Did anyone else see "signs"? before being diagnosed?

My whole family has always had a few digestive issues, but when i was younger i would complain sometimes that i "hurt" down there, or that i would have to go "more than normal". I had acid reflux when i was younger too, probably from a poor lack of nutrition, but in the past few years i've really changed up my diet, stayed as natural as possible and work out constantly, until i had a bad breakup this summer is when i started seeing the blood, going to the bathroom more...

So my question is has digestive issues effected those of you with UC for alot of your life until this point of severity?

Oh yes. I had symptoms way before I was diagnosed. But I was young and stupid and ignored them for a long time. And then one year all hell broke loose and didn't stop until they finally removed my colon. Sometimes I wonder if I had gotten help when I first noticed symptoms, that my UC would have been able to be controlled. Who knows. It's all good now thank goodness.

nope

My mom tells me when I was a baby I was jaundiced. I don't know if that contributed to anything, but I do wonder what may have happened as a newborn/toddler that might have caused my UC. As a child I also recall going to lots of doctors visits for anemia and taking iron quite a bit... Perhaps that caused it as well? Apparently I was a fruit fanatic as a child and my diet, which I speculate was high in sugar, may have something to do with it, too. And lastly, I grew up in a dysfunctional household and later in my teen years made the poor choice of dating an abusive jerk. I recall during that period of my life in particular, my stomach was at its all-time worst. Lots of stress, crying, anger, pain, heartbreak, fear, anxiety, etc.

I think there were many signs throughout my childhood that I just simply ignored. Reflecting back, I wonder if there might have been something I could've done to stop it before it manifested into UC. I'm the only one in my family with it and it makes me wonder where it came from.

I never had any issues besides getting constipated occassionally. And about a year before I got UC, I got really really bad back pain and some stomach pain for about a month. Doctors ran tons of tests, did blood work, etc. and never found the cause. After about a month it went away on it's own. I never did find out what it was but I don't think it was UC because I think my poops were ok.

pam222 said...
Well, I wasn't diagnosed for over a year due to no health insurance, but was majorly sick. However, prior to that, nope, not a single sign. I never had issues

Same here. It was a year between my first flare and my second, and then I had to wait another three months to see a doctor due to not having health insurance.

I had a very strong digestive system when I was a kid. I didn't have any digestive issues until I was 18 and took a trip to Hong Kong and China. The food gave me diarrhea. Then I remember getting a lot of diarrhea and bloating in Taiwan from bubble teas (which contain fructose instead of can sugar). I also remember getting a lot of diarrhea and bloating in the US from chocolate and bubble teas. That's all I ate and drank for a couple of years due to being depressed about my divorce. Not knowing anything about IBD, I ignored it. I got my first flare about six years after moving back to the States.

During that whole time, my digestive system was weakening due to antibiotics. So my digestive system increasingly worsened until I got my first flare.

My body can now no longer handle fructose and antibiotics. Fructose gives me IBS. Antibiotics will cause me to flare. Since doing fecal transplantation and avoiding fructose and antibiotics, my digestive system is gradually gaining strength.

Yes, I had many signs as well.  My mom says that I had D so bad at two weeks old that the doctor took me off milk entirely - Mom says they gave me barley water.  My mom used to get pissed at me as a child because every night right after supper, when I was supposed to be helping clean up the kitchen, I would be in the bathroom.  I've always had D and I've always vomited easily, my stomach was always upset or hurting, through my childhood, teenage years and 20's.

There was some abuse in my childhood that my family covered up.  I believe that contributed.  Digestive problems also run in my family on my Dad's side.  Then I lost my job late in 2001 and was bed-ridden by 2002, diagnosed in 2003 with UC, lost my home.  It created the perfect storm.  I've since become informed about this disease, I think education is so important to not getting so scared.  I've dealt with the abuse in my childhood as best I can for now. 

I'm glad I don't drink much anymore because hangover's wreaked havoc on my bathroom issues.

 

I was always constipated. I have terrible memories of my grandmother sticking emenas in me a young child. Then in my 20's I was told I had IBS based on the fact that sometimes I would be constipated and sometimes I would have "D". I was always anemic. I also every so often would see blood on the tissue but was just told oh fresh blood don't worry. Not one doctor thought to run any tests. I just thought this was my normal since no digestive issues run in the family. I lived like this till my mid 40's. I have no idea why at this age it decided to rear it's ugly head. Maybe all the years of anti biotics for sinus infections plus the stress of going back to work full time while still rasing a family-who knows.

Jennie82 said...
I didn't really have any signs of UC before but I have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was 18 months old and I also had iritis when I was younger. So that fact that I got another autoimmune disease didn't really surprise me.

I also had iritis when I was young--around 9. I was told it was pink eye in the ER but then it lasted a really long time. My mom never took me back to the doctor and it wasn't until a few years ago I was told that my iris was fused and irregularly shaped and that it was iritis years ago