Thinking im gonna have to stop the colazal

You may need to give the Colazal a bit more time to have an effect and if asacol was not working for you then what other options have you considered?  There are many options out there (..such as lialda, remicade....) so maybe you should discuss them with your GI specialist. 

Also, I agree with Heather/Quincy's point about treating UC from both ends (thanks for the prudent advice Heather).  After consulting with my doc I have started taking cortifoam to supplement the Colazal treatment and try to get the UC into remission asap. 

Have you considered wearing a 'depends' at work till you are able to get the d under control? At least that way you can still continue working.

Also, do you think you might benefit from a second opinion from another GI specialist regarding your treatment, especially the low dosage of colazal compared to the high dosage of asacol that you were on previously?

If you do decide to go off the Colazal please make sure to taper. I went off it cold turkey and it threw me into a horrible flare. I was going to suggest you see your GI but it sounds like you have that covered.

Wait...I think I remember now. You are only on 3 Colazal and you are flaring?

Butterfly,

Not a problem at all and good to hear that you're getting a second opinion at Cedars-Sinai and also seeing your regular GI doc soon.  I've realized that I need to get a lot more proactive in dealing with UC and it's great that you're doing the same. 

I've been on Colazal for less than 2 weeks so will give it a bit more time - I'm still seeing slight blood and mucous but am having formed BM's (I was typically having formed BM's on asacol too but the slight bleeding and mucous was not ending so that's why I decided to switch).  The urgency is still there.

Aside from wearing diapers (and watching what you eat) I'm not sure what else you could do to make sure you're fine at work.  Hopefully someone else on the forum can offer some advice on this.

Hope things get under control soon.

Hey Butterfly,

I'm so sorry that you're set to resume work and it's such bad timing with the flare. Is there any chance your employer will just give you more time, regardless of what the disability rules are? (I don't really know how disability works.)

Please, there's no sense in blaming yourself for any of this! It's a bad situation now but you've gotten this far and stayed sane. That's a huge feat.

When I went off my medication for a while and then returned to my doctor with a flare, she was really nice about it and said, "OK, now we know that without the meds you can go about 3 months and then you flare. Let's see if the meds can get you more than 3 months of remission." It was very nice that she took my actions and basically said -- ok, that's the control for our study; let's try to do better now with medication.

So you could look at it that way. No taking the meds might not have made any difference to this flare. You just never know.

My non-expert comments on your meds --
1) I'd try a cortisone enema at night. That could maybe help the urgency.
2) Imodium (suggested above) Lomotil or something else to slow your gut down might help.
3) If you're going to take vicodin for pain, ask your doc about switching to codeine temporarily. (If you don't have any concerns about addictions to any of these things.) I don't know about the vicodin, but codeine's side effect of constipation slows my gut down a lot. Maybe vicodin does the same? How much are you taking? Between the ambien, ativan, and vicodin I hope you're being REALLY careful. Do you write down when you take them? You don't want to accidentally double dose those combos, I don't think. (This is just me talking like an over-protective mom. And I don't even have kids!)

Glad you have the appt in January. Is there any chance they can make it earlier if it's really urgent? Maybe there's a waitlist....

take care. Sending lots of good wishes

Hi again,

Well, the vicodin should be helping, then. How frustrating that it's not. I usually see the codeine helping in about a week if I take one pill a night. (I don't know the dose, but I think it's sort of a normal low dose.)

I've found that the lomotil helps me most if I take it about a 1/2 hour before eating.

The enemas you have (I believe) are the same kind of medicine as the Colazol and the Asacol. So... if you are super-sensitive to that drug, you're getting some more of it, although it's obviously being absorbed differently and lower down.

The cortisone enemas are also called steroid enemas. Last I used them (a few years ago) the brand was called Cortenema. It's stronger than the Cortifoam that I've mentioned before, which is a steroid foam. I'm actually thinking of asking about Cortenemas for myself if my bleeding doesn't stop soon. Steroids, while not fab for your body in the long term, work fast and well. In the enema, the risk is far less than taking Prednisone, the oral steroid.

To me, this sounds like your best option because it might get you some relief faster. As long as you're using an enema, why not use the one with the strongest medicine? I wouldn't worry about the steroid risk. You're just trying to get through until January and then you can re-assess your treatment with the Cedars doctors.

Hey, by the time you get there, you'll be an expert and you'll be able to tell them that you've tried everything!

Hang in there! Let us know what the GI says.