and c what they say dont wait your doc may put u on steroids to control your flare as your meds may not be doing that at the mo, i hope ur doing it now and not reading this. good luck and let us know.
Posted 3/21/2011 10:11 PM (GMT 0)
If it is not just a flare - and say I DO have a virus, wouldn't it be really bad for me to be on Prednisone? When I saw my doctor and had early flare issues she told me that if I got to the point where I felt like I needed Pred that she would call it in for me. If my body is fighting something off, I would think Pred would be harmful. Wouldn't it?

Thanks for all the input everyone.
Posted 3/21/2011 10:18 PM (GMT 0)
well that is why u need to talk to a doc about that but a few weeks ago i was like u i couldn stop going to the toilet and blood etc and even water was running out of me,after 1 dose of pred i slowly settled down,but thats me
Posted 3/22/2011 1:03 AM (GMT 0)
Definitely go to the hospital if the frequency starts to get worse and you can no longer stay hydrated. Last fall this happened to me... what started out as 8x quickly turned to 20x and I was in a lot of pain. I knew when it lasted more than a few days that I was not dealing with a flu virus... plus I started bleeding quite a bit more than usual. My UC prior to this had always been pretty moderate. I am usually one to tough it out, but this was way beyond what I could handle at home. My GI scheduled an emergency colonoscopy to see what was going on. She could only to the scope up a little ways because things were so inflamed that she feared my colon would perforate. It was severe enough to be immediately admitted to the hospital where I stayed for 14 days... getting very, very sick and losing 20% of my body weight. I had multiple stool samples taken when I was there for all different bugs and all were negative. It was just a severe flare-up that wouldn't respond to any of the normal meds. Things were looking pretty grim when finally an infusion of Remicade worked and I was able to go home. I chose to have surgery later anyway as Remicade was horrible for me. I feel great now and nice to know I will probably not have any more unexpected trips to the hospital:)

It is tempting to try to guess what is happening to your body, but with UC, it is hard to know for sure without the help of docs. It is such an unpredictable and often fast-acting disease.
Posted 3/22/2011 2:04 AM (GMT 0)
I wouldn't go to the hospital unless I couldn't get in to see my GI within the next couple days and I was really feeling weak. I would definitely call my GI first. She is very responsive. If she said go, I would go, if she can prescribe me something to keep me out of the hospital, that's better. If you think you have a bug, you could call and see about doing a stool sample. I don't think prednisone would have a terriblle impact if you have a bug. I think many members have been on pred probably while having a bug they didn't even know about. My doctor didn't take samples of stool to check for bacteria before putting me on prednisone. Not sure what is standard practice but that was my experience. It's never a bad idea to be thorough.
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