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Alcohol and UC

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Posted 1/22/2013 5:29 PM (GMT 0)
Do I have to eliminate cocktail hour during my healing process?  I know it doesn't help my symptoms and I get what I deserve there, but does alcohol have an adverse effect on the inflamation?  I'm currently on 40mg of prednisone a day and I'm not sure I'd be able to sleep if I didn't have a belt or two at dinner.  The prednisone definitely keeps me wired.
Posted 1/22/2013 5:41 PM (GMT 0)
alcohol helps forget your troubles. So, bottom's up!
Posted 1/22/2013 5:50 PM (GMT 0)
That's my justification. I run my own business and have five kids with one on the way. Even if I have a couple of drinks, I'm still buzzing from the prednisone.
Posted 1/22/2013 5:52 PM (GMT 0)
there will be naysayers coming in this thread saying something bad like blah blah blah..alcohol is bad for uc and all this nonsense. Don't believe them lowerleft.

Believe me! Bottoms up! and a toast to great health to you!
Posted 1/22/2013 5:55 PM (GMT 0)
I wasn't interested in alcohol at at all when I was flaring. However, I have a drink every now and then with no ill effects. Well, not right now since I'm pregnant.
Posted 1/22/2013 6:00 PM (GMT 0)
I think the best person to answer the question is yourself. Try to look at it with an open mind and not trying to justify it to yourself. Maybe you need to go several days in a row without alcohol and see what happens. Then, you can ask yourself, "Am I worse on the days when I drink or don't I notice a difference at all?" If it does make you worse then you have to ask yourself another question, "Is it worth it or not?".

I was a little upset when I was first diagnosed and my doctor put me on a lactose free diet. That isn't too easy as almost everything seems to have lactose in it. I did it for three weeks and it didn't help one bit. When I resumed eating lactose again I did not get any worse. Bottom line, I discovered that I ate this really restrictive diet for 3 weeks when I didn't even have to!
Posted 1/22/2013 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor refuses to comment on food playing any part in my UC or its severity. I've pretty much continued the same diet for the past 7 years. I've been battling this current flare-up for three months. Usually, the enimas knock it out in a few weeks. Did prednisone once before and it knocked it out very quickly. Don't know if I'm just stressing more these days (lots of it) and that's the cause. I've had both the short and long scopes in the past 30 days. Had the long scope because I was experiencing right sided pain, but Doc found nothing over there. I'm just flaring up 7-8 inches up the left side.

I did go a week without drinking and didn't notice much other than a temporary adjustment to what was going thru me. The benefits of limiting alcohol are well documented, but I just wanted to know if I was working against the current meds by continuing to have a tumbler or two of Johnnie Black before dinner.
Posted 1/22/2013 6:16 PM (GMT 0)
What other meds are you currently using?
Posted 1/22/2013 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
I barely drink, one a week if that. I'm the DD ALL the time. I don't want to fry the guts with alcohol.
Posted 1/22/2013 6:21 PM (GMT 0)

fruitgirl said...
What other meds are you currently using?

 

40mg of prednisone.  Enima or Canasa once or twice a day.  Colazal 3x per day

Posted 1/22/2013 6:25 PM (GMT 0)

therearemiracles said...
I barely drink, one a week if that. I'm the DD ALL the time. I don't want to fry the guts with alcohol.

 

You think I'm frying my colon by drinking?  Other than my colitis, I'm healthy as a horse.  Blood panels are excellent including my liver.  I workout every day.  Don't smoke. 

Posted 1/22/2013 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
however much you justify it....you'll eventually find out if it agrees with you or not.

But if you have to have a few drinks daily to help you lessen your stress...you might need to consider another option.

Alcohol and pred really don't mix, and your liver...while fine now, may pay a price ultimately.

q
Posted 1/26/2013 3:37 AM (GMT 0)

quincy said...
however much you justify it....you'll eventually find out if it agrees with you or not.

But if you have to have a few drinks daily to help you lessen your stress...you might need to consider another option.

Alcohol and pred really don't mix, and your liver...while fine now, may pay a price ultimately.

q

word
Posted 1/26/2013 4:05 AM (GMT 0)
All good input.  Thank you, Community. 

 

Posted 1/26/2013 2:42 PM (GMT 0)
Never a bad idea to have a few drinks. If it makes it worse youll know right away so give it a try.
Posted 1/27/2013 10:18 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with how most everyone is responding: everyone responds differently with UC, to everything. You really have to just try and see. In my case I found beer to cause especially bad side effects where as liquor and wine do not. Overdoing it on any type of alcohol had my gut in pain the next day.

As a side note, I finally saw a psychiatrist for anxiety and she prescribed clonazepam, .5mg - 1mg as needed and advised I take it anytime I'm wanting to "self-medicate" with alcohol. In other words, if I was coming home and throwing a few back just to calm down I should replace that with the med, but that didn't mean I had to stop drinking entirely (social situations, etc). I've been really happy with this, because it's much more effective and doesn't have any gut side effects.
Posted 1/27/2013 11:04 PM (GMT 0)
I agree that everyone is different; on the other hand, alcohol, caffeine and cocao (chocolate) are known to have laxative effects on the smooth muscle in the gut and my guess is that they increase permeability and "leaky gut"- but I wish I could have the occasional wine or cocktail. Alas,in my case, it is as one would expect when one puts alcohol on a wound- it hurts and for me, can even flare me up. If And when I getba more rock solid remission maybe I will tolerate a bit. I was in a remission when I met my wife and if I hadnt had a little alcohol, like Raj in Big Bang Theory, I would not have had the guts to walk up to her and chat her up, lol.
Posted 1/28/2013 1:21 PM (GMT 0)

I feel worse in the morning if I've hit it hard than when I'm not flaring. and bleed more

But I seem to be the same if I drink diet coke alone as when I have JD with it. so think its more the caffeine and fizzy drinks. but one or two never seems to have harmed me.

Saying that, each flare up seems slightly different so far, just started another one, i noticed it was hurting without a drink so sat by the fire with a hot water bottle and a tall drink on saturday.

Generally resting your body helps you get better though, which drinking doesn't do but its swings and roundabouts.

if your body says no, i'll have a mojito in your honour!

Posted 1/28/2013 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
Alcohol can aggravate an already healing colon....not necessarily cause inflammation but it can make things worse and slow down healing. But some people have no issue with alcohol and some can't even drink a drop. It can also be hard on the liver, but a few drinks here or there shouldn't hurt. The liver is a very forgiving organ.

I drink once in a while, mostly socially and liquor not beer or malt beverages. Liquor sometimes bothers me and sometimes not, I'm at the mercy of my fickle colon! But I very rarely ever binge drink....my body does not like that all. So when I do drink, its just one here or there.
Posted 1/28/2013 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
Personally, when I read that folks here with UC drink diet colas etc, it seems that those are far worse than alcohol could ever be.
There are things that are ok once in awhile and things that should be forbidden for UC patients. Any sort of soda, sugary snacks etc, are deadly to disease-free folks, doen't it make sense that we with UC should avoid them?
And as far as alcohol goes, the consensus seems to be that it's OK in moderation like most things in life...
Posted 1/28/2013 4:20 PM (GMT 0)
Well, I've found out this week that the coffee really needed to go. I've also eliminated the Diet Cokes which I know have had the same effect on me as the coffee. After spending a few days away from the Johnnie Walker Black, I reintroduced it Saturday and felt nothing.
Posted 1/28/2013 7:54 PM (GMT 0)
I would avoid alcohol, especially while flaring. Yes, alcohol does cause inflammation in the body. I'm not sure exactly what effect it would have on your UC. I gave up alcohol a year ago and gave up soda over a year ago. My downfall is homemade sweets like cupcakes and cookies. They always seem to make my symptoms flare up, without a doubt. :(
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