Question on .... GAS!

Before UC, I had a lot of gas. Every day and every night. I would roll over on my left side and one came out. Every. single. night.

For the past 2 years, since I've had UC, there has been almost no gas. I never roll onto my left side because that directly stimulates the urgency and I have to get out of bed and go to the bathroom.

Some gas comes out during the diarrhea, but it's not like having gas the normal way.

There have only been a couple of very brief periods in the past 2 years since I've had UC where my condition improved a little. We're talking a few days where I had partially formed stools and no blood, but still frequent and urgent. And during those 2 brief periods of improvement, I had GAS. Normal, dry, air like before UC. I could feel it and know it was normal dry gas.

My theory is that I lack digestive microorganisms in the lower part of the colon that digest the food and produce methane, which is gas. Before UC I had ample amounts and produced gas. Now with UC I don't have enough and don't produce gas. I think there has to be something to the correlation between UC and gas. If I could get back to a gassy state, my UC might get better along with it.

Has anyone else experienced this same type of thing, and do you have any thoughts on the cause / effect and how to use this information to get better?

UC is known to be a gassy illness and I think you are in the right ballpark with your theories around gut flora. For me, when things are about to get worse I will see it coming a mile off because an increase in gas will precede the flare (both volume and smell will worsen). Like you, this is particularly when I lie on my left side, though laying down in general will do it. Sometimes I can go a whole day with zero gas, and then literally within 10 seconds of going to bed, the orchestra will start playing.

For about the past month my secret pleasure is farting. I get more gas in the evening and I absolutely enjoy being able to fart freely. It feels so empowering to fart without fear lol