I don't know if anyone remembers me, but I found this forum January last year after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.
I was 7 weeks pregnant at the time, and hospitalized for 2 weeks where I was treated with steroids and transfused several times , and ultimately started on remicade while in the hospital because of the severity of my disease.
I lost 25 lbs in the beginning of my pregnancy, and was absolutely terrified! For an entire month after being hospitalized, the only food I could eat that didn't cause severe pain was butternut squash soup. But with every remicade infusion I saw incredible improvement. By 6 months pregnant, I was completely weaned off steroids, back to my pre-pregnancy weight and virtually symptom free. I went on to gain an additional 30 pounds in the last 3 months of pregnancy (I wasted no time with that...lol).
I gave birth to a healthy 7lb 15oz 20 inch long baby boy on August 17th 2014. He's now 7 months old and has been in the 90s percentile range for every measurement at every check up and he hits every mental and physical development milestone right on time! Sorry for the brag...I'm just so proud of him and he's my little miracle! There was a period of time where I was unsure if he would survive in my body - I can't even believe it.
I had one short flare-up 3 weeks post partum that resolved with some med adjustments.
Besides colazal and remicade, I continue to take my prenatals, and I also take turmeric, co-enzyme q10, probiotics, and drink kefir every day. I take a B complex but I am unsure if it even gets absorbed, so I am going to ask my GI to check my B12 levels. I also eat a *mostly paleo diet (I can't lie and say I don't cheat from time to time)
I plan on staying on remicade for as long as it helps me. I don't know what combination of things I am doing that is really the cause for my remission, or if it's just the remicade. But I don't want to change a thing and risk going through what I went through before, or worse (as I know that each flare can be worse and harder to control).
I had my first colonoscopy in December and it showed pan-colitis (as evidence by pseudo-polyps throughout my colon)
Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well! Sorry for being so MIA. I have been spending most of my time on baby forums nowadays, lol!
Any new research/treatments/news or anything interesting to share?
Post Edited (LaurieD) : 3/19/2015 4:22:57 PM (GMT-6)