New to the Forum - Diagnosed about a year and a half ago

Hello,

I've seen this forum a couple of times while googling UC-related questions, and the discussion here appears thoughtful and insightful, so I thought I'd register and introduce myself.

about Me:

I'm a 31 year old male attorney who was diagnosed about a year and a half ago, a couple of weeks before my law school graduation. I currently work full time as an attorney in the Southeast US. My initial diagnosis was a bit rough - doctors initially thought it was a bad case of food poisoning, then a parasite two months later. Only after an ER visit followed by an eight day hospitalization, in late-April 2013, was UC diagnosed. I was diagnosed with pan-colitis, and told I had a pretty severe case. I was initially placed on Asacol, Prednisone (tapered down in about two months), and VSL #3, which worked pretty well until about early March of this year. A bad flare, during which I didn't respond to 60mg prednisone, led to a four day hospitalization in April, followed by a three month long prednisone taper, switching from Asacol to Lialda (for insurance reasons), starting up on Humira, and switching to VSL #3 DS. I'm just now getting over another flare, where Prednisone seems to have done the trick and about to start tapering down soon.

While all of this has been going on, I've graduated from law school, taken (and passed!) the bar exam, started a new job, and had my first child - he's 11 weeks old now.

That's all I have for now - just thought I'd drop in and say hi.

All i can say is - Wow - most impressive!! To be going through so much physically and mentally and still be able to accomplish so much - that's amazing - I give you credit. Congrats on the baby!

TheGovernor916 said...
Welcome!

I'll be applying to law schools very soon, cool to hear someone did it with UC.
I currently have stress dreams about having to use the bathroom during the LSAT and BAR.

Good luck! If you have any questions about law school or the application process - feel free to send me any questions. This is a brutal market for lawyers.

1. Every time I've had a flare (which I've defined as diarrhea for more than two days, with or without bleeding), I've had either a cold, flu, or some kind of fever in the weeks prior to it. Has anyone ever had this kind of experience? Some do. I haven't myself.

2. Since I've started on Humira, the colds have gotten worse - I've been taking a good bit of Tylenol. Has anyone had this experience with Humira? Humira reduces the effectiveness of your immune system, so you are likely to have more colds a year, and colds that last longer than before. Perhaps an extra cold or two a year, and instead of lasting one week they might last 1.5 weeks.

3. Every time I've gone to see my GI while not feeling well, the GI's primary reaction has been to discuss changing medication - either the dosage or the actual medication. Is this a common experience? Uc requires a great deal of trial-and-error. So yes, changing around medications and dosages is very common. UC can progress quickly within the 5 years of diagnosis (spread in extent and severity) so it is important to keep on top of it, adjust medications accordingly.