Flare End Game

I feel like I'm inching closer and closer to what appears to be what I will call 'Flare End Game' or reaching a point in my drug therapy that I appear to be turning a corner... My symptoms are getting substantially better... It's not perfect by any means... averaging about six trips to the washroom per day, but about five out of six of them are relatively solid. Either way though I still experience a significant amount of discomfort in the washroom and sporadic cramps and spasms... Is this because my colon is not used to processing solids yet? It has only been about two to three weeks I have been in this territory.

Is it possible that your colon can be so badly damaged from a flare that it may never return to "normal" - or as close to whatever "normal" may be for us UCers?

I would assume that it is because I am in the early stages of getting out of this valley that my colon is still quite damaged and sensitive as a result. The mucous and the lining still have to properly repair themselves which may take months... But for those that have been through aggressive, relatively lengthy flares and come out, does this discomfort stay?

I write and ask these questions fully understanding that it's going to be different for everyone and dependent on the length and severity of the flare. Just trying to understand what my next steps may be and when I can start trusting my body again.

Yeah, still tapering the Pred. That one's going to be killer to get out of my system. HOWEVER, the Prednisone never really contributed to the UC in any dramatic fashion. When I first started it, I was in the hospital two weeks later as my flare had worsened. It's just been hanging around unfortunately.

oh yeah, the white-knucklers...nothing like passing formed stool through an inflamed rectum!

You really, really, really need to consider to get on rectal meds to at least try them.

Plus, ask your doctor for antispasmodic meds...part of the reason for the cramping pain is spasming...like your rectum and colon having hissy fits.
There peristalsis will be in high gear to get rid of anything that's passing over is or in it where it's inflamed.

As the inflammation gets lower and more limited to/in the rectum...the colon will be slowing down more and producing a more solid stool. Once it's in the sigmoid and downloaded into the rectum...youchie@ get it out fast.

Messages get all screwed up, and eventually as the inflammation heals...hopefully your colon's peristalsis action will as well.

What other supplements are you taking?

Are you using any fibre supplements? probiotics? etc?

Hang tough...things are obviously improving from where you were before. Hope it continues....but you do have a way het to go.

Rectal meds....

q

so I take it that rectal meds are something you haven't yet tried and refuse to even talk about?

Patience is good, but if you can add something else that might help...consider it.

q

I love the 60, 70mg part of the flare, I get real smart work round the clock on the house and the job, got a pay raise this flare....but now down around 10 I feel like I could not tell you my middle name. Zero energy and brain dull as a butter knife. Hard to tell the low mood from reality feel like quitting my job. I did that once on pred and really regretted it - it was lucrative and I dropped it like a bad habit and so not going to do that again without something else lined up but not the best time to be interviewing when going pred zero either however I got calls this week and it looks like I have no choice.

No energy, no blood but got a bit of food poisoning eating downtown and went into rinse mode this morning, still better than the 6 weeks of middle of the night urgency, glad that stuff stopped happening.

Isn't this fun !

:)

quincy said...
Well, wouldn't it suck if they actually helped?

q

They are literally a pain in the butt - but I agree and used them at the start of the flare.

I agree with treating from both ends and UC begins at that end so it makes sense.

BabeintheWoods said...

aguywithuc said...
I love the 60, 70mg part of the flare, I get real smart work round the clock on the house and the job, got a pay raise this flare....

I hope I never need to use them but have a question about corticosteroids like pred. Unlike anabolic steroids they are considered catabolic, even though people who use them apparently get super charged energy. Since you work out regularly my question is can you build muscle because of all that excess energy pred gives you, even though it is considered CATABOLIC?

I tried and my goal was to simply not lose the gains. Much like cutting calories but lifting to retain the muscle and let the fat melt away instead.

Seemed to not help and MOSTLY it felt really unhealthy to workout hard. 1) Prednison stiffens the arteries which is why they told me my angiogram after the guy hit me head on would be 'riskier' the guided wire through the leg, chest down arm to explore the hand might cut the arteries since they are 'stiffer'.

When you get huffing and puffing from lifting aggressively set after set or from intense cardio like mountain biking you can feel the chest tightness and it cannot be good for the heart or brain, you could get an anuerism or stroke or heart attack. I think its good to be active but not pushing it and lifting failed to work because I was only sleeping 1-2 hours per night. I was not rebuilding and healing. This all intersected with the the crash and my left hand took the impact on the steering wheel while right was only on the shifter and the ulnar artery was vulnerable and injured - failed to heal right and clotted, I never knew it until 3 days later finger tips went blue. Meanwhile the clot backed up all the way to the elbow. Angiogram was done too late for them to do anything about it because I needed to get off prednisone or at least lowered dose.

No problems this cycle I did not lift or mountain bike until under 30mg - at around 25mg side effects were not there with the tightness. I did lots of digging and planting 5 large trees and one day was no prednisone and I could go and go and go....then back from ER I had a bottle of prednisone and I would have to stop digging and walk it off and wait because it felt 'unhealthy'.

Just to be crystal CLEAR I am not borderline cardiovascular disease either. I was sent to the hospital post crash to have 'open heart surgery' but the echocardiogram of my heart was so good they never mentioned that again.

Post Edited (aguywithuc) : 7/25/2013 8:01:54 PM (GMT-6)