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flairin, stress, worry

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 5/16/2019 5:34 PM (GMT 0)
hi everybody
My question is when you are going through a difficult time does your body react with a flare up mine does I'm very stressed out and worried right now about a few family members health issues my doctor seems to think that stress and worry does not activate or give me flare-ups in I highly disagree with that I've been in a flare-up for over 3 weeks now myON has level two breast cancer thank God it's going to be removed and she'll be on chemo and my niece is having some mental illness issues so everything goes right to my stomach and my intestines my question also is who else goes through this when there is a difficult time in their life thank you so much for listening and for any input or advice
Posted 5/16/2019 5:41 PM (GMT 0)
Sad to hear about your mom's diagnosis. The distress is understandable.

I'm in a mentally stressed state pretty much constantly, lol...my UC has been fine, although...I do sometimes increase my rectal meds during the more intense times that I know will last a while.

What meds are you on now?

Hugs,
q
Posted 5/16/2019 5:59 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry to hear.

Anecdotally, some mention that periods of long term stress correlate with flares. Not always, but sometimes. When we're stressed over a prolonged time, we often sleep worse, eat worse, and drink more alcohol which cumulatively can have a negative affect on us. Prolonged stress can have hormonal changes to our bodies, which could possibly impact us.

Certainly, try you best to cope. And take reasonable precautions like temporarily increasing your mediation dosages (like mesalamine from maintenance to flare dosages), and reintroduce rectal medications (suppositories or enemas) if not part of your normal maintenance routine.
Posted 5/18/2019 9:01 PM (GMT 0)

JOVIGIRL71 said...
myON has level two breast cancer thank God it's going to be removed and she'll be on chemo


Sorry but what is ON?

I know this is true for me. I was in a bad job last year and I started flaring after 5 years of remission. It was like my azathioprine just stopped working (maybe it did?). They constantly threatened to fire me and I got warnings. I was not happy. I was so stressed because a) of course I needed a job and health insurance b) I was the financial sponsor for my husband's green card and I couldn't lose the job before his interview because then I would have needed a co-sponsor and I wanted to avoid this at all cost. So anyway, I ended up flaring and this flare caused me to have my surgeries. I'm currently with a j-pouch created and the loop stoma waiting to be reconnected in 10 days. In the past, I have flared badly when stressed too. Before my first flare I was bullied in school for years and years and my first flare happened when I finished school. It's like my body just held on and on and when the relief finally came, my UC broke out.

I hope you get to feel better now and your ON? too. about your nieces mental issues, well you cannot really do much for her. This will be long term if not forever. She will probably need professional help and even maybe stay on medicine. It is out of your hands so please don't worry about it too much.
Posted 5/23/2019 4:17 PM (GMT 0)
hi,
i meant to say my aunt has breast cancer. i was a wreck when i wrote and ON was an error.
thank you for responding. i'm feeling better. i saw my therapist and got a lot out.
my niece has improved greatly, i saw her yesterday. shes 15 and is on the spectrum and has anger, depression, anxiety, ocd. but shes a trooper. shes a brilliant girl. but so much worrying write now. my aunt gets her surgery
date this week. so my anxiety has leveled off.
Posted 5/23/2019 4:32 PM (GMT 0)
thank you for responding. i'm still in a flair and i'm just so tired from being warn down. i've had uc for 32 years but i havent had a flair in quite some time. i'm like clock work my gastro doctor said as well. every 2 yrs and this would be around the time and since a year ago jan i've been thru a lot of changes in my life but then these few things happened recently and BOOM flair. I think my body had enough strain on it.
i'm seeing my gastro next month so we'll be discussing a new med anyway at that time so i hope that will help me.
Posted 5/26/2019 11:26 AM (GMT 0)
Perhaps this might help;

I know the feeling of being stressed and helpless very well, I work in a high pressure job where its ruthless and dog eat dog. In my world you can lose your job within a few months if you dont hit your targets!!

I would recomend investing in some herb pills called ashwagandha. I was recently on a 7 hour flight (i have a fear of flying) and the plane hit some turberlance - I took these and they really helped me. Whilst my mind didnt stop racing at 100mph the physical effects of panic significantly dropped.
Posted 5/26/2019 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi i was recommended ashwaganda by a friend who is into alternative medicine. I couldn't take it however because i am taking immunosuppressant medication for my colitis and ashwagandha is also an immunomodulator (actually it's supposed to strengthen the immune system). So it can decrease the effectiveness of immunosuppressant medication and I didn't want to take that risk (you can always discuss it with your doctor of course).
Posted 5/26/2019 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
I don't know how you deal with this disease for 32 years. I only did half that time and gave up and had surgery. You're so brave.
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