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Getting out of flare without meds?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/23/2018 3:45 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum but have had been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (full colon) at about 13 years old. I am now 23.. Just recently I've had two bad flares almost back to back, just a few months apart. This has not ever happened before. For the last flare I took prednisone for the first time and while it worked great it had horrible side effects. I was really hoping I dont have to take it again but i'm already going on two weeks of a bad flare and losing weight rapidly againsad

I was going to wait it out as i have gotten out of bad flares before without medication but was wondering if anyone else has been able to get out of a bad flare without medication also. If so, how long did it take? Or was there any natural supplements or actions taken to help the process?

My symptoms right now are extremely painful abdominal pains especially before passing gas or going to the bathroom. I have diarrhea maybe once or twice a day (I dont eat much), I have acid reflux, and the chills throughout the day. The worst part is probably the pains as I feel I cant move when going through them I just grab onto my pants and nearly tear up. By the way when I pass gas or go to the bathroom there is a very foul smell. sorry for tmi.
Posted 3/23/2018 4:28 PM (GMT 0)
Have you not been on mesalamine oral and rectal yet?

Request stool sample testing to be done to check for any invaders.

q
Posted 3/23/2018 4:50 PM (GMT 0)
What meds were you taking to manage your disease for the past 10 years?

I can remain in remission thru some supplements and monitoring my diet, as described in my signature. But in my experience I never figured out how to end a full blown flare except thru meds (for me the meds were antibiotics). Maybe if I waited long enough the flare would have ended on its own by following the protocol used to maintain my remission? I dunno.
Posted 3/23/2018 4:52 PM (GMT 0)
"I've had two bad flares almost back to back, just a few months apart." You're under-treating your UC and in denial that you need sufficient maintenance medications. What are you taking for your UC?
Posted 3/23/2018 5:13 PM (GMT 0)
I was on Asacol for years but stopped taking it when i got pregnant at 18 because i was worried about side effects of the drug during pregnancy and then i didn't want to take them when breastfeeding either. I was doing great during the whole pregnancy had a minor flare after i had my son and then I had one bad flare when I was 21 years old during finals but the flare did go away without meds.. I started taking Lialda recently but I stopped.. I know this may sound foolish but after the flare up I had previous to the one Im having now I had hair loss which was so bad it stressed me out and who knows maybe the stress contributed to the flare Im having now. The Doctor said it was telogen effluvium and Im not sure if it was the prednisone that caused it or losing like 15 pounds in a span of two-three weeks but it traumatized me and the lialda exacerbated the hair loss so im paranoid of the drugs and how they contribute to hair loss..
One more thing that worries me is the effect of lialda on kidneys. I had a catscan during my last flare and they said my kidney looked a bit enlarged. I kept thinking that maybe years of taking medications could be harmful to kidneys..

Post Edited (1hopeful1) : 3/23/2018 11:19:00 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/23/2018 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
I wish you the best. Please do a lot more research to understand about UC, flaring, meds and hairloss. You're needing more information since you're making decisions that aren't based on actual facts.

q
Posted 3/23/2018 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
at the very least, call your doc and order up some butt meds -
Posted 3/23/2018 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
We all have health anxieties to some degree. However, you're making your jjourney with UC a lot more difficult if you will not take the 90 percent topical oral mesalamines (e.g. lialda) and rectal-route mesalamine retention-enenas (like rowasa). They're well tolerated by the majority of us without experiencing side effects...
Posted 3/24/2018 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
Your hair loss could be due to just being really sick not Lialda.
Posted 3/24/2018 12:47 PM (GMT 0)
That's the thing hairloss can and does happen without any uc medications at all. When we flare, our bodies can have low vitamin d, b12, low blood iron, we eat poorly and can be malnourished, and any of those things individually can cause hairloss. Every class of uc medications (from anti-inflammatory mesalamines, to immunomodulators and biologics) all with different ingredients and different mechanism of action, list hairloss as a side effect. That makes it likely it's the uc causing the hairloss and not the meds in many instances. Hair is one of the first thing our body gets rid of in times of great stress, deficiencies, and sickness.
Posted 3/26/2018 5:31 PM (GMT 0)
I ended up taking prednisone but not a very high dosage. I dont want this flare up to leave me in the hospital for dehydration like the last one did in November. I was curious about the enemas. i have requested them from my doctor a while back but he would not give them to me because he said it wouldn't work since my whole colon is inflamed. Is this true that the enemas wont work if you have the whole colon infected?

I know I should take the meds but the amount of hairloss that i experienced really traumatized me, i am just so sad at the thought of taking drugs that can in any way cause more hair loss.I do think though that the telogen effluvium is from the flare up from November because it probably was one of the most, if not the worst, flare up i had. I had even developed erythema nodosum which had never happened before and going from 123 pounds to 106 pounds in only like 2-3 weeks was pretty traumatic also to my body.

Post Edited (1hopeful1) : 3/26/2018 11:37:28 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/26/2018 5:43 PM (GMT 0)

1hopeful1 said...
Is this true that the enemas wont work if you have the whole colon infected?

I would call bunk on your doctor: enemas could help you a lot and I would insist on trying them. Here's a few facts to back up this ascertain. UC inflammation always starts at the rectum, is always the most severe at the rectum, the rectum is always last to heal, and rectal inflammation creates the worst of our symptoms: urgency, tenesmus (that feeling you need to poop but nothing or only mucus comes out), the inability to trust a fart, frequent bms; all check-check-and-check at caused by the rectum being inflamed.

An enema 100% makes sense for pancolitis (whole large intestine involvement) patients, provided it is used with other treatments that do reach high up (i.e., mesalamine/asacol/lialda/mezavant oral). Tell your doctor you want to try a 1-month prescription for 1-per-day, and you and he/she will reassess your progress after a month as whether to continue enemas for longer. Enemas work in 3-weeks or less so you'll know by then whether or not they help you.

You can ask about mesalamine retention enemas (i.e. rowasa, salofalk, pentasa enemas). You can also ask about steroid enemas. If your symptoms are truly awful, then take one mesalamine enema at night and a steroid enema in the morning.

Post Edited (iPoop) : 3/26/2018 11:50:33 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/26/2018 7:34 PM (GMT 0)
So, in answering your original question, I think there are a few things that have helped a lot of people get out of flares without prednisone (which is where I draw a firm line). Check out something similar to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (get the book if serious). Research and buy slippery elm powder in bulk and drink it multiple times per day. It will soothe the intestinal lining, and make things more comfortable while you are flaring. Look into Chinese medicine formula "isatis cooling" (some good threads in this forum or Jian Pi Ling Modified. Research and take probiotics to restore balance. Use curcumin powder or capsules without pepper to reduce inflammation. You should only try one of these things at a time to see how you react. If you have questions you can message me (I think) and I will try to help.
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