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Something else? This flare is different

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/28/2013 10:05 AM (GMT 0)
My first flare lasted 3 months. All I had was somewhat minor bleeding with 1 or 2 BMs per day. 2 Lialdas and 1 Canasa per day got it under control.

Had 5 months remission, half on Canasa and Lialda, half on just Lialda.

Two weeks ago, my wife had a 24 hour stomach bug. I had it the next day. Just diarrhea. The next day I was fine. Then the NEXT day, horrible cramps and loose stools. After a week of that, I had some blood and went back on the Canasa (doc said if bleeding comes back, go back on Canasa). Canasa seemed to take the blood away already.

Still going just once a day, one day it'll be loose the next day somewhat formed. But now I can't eat anything without getting stomach cramps a short time later. I'm hungry, just... eating brings on noises and what feels like a lot of gas and pressure below the belly button.

Last night was the worst. Didn't sleep a wink. Stomach was rumbling and "moving around" all night. I've only been eating in the evening so I can feel ok during work, so maybe I ate too much. Only had chicken and rice, applesauce, and a little bit of cereal.

Since this flare is totally different from my first flare, I'm wondering if it's a flare at all. Or if I've got something else going on.

Even though I've still only been going once a day, I've dropped 10 pounds in two weeks. Mostly from not eating much and worrying the hell out of myself though.

Some days I'll feel better than other days, but it seems it's one step forward and two steps back.

Being kept up all night with the noisy/moving intestines has been the weirdest part.

I know some people have it much worse.... I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. Thanks for reading and for any insight.

Post Edited (hardworking) : 3/28/2013 4:19:40 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/28/2013 10:44 AM (GMT 0)
What was you diagnosis?
Posted 3/28/2013 10:46 AM (GMT 0)
Diagnosed "early ulcerative colitis" back in 9/12. Inflammation was limited to rectum area. Biopsies just showed "inflammation", nothing else helpful.
Posted 3/28/2013 11:10 AM (GMT 0)
My diagnosis was mild proctitis, which is limited to the rectum. My symtoms are very mild compared to most on here. I'm thankful for that. I think I suffer more from the psychological effects which can actually mimic UC :/
Posted 3/28/2013 11:21 AM (GMT 0)
I too have just had a "different" flare, sudden diarrhoea from either a bug or virus then led quickly into inflammation. Endoscopist suspected c diff but now told it was not c diff. However, I was prescribed flagyl and my bleeding cleared up in days. Can you get a comprehensive stool test done for pathogens by your health care provider? While a "normal" colon can fight off typical food poisoning type bacteria, our fragile colons often cannot. If it was bacterial, antibiotics could help. If it was viral, then not and you may need to up meds to settle inflammation.
Posted 3/28/2013 11:26 AM (GMT 0)
That's great advice... I'll look into getting that done! Thank you
Posted 3/28/2013 12:34 PM (GMT 0)
Yep, this is normal. I had 10 years of constipation-based UC only to have it switch over night and become diarrhea based. That flare lasted 2.5 years.

Sue
Posted 3/29/2013 10:12 AM (GMT 0)
I find slippery elm helps whenever I get rumbling/gurgling
Posted 3/29/2013 12:58 PM (GMT 0)
hey i got UC alittle over a year ago. the most important thing is diet no more applesauce no rice. just veggies lean meats, eggs no red meat no diary no processed foods what so ever. most doctors dont know how to treat digestive problems they will just give u medicine that might somewhat work for alittle bit but wont cure the problem the only cure is a clean diet its so simple brother everyone can get better ot really bothers me that theres so much bad info on UC and CHRONS. email me if u need anything i can give u very specific diet plans if u need help im here and for free my email is -

(please put your email in your profile only.  Thank you. )

Post Edited By Moderator (Michelejc) : 3/29/2013 7:20:50 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/29/2013 1:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hardworking,

This flare feels different...

There are certain intestinal bugs making rounds, some of which last a few weeks.

But the other thing that caught my eye was: Only had chicken and rice, applesauce, and a little bit of cereal.

Have you had this before without any problems?

Because I have to tell you that if I ate these items, I would NOT be doing well - 2 reasons: bad mis-food combining and also applesauce and cereal wouldn't agree.

There are IMO a bunch of things you could do to help: slippery elm powder, l-glutamine powder, probiotics, and if you are interested, there are things IMO that you can control, which will have a direct impact on your disease, the symptoms you experience and their severity.

I was able to control my UC into remission through various supplements, probiotics, diet modification, and LDN , low dose naltrexone.

For more info on the protocol which has put me into remission, please go to this link: https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=1666318 , and look at the 11th post.

I hope you feel better and let us know how we can help you.

Posted 3/30/2013 3:01 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the great info and support everyone. Given me lots of new info and lots of good tips to think about. This community always comes through for lost and scared newbies like me. Thank you!
Posted 3/31/2013 2:05 AM (GMT 0)
I haven't posted anything in a long time because I have been fairly stable, but this caught my attention because a few weeks ago I had the same thing happen and have been dealing with this new "flare" as well. Nothing has worked long term, just like you described 1 step forward 2 steps back. I had been taking 6 lialda/day for a long time and about 6 months ago dropped down to a more standard dose of 4. Stomach bug... and then everything you said is exactly what happened to me. I went back to the 6/day and a canasa nightly. To make matters worse, I found out my GI left the practice and was forced to see a new GI. He was not a fan of the 6 lialda/day and put me on prednisone (never had this). I took 40 mg for 5 days and at first thought I was seeing improvement, but that quickly vanished. Then I was down to 30 mg and the symptoms were worse than before the pred. I am now on my first day at 20 mg (4 more than down to 10 for 5). I went back to 6 lialda and canasa. Today has been my best day yet. I cut out gluten 2 days ago. Never had any issues with gluten in the past that I know of but I was desperate for something that would help with the bloating and burning pain throughout my colon. I don't think I like the new GI. He seems really quick to want to push me onto harder medications and even mentioned remicade/humira. I am really hoping that it turns out to be some kind of gluten sensitivity and that I have discovered my trigger, but as we all know, hope is the key word.

Oh, I was DX with Pancolitis back in July of 2009.

Posted 3/31/2013 2:38 AM (GMT 0)
Could be Irritable bowel syndrome on top of having an IBD.
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