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Quick question; Enemas and Suppositories

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 8/7/2016 9:29 PM (GMT 0)
So we all know enemas are better. My doc tells me enemas are better. You guys tell me enemas are better. But suppositories do still exist? They're still being manufactured?
My logic is; correct me if I'm wrong because I'm not sure but, UC always starts from the bottom(meaning rectum) and goes up, right? Enemas go higher than suppositories, so if inflammation didn't spread higher up the colon, or if I used enemas to reduce it to a small area, can I use just suppositories? Would it be enough? Because I feel discomfortable after doing enemas, sometimes I take longer to sleep and the need to lie after doing them makes get bored as hell. Sometimes that feeling of discomfort wake me up after a couple hours of sleep and I have go to bathroom. Because of this, I stopped doing them a while ago and now I have diarhhea again. I was doing so good a week ago and I was on 5 mgs of pred. Now I had to up the dose to 10. Annoying :(
Posted 8/7/2016 9:46 PM (GMT 0)
Suppositories exist because they are useful for less inflamed rectal area.
Yes, when you have less inflammation you can eliminate enemas or use enemas when needed and use supps as maintenance.

I use enemas rarely but keep them on hand to use when really needed.
I use supps as needed too, slightly more often than enemas.
Just think of them as two similar assistants, each has their place in your medicine cabinet.
Posted 8/7/2016 11:31 PM (GMT 0)
Much like a toolbox contains many tools for many purposes, so does a ulcerative colitis medicine cabinet.

Suppositories are good when uc is limited to the rectum, if it never progresses further then that's the only medication one might ever need.

For those of us with uc that progresses further than the rectum, both a suppository and enema can be used (enema at night and suppository in morning). Rectal inflammation is always the strongest area of inflammation, the hardest to treat, and the area that generates our most difficult symptoms (frequency, urgency, the feeling/need to constantly empty our bowels, etc.).
Posted 8/8/2016 5:06 PM (GMT 0)
The fact that you have diarrhea, that means its higher than limited in the rectum.....could be to the top of the tectum or just heading into the sigmoid.

Enemas at 4g give a bigger dose of medication and will cover past the sigmoid.

Supps are very handy to use in conjunction with the enemas, for tapering the enemas, to use during the constipation phase ofnhealing as well as early flaring when its limited within the rectum.

Remember that the use of meds highly depends on your insight as to what your symptoms mean. Experience and recognition helps.....but that can take years.

I would suggest you get on the 4g enemas or maybe use the foam enemas at night (steroid) and supps during the day or vice versa.

q
Posted 8/8/2016 6:51 PM (GMT 0)
Yesterday my stool was liquid & I kept going to bathroom. Today it suddenly turned partially solid again, I also had only two bowel movements close to each other in the morning and I've been fine the whole day. I hadn't drastically changed what I ate or anything. Maybe the sauce I ate in my sandwich, I don't know but I ate that same sandwich with same sauce from Subway and it didn't cause me such fast & furious trouble before? I can't find any consistency to what makes me ill and what doesn't. I'm about to reach my 12th week on Aza, raised my dose to 150 mg around a month ago. Had a blood test two weeks ago and WBC, RBC & Platelets were all within normal range. Hoping it will be enough for maintenace together with mesalamines.
Posted 8/8/2016 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
If one thing's consistent with uc, it's a guarantee of inconsistent poops both in number and in how well formed they are. It's especially variable as you heal/recovering from a flare.

It's maddening, our entire day is made or ruined based on the first couple bms of our day lol. It's a rollercoaster ride full of extreme highs and lows. We're left pondering could it have been X that I ate? Am I getting better or am I getting worse? It's best to look week-to-week rather than day-to-day for a better picture of your progress or lack thereof.

I'm currently recovering from a minor flareup and as an example, I had 3 bms one day, 1 bm the next, have zero the next, and then have 2 bms the final day. Average 1.5 bms. Consistency is no different, just as varied.
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