Just diagnosed

Hi all,

I am new to this site but am interested in getting some information from people who also suffer from UC.  I was jsut diagnosed last week and since my colonoscopy I have been in even more pain then I was orgianally, every time I eat, I get the worst pains in my upper stomach and it goes into my back.  Is this common in people with UC?

Also any recommendations on what food to absolutely stay away from? I have been trying to read up but seems like everyone is very different and it depends on how your body reacts.

Thankss

ER

 

Thanks so much, so the pain I am experiencing in the upper stomach is a flare up?
Sorry if these are silly questions I am jsut trying to figure this all out and feel a little overwhelmed on top on not feeling well.

Hi ER212 -

I have just recently been diagnosed (on week 8 since start of flare).  I am similar in that I have the upper stomach pain - especially bad when I get upset and I also have had the lower back pain (now subsided).  I found a heating pad worked pretty good for the lower back pain.  I haven't had a full colonoscopy yet (will happen thou in about a month) but I have had the sigmoid with biopsy to confirm UC.  I have been eating a very low residue/low fiber diet and it seems to be helping.  I cut out all carbonated drinks, sugar, no raw fruit or raw vegis.  These forums have been great!

carefull with the heating pad. when inflamation is present heat does nothing but raise the levels !

heat is ok for muscle contractions, but if you suffer from joint inflamation or gut inflamation you'd better avoid it.

about diet, check SCD diet, there are several threads in this forum about it.

Hi ER212,

I am not an expert at this by any means (I just got diagnosed in February), but hopefully what I have learned so far can provide some help/comfort. Regardless, do know that it is completely normal to feel overwhelmed (in fact I think that was the title of my first post!) and things will get better even though it may be hard to see that right now.

1. I felt awful after my first colonoscopy. I wish my doctor had warned me about it beforehand, but I think that when you have a scope when you are already inflamed, it's normal for it to cause further irritation. It took me about a week to start feeling "normal" again and for some people it might even take a little bit longer.

2. Is it possible that your upper stomach pain might be acid reflux? I had never had that issue until after my UC diagnosis...I suppose my entire GI tract wanted to get in on the fun :) Fortunately, if this is contributing to your pain, there are a number of medications that could help.

3. Like someone else said, the "best" diet for any individual is hard to predict, it's kind of a game of trial and error. A lot of people don't tolerate dairy well, but that has actually been something that has worked really well for me--in particular, regular yogurt as well as yogurt smoothies (you can buy premade ones at the store) worked well for me early on when I felt like my couldn't get anything else down. Also, you might try eating smaller portions more often until things settle down.

Hang in there--hope you start feeling better soon!

ER

I also had upper stomach pain. This luckily has subsided. I did have both a colonoscopy and endoscopy due to stomach pain from top to bottom. With the endoscopy I was diagnosed with gastritis and GERD so the GI placed me on omeprazole medication to help with my stomach. I’m not sure what kind of pain you have but maybe you can ask your doctor if you can try some kind of omeprazole like Prilosec or Zantac which might help. They did place me on a few different brands as the first one was not working for me.

Sorry to hear that after your colonoscopy you feel worst. I felt much better after I had mind one although I had it done while in the hospital and of course I left the hospital feeling much better than when I was first admitted.

I have lower back pain when my flar is bad or when my stomach hurts or sometimes having a BM. Try not to lie on your side. For me that usually sends me to the restroom. I've had to try to get into the habit of sleeping on my back which is hard because I've always been a side sleeper.

I’m only 6 months into living with UC so I’m not very experience with all this as well but I’m learning alot. This is an awesome place to find out things. I hope you feel better soon!

sorry to hear your troubles, but you'll find lots of advise here, some that will work for you, and some that won't. You may already be doing this but a food diary will help tremendously in the beginning. One of the first things I had to eliminate was dairy, but if Yogurt is working for you, not sure what to suggest The low residue/low fiber diet already suggested helped me A LOT on my last flare. I was basically doing quaker oatmeal, white rice, and sashimi for a few days. hope you get well soon