Flare Help

I was diagnosed with colitis about a year ago, after suffering symptoms for over 3 years. For the past week and a half I have been waking up either in the middle of the night or when I get up in the morning with horrible lower abdominal cramping and diarrhea. Fatigue, low appetite, headaches are other symptoms too. I've taken an antispasmatic in the past, but what are some suggestions to calming this down? It's debilitating! I've gone to the bathroom 10 times today already and I have no energy, appetite, and cramping. I'm interning in a different city so my normal GI doc is far away.

Right now I'm not taking anything other than a probiotic.

You're probably flaring because you aren't taking anything to treat the disease. A very lucky few can manage without maintenance medications- the rest of us take meds every day. Call your dr and see if they will prescribe anything over the phone or get an appt with a GI or GP in your current city. A stool sample should be done to rule out C diff and other infections but it's likely just a UC flare. At the absolute minimum, you should try some kind of oral and/or rectal mesalamine. The longer you let it go on, the worse your symptoms will become and the harder they will be to treat.

If you won't take prescription drugs, get on a strict regimen of diet and supplements (see posts by InSoFla and others).