HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

No Insurance and I think I have UC

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 2/19/2017 1:55 AM (GMT 0)
I am in a bind, obviously. I recently quit smoking in November and Marijuana 3(?) weeks ago. about two weeks ago diarrhea all the time, blood and mucus sometimes. Went to Student health for help and I took Cipro(antibiotics) because they thought it might be a quick (and cheap) fix for a bacterial infection. That did nothing, possibly worse now (not sure). Went back, he looked for active bleeding in rectal area could not find any active bleeding. I have been wayward on sticking to a "safe" diet so I will try to tighten that up.

Questions to answer:

This scenario seems common to IBD (hopefully UC), but do you know of other, less severe, issues that contain these symptoms?

I need to hold out until next school semester to hop on their insurance, Can you suggest some ways to protect myself from anemia if I can't find a way to remission or am healed of possible other threat?

Post Edited (boogee9) : 2/18/2017 7:14:49 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/19/2017 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
please just a few words...even if they are "you don't know nothing, buddy"
Posted 2/19/2017 3:02 AM (GMT 0)
How old are you?
Where are you located? In the US?

To really diagnose UC, you need a colonoscopy - or at least a sigmoidoscopy - with biopsies. I doubt student health can handle that.

Why don't you have insurance (not judging, just wondering)? People under 26 can be covered under their parents plan. I guess it's now just barely too late to sign up for an ACA plan for the year?

Can you get Student Health to prescribe a mesalamine medication for you? They're relatively safe and if they help, it will be more evidence that you do in fact have UC.

If you're desperate you could probably get prednisone from a doctor at Student Health, but prednisone isn't a long-term solution (more than a few weeks) and it can have lots of bad side effects.
Posted 2/19/2017 3:40 AM (GMT 0)
28. Wyoming, USA. Don't have insurance because I can't be covered by my mom and I pay out of pocket for school and until 2 weeks ago I was a very healthy boy. Plus I am poor; just poor. From a poor family. America's philosophy for my group seems to say "they're too lazy to make enough money to take care of themselves. So what social mobility is getting to be too expensive in and of itself? Christian values are trumped by good capitalism. any sort of non-privatized (wild west) healthcare is evil socialism for parasites". Sorry, I am very sad and worried haha

I don't want to jump straight to meds. I does not feel severe enough for that (yet). I hydrate constantly (water and Gatorade). I just don't want the diarrhea anymore. Its exhausting especially it being a gamble how much blood I will see when I wipe and look in the bowl. From none to "woah, that seems like mostly blood".

I know I need a colonoscopy (etc.) but geez they are pricey just to have a cam shoved up my butt. I will research best avenues for getting coverage for myself, but until then some pointers to stay healthy following a "natural" (non prescription) route would really boost me. Even though I have been mining data out of so many old threads I think I have a good idea. Just want some communication. Feels lonely right now.

OR could this be something that could pass? I am panicked and feel like I am jumping to the idea that I am at the beginning of the same old stories of discovering a new life of UC.

Post Edited (boogee9) : 2/18/2017 8:43:06 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/19/2017 3:51 AM (GMT 0)
For starters, have you had your student health center do a stool culture, just to make sure this isn't something infectious like a bacterial infection? They should be able to do that much.

If that comes back clear, it's again more likely to be UC. But not guaranteed.

Do you take any medications, over-the-counter or Rx? Some medications can lead to bowel wall ulcers and bloody diarrhea. Even aspirin and ibuprofen can do so. Make sure that's not your cause.

Then if it gets more likely to be actual UC, you really need to get on medication for it. Or otherwise you're taking a risk that it can get even worse. Not all get worse, and for those who do, sometimes it takes years, but sometimes it can happen quickly, and you can end up in the ER and then hospitalized. So you want to get this under control before it gets out of control. Or your expenses will be far, far higher.

There's not much "natural" that is guaranteed to help. There are lots of things you can try that *might* help, but the evidence isn't there to say for sure that they will. The evidence *is* there for medications - they can reduce the severity and frequency of flareups.

Do you have any family members with UC or Crohn's? Brothers, sisters, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.
Posted 2/19/2017 3:59 AM (GMT 0)
My grandmother. She was also recently hospitalized for a C. Diff infection. No medications. I used a lot of NSAIDS when I was younger, but not recently have I used them with any frequency.

Well Beave, what if I smoke a pack of cigs over the next couple days. I have seen a lot of different things on the web (anecdotes, research, healingwell threads) that say ex smokers can hop back on the "Perfect type of pleasure" (Oscar Wilde), or cigarettes, for relieve.
Posted 2/19/2017 4:38 AM (GMT 0)
I hate recommending smoking for anybody, but yeah, you're in a bind as you said. It might be worth a try in the short run. In the long term, get on insurance, get proper testing, get a diagnosis, and get on meds. Then stop smoking! smile
Posted 2/19/2017 5:52 AM (GMT 0)
I will hold off a little longer just to see what happens.

Btw my diarrhea is starting to smell pretty foul and strong any connection to something i can manage?
Posted 2/19/2017 7:08 AM (GMT 0)
No, not really, but that makes me think again you should get a stool culture done at your student health just to make sure you don't have an infection.
Posted 2/19/2017 8:17 AM (GMT 0)
When I was 24 and in my senior year of college, I decided to "get healthy". I quit smoking in July and by November I was hospitalized and diagnosed with UC.

You really shouldn't let this go, because it could get much worse--it can be debilitating--and the longer and more severely you flare the harder it is for the meds to stop it. You can pick and choose when and how to treat the disease, but you can't control how it responds. So do not allow yourself a false sense of security, that you can ignore the symptoms for weeks and months and then waltz into a clinic, get some pills, and be "all better" whenever it suits you. I wish! But no. That's not how it works.

Smoking cigarrettes definitely helped me. For some people, nicotine patches help. You can try diet and supplements.

The drug companies have "patient assistance programs" to help people who can't afford medication. You just have to be able to prove you are poor. And you'd need a diagnosis and prescription.
Posted 2/19/2017 8:20 AM (GMT 0)
Sucks you cannot get insurance. Maybe see if there's any patient advocates tyat might help, any chance of getting on Medicaid?

How bad are your symptoms: number of bms per day?, urgency?, blood or pain?

Very foul smelling diarrhea could be a Clostridium Difficile infection. Could you get a stool test done?

You could try smoking again, it could help some, it could do nothing. Varies. Unfortunately once Pandora's box is opened there's no way to close it back up...

Generally a colonscopy is recommended. You can always ask about a Sigmodscopy which would be cheaper (especially without sedation). Another option is a rectoscope. You'd likely need to see a gasteroenterologist to get those done though. A barium enema and x-ray can still be used to diagnose UC (older technique but still valid).

Definitely avoid NSAIDs and use only Tylenol.
Posted 2/19/2017 2:05 PM (GMT 0)
I have 2 to 3 bms in the morning but yesterday i smoked some marijuana and made it until the evevning before one more. I don't think i have been over 8-10 bms a day, but i am waking early for the first Most are bloody; amount varies. When i feel like i need to go i definitely hurry,but i can hold it (Work&School).

I will get a stool culture done. C diff? Please let it be that, but how the hell would i have gotten that?
Posted 2/19/2017 3:04 PM (GMT 0)
Could be that or any number of things that must be ruled out before diagnosing Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). C Diff and Infectious-colitis are two pathogeon-based possibilities whose symptoms overlap with IBD. If you had one of those one time episodes, cleared up with a medication.
Posted 2/19/2017 3:17 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone. I am calming down now. I will get the stool culture done before i jump to conclusions. This is miserable. If this is just short term for me, i really feel bad for taking up you guys' time. So, thanks again

If i start smoking again and it helps would that point to anything? Not c diff etc. / closer to uc?

Post Edited (boogee9) : 2/19/2017 8:32:19 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/19/2017 5:52 PM (GMT 0)
My father is 99% sure that his father likely had UC, because every time he quit smoking he had symptoms. Eventually he just kept smoking. His doctors found inflammatory polyps in his colon all the time, but no evidence of active disease. I think you should get tested for a bacterial infection but also go back to smoking as a short term place holder until you get insurance. Hang in there.
Posted 2/20/2017 1:14 AM (GMT 0)
Haha well i suppose i will buy a pack. What do i tell people? "oh, i only started again to see if i wouldn't crap myself to death" you guys seem like a good community if i have to join the ranks at least i will already know somewhere good for support
Posted 2/20/2017 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
Definitely get tested for C Diff.

Some people find relief from probiotics -- there are lots out there and people have different views on different choices. You can search this website.

Also, people have had various luck with non-pharmaceutical stuff like psyllium seed / nopal leaves etc.

If you are trying to stay off of smoking, maybe nicotine patch is a good substitute.

If it is UC, hopefully you can manage this until you can get on insurance -- diagnosis and treatment are pricey.
Posted 2/20/2017 4:10 PM (GMT 0)
I am so hoping its c diff! Have not smoked yet, but i tell you diet is so hard. Yesterday i had some candy at work. Then a tuna sandwich with lettuce and a burger plain with ketchup. When i woke at 4 in the morning to go, i dug through old threads here; as you can guess i feel rough this morning!

I know your not docs but could this still be c diff since im just aggravating the inflammation?
Posted 2/20/2017 8:02 PM (GMT 0)
When symptoms overlap between so many possible things, only diagnostic tests run by a doctor can tell you whether you have c diff, UC or something else. Stool tests are always the first check. If it is C diff then antibiotics are the cure.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply