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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 10/10/2008 5:53 PM (GMT 0)
What differences are people seeing with meds? e.g. how were you in your first flare and how are you now with meds?

My first flare was blood with stools - that's it. No D or anything else.

My condition now is blood with stools - that's it. No D or anything else.

Do these meds actually work or are we getting remissions and flares in a cycle anyway?

Also can it be possible to have UC symptons e.g. urgency, diarrhoea, fatigue, weight loss, etc but only blood with stools?

Posted 10/10/2008 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
Well , my maintenance meds ( pentasa ) are certainly working for me .

I got a bit lazy a few months ago and for about 2 weeks took them perhaps only once a day instead of twice and i started to flare , Took about 2 weeks of pred and predfoam to calm me back down  , but i tell you something i wont be doing that again and am taking them like clockwork.

I'd been in remmisson for a year after a 6 month flare , hospital stay , lost about 2 and a half stone in a month , you all know what i mean ,and i dont want to go back there again thanks !!!

Kerry

Posted 10/10/2008 7:48 PM (GMT 0)

My first flare was about 6 years ago but I was never diagnosed. I had the works. Urgency, bloody D, horribly painful cramps, mucus...you know the drill. It went away on it's own after about 4 months and I was back to normal. Because I was never diagnosed, I never got on any meds. It happened again in Feb of this year which is when I was diagnosed and started the meds. I went into remission within 3 weeks and stayed there until the end of August. The reason I believe I started flaring again is because for about a week I kept falling asleep before taking my night time meds. It was also the first time I went 8 weeks between remicade infusions.

So I have definately noticed improvements being on the meds and notice setbacks when I stop taking them regularly.

Posted 10/10/2008 9:06 PM (GMT 0)
I've wondered the same thing. It seems to just do it's own thing. But I'm not taking any chances, so I take my asacol, day after day...
Posted 10/10/2008 9:10 PM (GMT 0)
After 4 1/2 years of 15-30 stools a day, bleeding, mucus, and generally feeling awful, I've been in remission for 2 1/2 years. My last scope was normal. But if I go two weeks past my Remicade date, I start to feel like I might have UC again.
Posted 10/11/2008 12:11 AM (GMT 0)
I never officially had a "flare" until this summer. But I was diagnosed back in July '06 after an infection, and they put me on Asacol right away. For two years I rarely had d, occasional loose stool, no blood or mucous, and was actually constipated most of the time, so I guess I was in remission. Then I stopped the Asacol this last July, and I flared right up. Now I'm fighting to get things back under control. My "remission" had its drawbacks though, I was always tired and felt like anything beyond basic life was too much exertion. It was a chore to drag myself to work, and after work, I'd go home and sleep. On the weekends I'd sleep inordinate amounts of time. I'd fall asleep during lunch breaks, or even sitting and reading the paper at work. So while my digestive system was working, the rest of me wasn't.

I'm hoping for a more balanced approach to remission this time. Like maybe some energy to do a little exercising, maybe leave the house for more than work or doctor appts, maybe get a life and actively participate in it. It's been a long, difficult summer for me, but I've got my hopes that this winter will see some progress, and I'll be back to at least 75% of my old self by spring. While I've always been somewhat asocial, I've never been keen on almost total isolation, which is what I have now. Thank heavens for this forum.
Posted 10/11/2008 12:45 AM (GMT 0)
The only med that ever gave me any relief was prednisone. And even the last time i took prednisone it alone wasnt enough to get me into remission or stop the blood. This is when i started a heavey dosage of probiotics and changed my diet, and the results where fast and impressive. I was in a remission never achieved before.
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