Hi all,
I'm new to the forum and looking for some support/advice. I was diagnosed with UC in 2010, and after 6+ years of being in remission (and stopped taking meds), I began flaring in January 2017. I had to wait 5-6 months to see a new GI doctor because my previous one was retiring, and well, universal health care in Canada is great in theory, but not efficient. I started back on Asacol in January, and then got a prescript
ion for Salofalk suppositories from my family doctor in April, after reading here how important rectal meds were. My symptoms were increased urgency, frequency (2-6bms/day), abdominal pain, mucous, and daily blood. They didn't really improve with any of the medications.
In June I finally saw my new GI, and she upped my oral dosage to 4800mg and prescribed cortifoam. about
a week later, I went on a vacation to Iceland, where I did lots of hiking for 2 weeks, and my symptoms almost disappeared. I was taking the oral meds, however had to skip the rectal meds on some nights when I was sharing a hut with a bunch of strangers. But I was down to 1-2bms/day with occasional bleeding/urgency.
My symptoms came back a little when I returned from my trip, but were much improved. Then I had my colonoscopy in August. She said it was "mild proctitis". After that, my symptoms worsened. I thought at first that I was just reacting to the prep, but it didn't really get better. The only good thing was there was less blood, but still pain, frequency, urgency, mucous.
I saw my GI again in October, and she indicated that during the colonoscopy they only saw mild inflammation in the rectum, however the biopsies also showed mild inflammation in the sigmoid. So I got a prescript
ion for Salofalk enemas, which I've been using for about
3 weeks, as well as cortifoam, which I've been using during the day. Since this new regimen, I haven't noticed much of a difference, aside from no more blood. I'm still going 2-5x/day, some of which are just mucous, increased urgency in the mornings, and some days a lot of cramping. I had a couple days last week where I thought I was improving, but that was followed by a couple really bad days. I've tried adjusting my diet, removing lactose and gluten, and haven't really noticed any changes.
My doctor told me to call her in 3-4 weeks if I'm not improving, and said that she would start me on prednisone. I'd like to avoid take prednisone if I can, but I'm also just frustrated because it's been almost a year since I started this flare, and I'm fed up with how it affects my life. My symptoms aren't horrible, but they're still annoying. It's also frustrating that I was improving over the summer, and I feel like the colonoscopy made things worse (not sure if that's possible, but the timing makes it seems that way).
Any thoughts/advice? Where do I go from here?
Post Edited (Makepoop) : 11/12/2017 7:19:41 PM (GMT-7)