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How quick does UC act up?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/25/2014 11:56 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone! I was recently diagnosed with UC so I'm a newbie here. I was curious on how quick your UC acts up after you eat something that disagrees with you. Could it be within 30 minutes of eating or does it usually take a few hours? I'm trying to narrow down what causes discomfort. Thanks :)
Posted 1/26/2014 1:01 AM (GMT 0)
Usually within a few hours in regards to gas pain and discomfort from that. Increased bm's usually don't happen for me until the next morning or rarely late at night.
Posted 1/26/2014 1:05 AM (GMT 0)
Howdie mz/mr Laf,

The patterns of UC are as varied as number of personalities with the diagnosis.

Definitely keep a daily journal of your symptoms, meds, food intake. You might find a consistent pattern or not at all, or a pattern that changes as soon as you nail it down.

Responses from this UC forum might be more helpful and specific to your situation if you provide a brief profile of yourself/diagnosis/treatment status.

[Next to Log Off button - select [My Profile b] ... Share about yourself what you feel comfortable with; change, add, delete, etc., at any time.]

Here are a few thoughts on UC flares and any link between food & flares:
UC has a natural course that changes over time. Statistically - there are some patterns known, for example about the proportion of people with proctitis and procto-sigmoiditis at diagnosis who's disease will progress in the first two years.

There are proven treatment algorithms for medical management based on the region of bowel, severity, and response to treatments. There are good research articles coming out of China & Taiwan on using herbals to reduce symptoms, minimize chances of flares, etc, ... legitimate scientific trials with control groups on placebo vs treatment groups.

Newest area of research with great promise for UC is the microbiota of the human gut.

Empower yourself with knowledge on IBD (conventional/allopathic, herbal/dietary/microbial, CAM). Become well informed to trust yourself and your GI doc in the long-term management of your health. There is a lot to learn. Use caution with lay-sources of advice. If you can - go to a university library. Troll through the research abstracts on-line via PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/). There is good information on the CCFA website - that is a lot more lay-person friendly.

It's quite a journey - Welcome aboard. If you need to laugh about yourself through other's stories - use the SEARCH button above. Poop Jokes & stories and humor are hilarious from this Forum.

Wish Peace Inside,
Mz D
Posted 1/26/2014 1:43 AM (GMT 0)
When flaring everything disagrees with me :( Things can act up as soon as a minute after I start eating or a few hours later. I also think sometimes if you go to sleep, things can get very active in the morning or during the night if you didn't have activity earlier in the evening. I usually don't eat much when I am flaring. I know it's terrible but I can't deal with going to the bathroom a ton. It's unproductive and I have to get through a day of work. I will just eat one meal, dinner. In the morning, I have trouble, usually at night I have trouble but at least during the work day, I am able to function somewhat normally.
Posted 1/26/2014 2:57 AM (GMT 0)
No rhyme or reason. I've had things effect me in less than 30 minutes and some have taken a few hours. Generally the things that are really bad for me effect me the quickest.
Posted 1/26/2014 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
Unless I eat something silly for breakfast, I can usually go the whole day without foods affecting me. If it does, I'll notice an increase in gas and some pain. Somethimes I'll get a weird feeling in my stomach shortly after I eat greasy foods... Making me think I have chrons or something. I think it's all in my head! haha

Good luck, try SCD diet if you haven't.
Posted 1/26/2014 3:27 AM (GMT 0)
All in all, the nature of the beast of IBD is bowel movement frequency/urgency, many will associate what they are eating causing them to "go" even before they're done eating or even within a few hours of eating, truth is, even if you didn't eat at the time you got an urge, you'd likely still get the urge anyway--hope that makes sense--
Posted 1/26/2014 4:57 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, pb4 is right.

All too often, people eat a meal then dash to the toilet 5 minutes afterwards or perhaps even during the meal itself, and then associate that with what they've literally just eaten. Except it is not possible for food to travel through you that fast, even in the severest flare-up.

Even for healthy people, the act of eating a meal triggers peristalsis of the intestines and perhaps the urge to open their bowels. In folks with IBD, the same thing happens but is ramped up by a factor of 100: irritated, inflamed intestines just want to get whatever's irritating them out of there as fast as possible.

If you do have a bad reaction to a food, it is something you are likely to feel a few hours after eating it, in the form of gas, bloating, cramps, etc. Allergic reactions are usually felt immediately, while intolerance reactions tend to be more delayed.
Posted 1/26/2014 5:08 PM (GMT 0)
anywhere from a few hours to a few months -
Posted 1/26/2014 5:10 PM (GMT 0)
I am sure it is different for each person, but mine usually occurs while eating. It can become tedious at times, but in remission it never seems to pop up. But when I flare up, it tends to be very bad.
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