Stress causing my bleeding?

I was just hospitalized for the UC flare I am going through. While I was in the hospital, I received four blood transfusions, IV fluids and a potassium drip, they wanted to give me IV steroids but I said no to them because I have just tapered off prednisone and I was completely miserable while on that drug. I was diagnosed in Feb and have yet to find remission. My question, while I was in the hospital, I had some relief of symptoms. My D quieted down a bit and so did my cramping, the bleeding was just about gone minus some I believe was coming from hemorrhoids. Now, 3 days after being home, my bleeding has returned with a vengeance. I am terrified of getting anemic again, but I wonder if the stresses of being home are making it worse? I felt almost a sense of relief while I was in the hospital, like they were going to help me get better, like I could just relax. Is this possible?

Waiting on Humira right now
No other meds presently, or supplements
Cannot take any mesalamines, intolerance to all of them
Tried enemas and suppositories, none have worked
Tried SCD for a month, no changes. Tries gluten free, dairy free and sugar free, no changes!

I haven't been able to get control of my UC with any drug since being diagnosed in Feb. It should literally be any day now for the humira, I am waiting for the pharmacy to call me and set up a time with a nurse to help me with the first injections. I had my second colonoscopy almost 2 weeks ago, and it was really bad. The only thing I was taking at the time was uceris and since the dr said it obviously wasn't helping despite being on it for 3 weeks, I stopped taking it and I noticed a small improvment in my symptoms. I am wondering if my worsening of my bleeding could be food related?

JohnPhx, I do agree with you. I have anxiety issues I've had my whole life and my UC came about right after having my daughter...talk about a stressful time in your life! The worse my symptoms get, the more I stress. And now having been in the hosptial, I really don't care to go back through that experience again....so when I look down and see what looks like a ton of blood, I'm starting to panic! I don't want to lose too much blood, I am keeping my fingers crossed with humira hopefully being the thing that will help me.

"I have anxiety issues I've had my whole life.." Just acknowledging that you have the battle half beaten. I'm the same.

Anxiety is manageable in bits and pieces. One method for starting is to just look at your "world." Where you are right NOW, your room, your surroundings, and yes your breathing and your mood. It seems a bit selfish when you're not used to it but it's a good starting point.

Don't let your mind jump to what you THINK you should be or where you should be, just come back to what you actually ARE: tired? sick? tense? And accept and love yourself for whatever it is your are feeling or what you are.

Ok now I'm sound like Deep Chopkra or whatever his name is, but I think you know what I'm saying! LOL

John

Stress definitely plays a roll with this disease as well as food. Before this disease I was a VERY stressed out person with above average blood pressure and a high resting heart rate. The littlest things would make me upset and get me angry, also had a very pessimistic outlook on life, I called it being realistic. Been this way since I was a little kid. When this disease hit me in the beginning I got very depressed/scared/angry and had the feel sorry for me attitude and just completely negative. This website actually really helped me turn my thought process around. I kept reading about how stress can negatively affect you. Reading the stories on here and realizing people are going through the same thing as you helped me start changing my ways. Now I have the crap happens attitude and I'm going to do whatever I can to make it through it. I know things will get worse at some point, I might have to change medications because one will stop working, I might have to go to the hospital for a bad flare, etc. But I have accepted what I have and will deal with things as they come. And if I ever start to feel down, I know I can come on here to get some support and suggestions. I work for the gov't and am being affected by the shutdown, next week will be my last paycheck. If they don't pass the budget by then, I will be sitting at home unpaid with lots of meds to pay for, including ofcourse the normal, rent, car, insurance, etc. The old me would be flipping out right about now, but I am actually taking it in stride because it is out of my hands. I'll just do what I can and make it work. I can actually thank this disease, along with this website, for making me a less stressful/anxious person.

Hopefully the Humira will work for you. Will you be taking an immunosuppressive and steroid with it? If the Humira doesn't work are you able to try Remicade?

Stress is certainly a big trigger for us UCers. My first diagnosis and flare was at the height of my stress for wedding planning. Second major flare was on my first trip back east after moving across the country with my newborn and dealing with family and a lot, A LOT, of opinions that is had gotten used to avoiding living on the west coast and also a lot of food stress since none of our family members eat paleo or quite hat healthy or truly understand the impact of food choices on me. Last and worst flare was just last week with extreme job stress on my husbands end. He'd gotten offered a major career boosting new job then once accepted it was almost taken away because of a very old DUI offense and we wee in limbo for 6 days waiting to find out and that just brought back a lot of bad memories and despair. Also the timing combined with me getting a bit too adventurous eating wise since I had been feeling really good and well, flare! Ended up making emergency appointment and now on pred. Reflecting back on all three situations I see how poorly I handled them and am working even harder to cope with stress, especially when things are out of my control. I thought I was doing a good job being relaxed and zen and with all my yoga Ido at home each day but I need to go deeper because this last time it was bad and the flare was terrifying. Like you, there was just so much blood, soooo much, I was having panic attacks each time I was in the bathroom envisioning my while GI tract as one big crime scene, organs failing, weight melting off, crying, cramps. The best we can do is work to control our stress and responses to these situations, I hope you can find more peace at home and that your new medication works for you. Good luck.