RECENTLY DIAGNOSED WITH UC (PLEASE HELP)

sorry to hear that u have uc..same thing with me,,i was a perfectly healthy child,,never really complained..i started seeing heavy amounts of blood when i was using the bathroom..at the time i had no health insurance n my mom kept telling me its just a hemmroid it will pass..but then it just got worse,,i started running to the bathroom and started noticing it being mucasea(however u spell that) with crazy amounts of blood..i ended up paying out of pocket to get a colonoscopy and was diagnosed with left sided ulcerative colitis. i've been living with it since june 05..Still in ahh,,like how, why me? It did take over my life for a while,,didnt go anywhere,,didnt have energy,,was hospitialized a few times, blood transfusions..blah blah blah...u need to take your medicine..prednisone is usually what works the quickest,,asacol is what usually keeps it under control...Get a great doctor,,i've seen like 5 already..watch what you eat..and think of the best,,dont let it control your life,,even though i know its hard..Hang in there..I know this tho,,people who have ibd, (crohns, colitis,etc..) seem to look at life in a different way!!we start to appreciate it more,,at least i do..And when i hear my friends complaining about stupid little problems i just shake my head and remember how petty i was about the little things that we can control..Good Luck,,it gets better..

You have to realize that you can not heal overnight. Think about it, the colon is a large organ and a very unclean environment. It's going to take a while to heal. I know that when we are flaring, we want to feel better NOW and it gets frustrating. Give the medicine time to work. Most people don't start seeing a difference for a few weeks sometimes longer then a month. Uc hurts, Uc is a horrible disease, Uc is both emotionally and physically draining - hang in there a while longer. Have you tried any fiber supplements yet?

Red_34 said...
You have to realize that you can not heal overnight. Think about it, the colon is a large organ and a very unclean environment. It's going to take a while to heal. I know that when we are flaring, we want to feel better NOW and it gets frustrating. Give the medicine time to work. Most people don't start seeing a difference for a few weeks sometimes longer then a month. Uc hurts, Uc is a horrible disease, Uc is both emotionally and physically draining - hang in there a while longer. Have you tried any fiber supplements yet?

no I have not tried anything yet in addition to my script. Should I?

Red_34 said...
Fiber supplements might help decrease your bm frequency. It helps bulk up the stool.

any particular product recommendations?

I just got a call from my family dr's nurse and she said I've been diagnosed with an inflammatory bowl disease. I have an appointment set up with a gastro Oct 4th to discuss my condition. She did say that my biopsies came back negative for cancer etc.

Anyway, I'm still pretty nervous about what this gastro guy is going to tell me.....

It's good to have clean biopsies. Now you just have to step forward and get the rest under control. As for the fiber supplements, you can ask in another post about which ones are good. I can't tolerate fiber in any form but many on here can and have seen marked improvements in their bm's.

Don't be afraid of the term inflammatory bowel disease....like Sandra said, it's just stating what you already know.

Yes, it definitely is a sign of improvement. My GI told me not being woken up with the urge to go is one of the first signs of improvement. Your meds are probably working...just give them more time. My Asacol took about 3-4 weeks to fully kick in. The bleeding lessened, but still persisted in some amount for at least a month after I was put on meds.

Sorry, my last post came out kind of jumbled.

I hope you continue to feel better soon. I was just diagnosed in March at age 23, and, like you, was previously a pretty healthy person. I know how scary this can be, but just hang in there and hopefully your meds will continue to make you feel better soon.

Unfortunately everyone responds differently to different medications.  I've been battling UC for almost 12 years and its just something I've gotten used to.  I haven't been in real remmission for years.  Luckily for you the first flares usually are the ones that can be controlled and get into remission easily.  The sulfa drugs worked well for me at first along with prednisone.  However the for me the only drug that my body is really responsive to is prednisone, which has many nasty side effects, so avoid it if you can.  As for the blood in your stools, there will probably be a lot at first, this is common with a flare.  I always have blood in my stools.  I find for the diarrhea following the brat diet helps some.  Thats bananas, rice, apple sauce, and toast.  Avoiding dairy may help as well.  You might want to try swithing to soy.  These are binding foods that help things get more solid.  The bananas are great because they replenish the potassium that is lost.  You should start taking a multi-vitamin as well. 

my update:

I'm still managing my bowl movements quite well however there is still plenty of blood :(

I don't know if its the medication or me losing blood but I'm starting to feel kinda bad. My body aches and I even sometimes chill or get hot (almost like a fever) but it goes away. I'm so looking forward to my appointment next Thursday.

Glad to hear you're doing better and that your appointment went well.

For me, blood was one of the first things to stop. I had horrible abdominal pain with my flare at first and most of that stopped first, then the blood. But, I think everyone with UC is different. I have never been on pred, so I'm not sure how that works on the symptoms. I hope you continue to feel better and better. Keep us posted.