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Why do you think you got UC?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 4/7/2017 7:31 PM (GMT 0)

Connor77 said...
But honestly, it's our food systems, chemicals and antibiotics that are causing this.

Except UC was around long before modern food, chemicals (which ones?) and antibiotics came along. You can have your own theories about what caused your UC, but please don't generalise the causes of UC into a rant about the evils of modern life.

Connor77 said...
UC was rare in the western world up until the 1940's. Before then, people mostly got it from drinking contaminated milk, and if you got UC you usually died.

This is nonsense as well. Severe UC sometimes killed people in the days before steroids and modern surgery, yeah. But most cases of UC aren't severe or life-threatening. Countless numbers of people must have just learned to live with mild to moderate UC all their life; before colonoscopies came along, it must have been almost impossible to get a diagnosis.
Posted 4/7/2017 7:39 PM (GMT 0)
Anyway I have Crohn's rather than UC, but I have a family history of Crohn's so obviously I had the genetic propensity for getting it. But what the actual triggers were, I just don't know. The diarrhoea began a few days after Christmas in 1999. I was 24 years old and thought it was a reaction to too much Christmas food (albeit one I had never had before in my life): six months later, I had a Crohn's diagnosis.

Before that, I'd never had any 'flare-ups' (1 solid BM a day for years), smoked, or taken antibiotics. I was a stressy kind of person, but I'd been that way for the previous 10 years. All I know is if I could go back in time I'd probably book a Christmas holiday in a vegan nunnery that year, or something.
Posted 4/7/2017 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
Interesting thread. I have the genetic link for sure. My mom has had a "touchy stomach" as she calls it. I believe she has IBS but mild. My brother was just diagnosed with UC and he's in his 50's. Mine was triggered after I fell jogging and started getting migraines. Had never even had a headache prior to that. Seven years worth of Advil sometimes five days out of the week. Finally found out the fall had caused TMJ which has been a whole nightmare in itself. Anyway I did notice toward the end of those seven yrs that my stool changed color to very light but didn't know the cause. The Advil did damage to my gut flora and I literally woke up with bleeding and diarrhea one morning. I was on prednisone for two years ( none of the drugs now we're a a available back then) but I never achieved any remission. After 17 yrs my biopsies came back dysplaysia so the lost the battle and lost my colon. sad
Posted 4/8/2017 12:41 AM (GMT 0)
I was a healthy person who worked out and ate a healthy diet and was not under any major stress. The only change I could think of would be perimenopause/hormone changes. The year before I had 2 GI viruses which is unusual for me. I was on Nexium however for 10 years and also had endometriosis in my 30's so I think that is autoimmune as well. The nexium may have altered my gut bacteria. I got C diff after months of abdominal cramping so I know the micro biome was thrown off. My doc said the inflammation was starting and that caused the C diff etc. Eventually dx with proctitis/UC.
Posted 4/8/2017 9:47 AM (GMT 0)
I was diagnosed in late 2016. Like some I waited way too long to go in and have the bloody stool, mucus etc checked. No known family members have UC.

I had lots of job stress for past 4-5 years and my eating habits were the worst. Whatever and whenever, never stopped to think about what I was doing. Kept active but that doesn't help if not eating well. The bad eating habits have been for the past 10 years. Not obese but definitely could lose 20 lbs.
Posted 4/8/2017 10:11 AM (GMT 0)
Could also be eating a lot of chicken which was fed antibiotics. That's just speculation on my part. I am now trying to eat more meat that's antibiotic-free. I've been reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals and it makes it's making me think more about what I consume.
Posted 4/8/2017 10:35 AM (GMT 0)
Stress!
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