anyone else with UC & IBS?

LOL Ohhh you sound SO much like ME!! LOL For the first time in my life, I had to tell our son not to come up for Christmas. One of the hardest things I've had to do in this short life. Our house is small and he and his wife would have been miserable watching me run back and forth to the potti!! I've been in a 2 month flare, having great difficulty getting my new meds, and, as you mentioned...a LOT of anxiety when the 'lets go someplace' subject pops up. My pharmacy...mail order...contacted me Friday to let me know my Humira is ready to ship; they need my doctor to give them my diagnosis! So now, my doctors office is closed for two weeks...yearly office vacation. sheesh UC is a crappy illness!!!! In my opinion, it's fine for you to moan from time to time....lets us know we aren't the only ones. LOL Hopefully, the new year will bring everyone remission!!! Best of luck to you and hang in there.

Have you tried the Low Fodmap diet? It can possibly help some people's UC, too.

I've never really understood the difference between IBS and IBD in terms of symptoms. My GI doctor also told me that even in remission, I'll probably have IBS for the rest of my life. But what does that even mean? That my bowel is just going to be sensitive because of everything it's been through? If so, then duh. I don't need an IBS diagnosis to know that.

I'd love to know the difference between IBD and IBS for someone who has personal experience with both because as far as I can tell it's just a matter of severity and reactivity. When my GI doctor told me I was in IBD remission I was a bit confused because my bowels still did not seem normal.

I know the medical difference between the two diseases as it is described, but in terms of recognizing it in my own body I don't. I'm told that my IBD is in remission now and I have 1-2 BMs per day, but sometimes those BMs are still urgent depending on what I eat. This idea that IBD remission = now you can eat whatever you want is totally unfounded. Sometimes IBD damage is permanent and you never go back to the way you were.

When I hear GI docs go on about IBS vs. IBD it makes feel like they don't really know what they're talking about on some deeper level. Like, they can deal with very overt disease but when it comes to subtle stuff they are clueless.

There is an IBS board here. People with IBS have some of the same symptoms, but not all of the same. I think it's often discomfort and frequency, or the other direction with nausea, bloating and constipation.

Bleeding, tenesmus, urgency, mucus, accidents, D - these are UC symptoms. UCers can also have fevers joint problems, other AI illnesses, severe pain...

I think the only way to know if it's IBS would be to get a scope, have it be clear of inflammation, and still be struggling with symptoms. If you're having symptoms and you have UC, I'd imagine the majority of the time, it's due to inflammation, and a scope would be able to show that.

I don't know much about IBS. Like I said, I was told I have it, but it was always UC for me. Check out the iBS board, you may find some answers.

Thanks for listening to the moan everyone. I usually consider myself lucky in comparison but I also think that mindset can be part of my problem. this IBS/UC combo is annoying as it creeps up thinking IBS and before I know it I actually think its UC starting to take over my life again. so your comments have been helpful to point that out.

@quincy & notsosicklygirl my last full scope was 2015 - I wasn't flaring then it was just a check to original diagnosis of procto in 2006.
But in late 2017 having an ongoing flare so had a short scope which showed 'moderate colitis to 35cm' GI said it "looked bad" because it had been going on a while he put me on prednisone for the first time for 2 months. Wasn't a complete magic bullet & actually got a lot of 'irregularity' but a lot of improvement. In april 2018 my calprotectin reading was 271 half of what it was a few months earlier.

My GI said calprotectin would not be high if it was IBS. and that testing this is a one way of trying to identify UC vs IBS symptoms. Thinking back now although I think I'm out of a full on flare I probably haven't been in good remission either ie no 1-2 firm bowel motions with no urgency/frequency etc which is what I'd consider remission?

I've upped asacol to 3.2mg. I have colifoam and think its 1g pentasa enema (that's the only strength I can get) I'm going to start the enemas.

I have been on the IBS boards. Unlike UC'ers who have a diagnosis IBS'ers seem to struggle for answers. For me its not just irritable but as you mention @markwithIBD its the Inconsistency that is annoying as well. ie you eat something one day its fine the next its not. ATM I'm nervous to eat when I'm out in case 'it doesn't agree with me' & I need the loo unexpectedly. If I've got no blood, urgency, frequency, mucous going mostly normally but then have random days that seem food/stress related episodes I'd consider that more IBS vs UC I guess. but writing all this down and the comments are helping me see I think its more UC as I don't have that baseline of consistency.

@boris_badenof did you do the trial and error yourself or did you have guidance? and what generic testing did you get?

@isleman I've tried low FODMAP, I generally don't cook with onion or garlic as I don't miss it and I have low wheat/dairy ie when at home I use substitutes. I also had breathtesting which showed a slight intolerance to lactose. I must confess I'm not religious about it ie when I go out etc. and I'll occasionally have ice cream. I find it difficult to pinpoint and don't want to cut things out completely if I don't have to. but this is probably part of my problem re food ie not 100%. And then theres the ole UC joy of trying to eat more healthy whole foods where the extra vege/salads etc can sometimes set of a flare for me. I'm going to commit to keeping a food diary though to see if I can start to see any themes.

@geezernow hope you get some relief with Humira the anxiety does suck doesn't it.