Vomiting with UC

Does anyone know what causes vomiting with a UC flare up?

Context: I was dx'd with UC in 2006 and have had only mild flare-ups on and off throughout this time. But starting in June of this year, I've been experiencing the worst flare-up I've ever had. I spent two days in the hospital, missed two weeks of work, and am wanting to die so that I no longer feel so miserable.

This flare has come with the symptom of vomiting. Virtually every time I have a bowel movement -- which is roughly 20 X per day -- my stomach becomes insanely knotted and I just puke as I'm pooping. I've never had this symptom with my flare-ups in the past so I'm curious what experiences others have had.

For what it's worth, I'm waiting on a refill of Zofran from my GI. So, I should improve shortly. I also had my first dose of Entyvio earlier this week, and I am literally begging God for a positive response to this new drug.

Another side note: I am a cancer survivor. I've survived six horrendous rounds of chemotherapy, including adriamycin. So my misery tolerance is quite high. But this sustained misery, I don't know how to cope. If you have any words of encouragement I would be grateful for them.

It's time to go to ER. With both ends running you can dehydrate fast & it can be dangerous. I am not trying to scare you, but after the dr explained things to me I now know to go there. Do not wait around on the gi to call in the Zofran. Every time I have gone to ER, I have been admitted.

Take care.

Thank you so much to everyone who has responded. It means a lot.

I think the day I posted this might have been the single worst day of my entire life. That was Friday. It is now Sunday, and I'm feeling remarkably better.

I'd refused to go to the ER because it would have been my third ER visit in as many weeks. I was inpatient for several days after that 2nd ER visit, and while they physicians were able to stabilize me somewhat with IV steroids and potassium, I'm still not healed. I didn't see the point in going back to the ER.

At any rate, by the grace of God, I happened to catch a nurse in my GI's office who called in a Zofran refill at 4 p.m. on a Friday. It has allowed me to keep small meals down this weekend. I feel SO much better, although I have a very long way to go.

Last thing I'll say: MarkWithIBD, this makes SO much sense! I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me. " I also think that when the immune system is so intensely active against the bowel, the body won't commit as much resource to stomach digestion."

Thank you for sharing this perspective. I believe it might be what's going on with me. It looks like I will have to keep surviving on small bowls of grits and bacon bits (I'm from Texas. It's a Southern thing) -- easy on the bacon.

Again, thank you so much for everyone's comments.

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I started a flare in July of 2017 and still haven't fully recovered from it, but I'm slowly getting there. This was the first flare for me that involved throwing up while also experiencing 20 - 24 bouts of diarrhea per day. When I asked my doctor why I was also throwing up, he explained that the bowels and stomach are all connected to the vegus nerve and that because my bowels were so inflamed, it was also influencing my stomach and it's ability to digest food properly. I sympathize with what you are going through. I had a full 3 months of throwing up off and on while also using the restroom and it was truly miserable. I don't know how I got through it all, but I did and hope and pray I never go back there again.

MelanieMedinaUC- I was on Entyvio for just over a year. I improved while on it, but was still bleeding and running to the restroom 6 - 7 times a day. My doctor felt like it wasn't working well enough and suggested I switch to Xeljanz. I was reluctant at first since I had improved, but because I was also on prednisone to help control the bleeding for about 2 months, I decided to give it a try and try to taper off of prednisone. I have since tapered off of prednisone and my symptoms have continued to very slowly improve. I haven't noticed any bleeding for about 2 weeks now and now visit the restroom about 3 times per day. For some reason, my calprotectin test shows increased inflammation since starting Xeljanz. I'm not really sure why that is the case. 2 different labs were used - I'm not sure if that has something to do with it. However, I'm using my symptoms as my primary marker rather than the lab results for now.

As for supplements, I take 1 gram of cal-mag per day (I had thyroid cancer about 14 years ago and a total thyroidectomy, so need more calcium supplementation than the average individual), vitamin B complex, vitamin D3 with K2, l-glutamine, omega 3, Xing Dai, zinc, vitamin C, N-A-C, aloe MP and a multi-vitamin.

I'm so glad to hear zofran is working for you. On most days, it didn't stop me from throwing up, and I felt like a complete mess for far too long. Biologics scared me at first because of a history with cancer, but I will be quicker to try new drugs in the future to avoid ever returning to the sick and sad state I was in.

You could ask your doctor about going up to 50 mg prednisone. My flares no longer seem to help with 40 mg; I now have to start at 50 mg prednisone. I am always scared I will throw up with my UC, but I have not so far (knock on wood). I'm also often scared of passing out due to the pain. I've read about the vagus nerve in relation to a feeling I get sometimes suddenly like I'm about to pass out. Interesting to read about it's connection to the digestive system in a broader sense.

I'm glad you're improving a bit and that the Zofran is helping you. Sounds like you were going through absolute misery.