NEW TO THIS

Welcome to the forums.

Do you still have any symptoms? Diarrhea, blood, mucus, cramps? Are you only on Lialda for your UC at the moment?

Everybody is different with food. I used to keep a food journal for a long time to find out what makes me feel worse and what I can take. There is also the SCD diet you could try but it's very strict. You can google it.

In my opinion, seeing your GI once a year is not enough.

Well I would tell him about the symptoms for sure. Maybe some change/addition in meds would be helpful.

Yes please ask your DR for rectal mesalamine. This will be a very effective treatment for you, in addition to the Lialda.

With regard to food, most of us find that keeping a food journal is helpful. The most common problem foods are lactose and gluten.

Lactose intolerance is quite easy to determine - have yourself a glass of milk on an empty stomach and see what happens. Nausea and gas? Diarrhea? Get lactose out of your diet - you can add lactase enzyme to your meals (available in pill form everywhere), choose lactose-free dairy products or eliminate dairy completely.

Gluten intolerance is more of a challenge. You really need to be completely gluten free for 3 weeks to see if there's an issue.