Hopefully last day in the hospital... I have questions!

Hello! Quick intro -- I'm 33. New diagnosis of UC. The diagnosis helps explain a lot of flair ups over the last few years.

I'm here because Monday and Tuesday of this week I had two back-to-back colonoscopies after 4+ weeks of unexplainable bloody diarrhea and bouncing around doctors (first w/ twilight.. was too painful, so had to come back Tuesday w/ general anesthesia). They suspected UC. By Tuesday night after second colonoscopy I was very sick, running high fever with chills, vomiting, continued UC symptoms I'd been having for weeks etc... and the doctor on call at Gastro recommended ER. So wife took me in.

I was very dehydrated. Miserable symptoms. They treated the stomach pain with morphine. After antibiotics and getting the fever under control, they ran every test under the sun and started blasting me with steroids... got full body CAT scan, loads of blood tests / other tests. All pointed to a particularly severe UC flair up. They haven't 100 percent ruled out Crohns but are leaning heavily toward UC.

This is my first time staying overnight in the hospital and I'm starting my first day of solid food in a week. If all goes well, the steroids worked and I can go home tomorrow....

Anybody else been through anything similar? What did you do your first days back home to keep the symptoms for immediately getting bad again? Diet changes that worked? They're recommended a low-fiber diet, things that digest easily... white bread, meat...

Thanks all -- and hello!

Definitely ask for rectal meds. Mesalamine Enemas and/ or suppositories. If the flare/symptoms are severe then steroid enemas or foam.

Food won't heal in my opinion but it can exacerbate symptoms when your colon is inflamed and raw. I went gluten and dairy free at first and eventually also eliminated (or tried to) processed foods, grains, nuts, sugar and sugar substitutes. No aspirin, ibupropen, or NSAIDs.
Look up paleo, low fodmaps, SCD or autoimmune diets.

Food that agreed with me: eggs, chicken, fish, white rice, Well-cooked veggies (but broccoli and its ilk can cause gas), bananas, bone broth. Keep a food diary and slowly add back I. Other foods one at a time to see how you do.

Call your GI at the first sign of trouble--flares can get nasty really quickly.

Welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of good tips and tricks here and lots of support. Its a great place to ask questions or just gripe about the many embarrassing symptoms and problems!

Last day was today! thanks for all the comments already.

They've got me on mesalamine (4 delay-release pills per day) and an oral prednisone to ween off the steroids from the hospital.

Feeling much better today, but fatigued as hell.

One weird thing is that I normally I have a skin rash on my chest (have for years)... now that I'm out of the hospital -- it's gone, and overall my skin is a lot clearer too. Wondering if the skin issues could've been a symptom of UC... or if the steroids just cleared up some unrelated.

Also on something called a "low-residue" or low fiber diet right now while I continue to recover.