What triggers Ulcerative Colitis???

Was just wondering about all you folks on this board, and what do you thing
started your UC. I read an article a doctor wrote that thinks is all begins when a young baby is
put on antibiotics. Some say if you took Acutane for Acne...but who knows.
All I know is my son, as an infant would get ear infections,,non stop.."The doctor would put
him on an antibiotic,,,then he'd get well,,,then he'd get another ear infection. so...lots of anti
biotics there...then when he was about 9 months old. he got Salmonella,,,we had a sick pet turtle,
and the turtle bowl was in the boys bedroom. Salmonella gave him runny bowels.
Then at 3 years old,,he had his tonsils out.
Then as a teenager, he took Acutane for his acne for 12 weeks...
Bowels were pretty normal till he was about 33 years old. At that time he had a very stressful
job, and that is when he noticed the big change in bowel habits, and went and had a colonoscopy
and was told he had colitis...and went on all the usual drugs,,Asacol, 6MP prednisone for flares. etc.
Only Remicade stopped it...until he just had this fistula.
My husband had colitis too, and had a very stressful job. Then he retired..and things got better.
He has been retired for 12 years, and his last colonoscopy, 4 months ago, was so good, the doctor
took him off all his meds. He told my husband that his colon looked like he never had colitis, and was
very healthy. Go figure...I think stress has a whole lot to do with colitis, and other bowel problems.
I'd like to hear some of your stories of how and when your colitis started, and your situation in life.
It would good to see if there are any similarities.

sherbear46 said...
I had a very stressful job, quit smoking and had a baby. Noone in my family has colitis. Just lucky me.

This is EXACTLY me 15 years ago when I was first diagnosed. I achieved remission for 10 years without meds. I had a major stressor in July and was in full flare by September, and here I am.

My early childhood is quite similar to the Original poster, lots of ear infections, tubes in ears, tonsillectomy, adenectomy, a perforated ear drum, and lots of antibiotics... (in the late 60's early 70's)

Carlie

That's one thing researchers have not yet been able to completely learn...they know smoking for Crohn's can definitely be a trigger but not necessarily for every CDer...they basically boil it down to many possible environmental triggers, diet/food is not ruled out as a possible trigger for IBD, toothpaste and birth control pills as well as antibiotics are also some highly suspected environmental triggers for IBD, but researchers cannot yet figure out exactly which will triggers harm which patient and why. MAP is also highly controversal regarding IBD.

So much needs to be learned yet about this disease so they can cure it, without the knowledge there likely won't be a cure...unless it's discovered by accident...and that's fine by me too!

Sounds like your cousin with CD got alot of those bad genes as well....I think IBD runs in families more than people realize it does for the simple fact that they don't even know how it passes down to family members like they know with other diseases.

Also because, my mom got sick with her UC AFTER I got sick with my CD, if her UC had never been triggered then we would have never known she had IBD as well, since afterall there is two parts to this disease, being predisposed and being triggered in order to get sick with it.

Besides, it's not like any of us would know the entire health history of every relative we have/had and IBD goes back just over a 100 yrs though I'm sure it's been around longer than that.... and you just never know when other family members may have IBD pop into their lives at some point.

I am a black South African with no family history of UC. I worked for a Canadian company based in Cape Town and was sent to Vancouver to help on a project that was behind schedule. When I returned from Canada , I started getting about 20 bowel movements a day with uncontrollable urgencies. I than started bleeding. I was than diagnosed with U.C.

I strongly believe that I got infected with fusobacterium in Canada.

i definitely think antibiotics is a big cause of u.c. also, laxative use can totally disrupt the whole digestive tract. i think that's what caused my u.c. also, heavy metals at home and outside will contribute to a toxic environment in the body. and of course, there's diet and eating too many animal products.

     I had three whammies.  My paternal grandmother died from rectal cancer 1n 1952 but I recently found out she suffered with the same exact symptoms I had when I suffered with UP.  #2...years ago, our family doctor's treatment for anything from a cold to hangnail was either penicillin (which I was allergic to) OR erythromycin.  I cannot tell you how often I took that drug.  #3...What really threw me over the brink...The Atkins Diet.  Now, my GI doctor said it was probably just a coincidence, but I followed that diet to a tea for two weeks when I first began having mucus in my stools.  I immediately stopped the diet, but the damage must have already been done. 

I believe it's the crap food in our countries. Look at Africa and other countries alike don't get me wrong have other diseases, however bowel disease like chrons and colitis is almost non-existant. However western countries UK/USA are riddled with it. Our food is full of crap preservatives, pesticides and other nasties. Even the so called healthy stuff....

i got my uc in 1988 immediately after taking motrin for the first time ever. had knee pain noticed blood in stool and the next week i tore my patella ligament. 88 was a tough year!