Sigh... flare after 9 months

Its been a while since I have visited this site so I figured I would say hey and relate what has been happening lately.

I was dx'd with UC in Dec of 2013, was able to achieve remission after being hospitalized for 4 days and continuing with Pred/ Mesalamine after hospital visit.

Unfortunately, after a month of taking the meds I quit them because of insurance complications, money, and stubbornness to rx meds. Always been a health fanatic even before being dx'd with this disease.

Things went really well for a solid 9 months, no symptoms, ate vegan except for occasionally eating out and indulging on mexican food (I LOVE CHIPS and SALSA! and all kinds of spicy food) and over eating on not so great of foods.

Then recently, coupled with slacking on my diet, me and the wife having our first newborn (she's almost 4 months now) and being a little stressed, and the approach of winter, I had the symptoms slowly reappearing.

At first I thought it was nothing but then it started getting worse and worse until just a week ago I once again had to be hospitilazed for 4 days because of losing too much fluid due to D. So doing better now, taking Lialda again along with Iron pills, antiboitics, low dosage of pred and just last night started doing Mesalamine Enema's. Urgency is getting more controllable and barley seeing blood just kinda disheartening after so long being without symptoms. Really hard for me to cope taking meds while being such a nutrition fanatic and not being able to control it that way... bleh...

No worries, I'm starting to learn that having a positive mind set and trying to focus on the good rather than the bad is effective in not making it worse...just really hard to do sometimes..

Been thinking about taking L-Glutamine again, money is kinda tight but I'm sure we could squeeze it in somewhere, I used to take it last year but not sure if it helped because I was taking so much other stuff, you guys think it would be a good idea?

It's really strange how I keep on hearing about others who also were healthy eaters/were health nuts prior to UC diagnosis. As a fellow nutrition fanatic it was crushing for me having to eat white bread and sugary hospital snacks and basically junk when I was flaring because it was low residue and all I could handle! Sorry you are feeling not so well again and I hope you can get patched up soon between the Lialda and the enemas and can get back to your healthy diet!

I'm sorry! I was always super healthy and felt like I must've done something terribly wrong to bring UC on myself. And then my diet while in flare! Ugh. Not a vegetable in sight that hadn't been boiled to death.

It kills me to eat white bread, white rice, salty canned soup, and mashed potatoes when I'm flaring. It feels so unhealthy, but really is the only stuff I can tolerate while in a flare. Some people, like me, don't really seem to be able to control/influence UC with dietary choices.

Having UC is not your fault! It just is. Needing medicine to stay in remission is just a fact- not a reflection of who you are as a person.

After being diagnosed I really struggled with this and found a therapist to talk to a few times. It really helped. I went from trying to fix myself (with a lot of guilt and shame- was it that one soda I had or those blackberries or that day I skipped my morning run or maybe I should just cut one more thing out of my diet?) to being grateful for having medication available that treats UC and works for me.

Also, at the first sign of a flare I double up on the Rowasa enemas (1 AM and 1 PM). If after two weeks I see no improvement I call the GI and get a script for prednisone. If during the two weeks I get worse I call the GI asap. It's really important, if possible, to keep the flare from getting so bad you need to be hospitalized. If medication costs are overwhelming talk to your GI- free samples, drug company patient assistance programs- there are options.

Good luck! I hope you feel better soon and get to enjoy the heck out of your little baby.