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Do you know what makes you flare?

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Posted 2/4/2009 9:29 PM (GMT 0)
Do you have an idea of what makes you flare?

I do not mean what irritates your bowel when you are already flaring etc.

What I mean is - what makes you suddenly go from Remission to Flare?

Do you think....

- it is something you eat?

- something you don't eat

- phsycological?

- Stress

- Random

Could it be a build up over time of something you eat or ???

 

Posted 2/4/2009 9:39 PM (GMT 0)
I have no idea. I think it's random. Perhaps, seasonal as well?
I could understand a build up of bad food causing a flare over time too...too much irritation finally makes flare.
Posted 2/4/2009 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Great Question! But unfortunatley you won't hear anyone answer it convincingly b/c the fact is it's probably a factor off all those except Random. I have had UC for 4 years and don't think it is at all Random.
I'm interested to see what ppl think though...
Posted 2/4/2009 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
lol. i just read Asia's comment after i posted. :)
Posted 2/4/2009 9:59 PM (GMT 0)

Got2Believe said...
....you won't hear anyone answer it convincingly b/c the fact is it's probably a factor off all those except Random. ...........

I don't expect any clear answer/evidence. The people with a potential clear answer is probably not in this forum, as they would have moved on I guess. Just wnna hear some thoughts....

Personally I don't believe in random. I do believe combination of factors like genetics+bad food+stress or other combinations

Posted 2/4/2009 10:02 PM (GMT 0)
m too new to this but i think STRESS plays a great role for my flare up!
Dairy - i have totally cut off dairy products recently but apart from reduction in gas problem there is no other change
I make it a point to take high fiber food, else i get constipation, which irritates my already irritated colon.
I was reaching remission on my own just before my sigmoidoscopy last month, but after biopsy mucus /blood everything increased.... i guess this is what constipation does to me :-( So i guess constipation is trigger for me!! BTW, my problem started with constipation.
God... why have u given us this mysterious stuff to deal with :-)
Posted 2/4/2009 10:14 PM (GMT 0)
     I've had UC for over ten years.  It seems to strike with the changing of seasons....mostly spring into summer or fall into winter.  This is what makes me think it may be linked to allergies.  Asthma runs in my family although I don't have it.

     I cannot speak for others but for myself...eating crabcakes triggered two of my past flares.  Therefore, I stay away from them now.  My last flare started after my taking a bubble bath with cheap Dollar Store bought bubble bath.  The day after this bath I noticed little sores on the outside of my vaginal area.  Within two days I was in the WORSE flare ever.  It lasted seven months of which I spent ten days in the hospital.  My GI doctor explained to me that there could have been a bacterium in the bubble bath which would not bother someone with a healthy immune system, but since my immune system is compromised it doesn't take much to set UC off.  Needless to say, now I take showers.  LOL!
 

Posted 2/4/2009 10:21 PM (GMT 0)
I have only been diagnosed for a few months, but had symptoms off and on for four years prior. Every time I can remember having symptoms (blood and mucous), they came when I'd been sick. The first time I can remember (Oct 04), symptoms followed a garden-variety 24-hour stomach bug; the other times, it's been a cold. My last, best flare came when I had a cold and my period. All but the first and last flares resolved within days on their own.
Posted 2/4/2009 11:15 PM (GMT 0)
for me: "bad" food build up + stress = flare up
Posted 2/4/2009 11:26 PM (GMT 0)
Having had UC for over 15 years, wholeheartedly attribute mine to the seasons. I will almost always have even a small flare in the late Fall that goes into
Winter months. Always. Period. Its usually done by the Spring and I am totally in remission through Summer into Fall.
Posted 2/5/2009 7:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hmm Chinese medicine/dietary advice tells you to eat in accordance with the season, e.g. heavier and warmer foods in the winter time etc. It's something about controlling the heat and cold in your stomach. .....
Posted 2/5/2009 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
I believe mine may be seasonal, I always flare in Feb/March during the snow melt.
Posted 2/5/2009 3:52 PM (GMT 0)

love4cats said...
I believe mine may be seasonal, I always flare in Feb/March during the snow melt.

Interesting indeed. However it must be something in the seasonal change that does something to you/your body.

Wonder what it can be? Humidity?

Posted 2/5/2009 4:06 PM (GMT 0)

SiCk-CoLoN said...
for me: "bad" food build up + stress = flare up

I can't prove it but I have the same theory for me.
Posted 2/5/2009 4:36 PM (GMT 0)
STRESS
Posted 2/5/2009 5:41 PM (GMT 0)
Stress for me too.  Every flare up I've had can be linked to specific stressfull times in my life.  Diet has never been a big issue for me, and my flare ups have showed up in every season.
Posted 2/5/2009 6:35 PM (GMT 0)
Stress!!!!
Posted 2/5/2009 6:43 PM (GMT 0)
       Stress makes my condition worse, but doesn't initiate a flare.  The very first time I became sick I was following the Atkins diet....no or very low carbs, high protein.  I was on that diet for two weeks when my symptoms first appeared.  Doctor said it was just a coincidence, but I wonder.
Posted 2/5/2009 8:05 PM (GMT 0)
I have no idea, but stress and cold weather might play a part in my flares. I seem to always get worse in January/February and when I'm really stressed out.
Posted 2/5/2009 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
Stress? immediate stress or long term stress?
What is it stress does physically? ...... Releases adrenaline and negatively impact (break down) the immune system right.

1) But isn't that what most UC medicine does? ...... limit the immunesystem reactions?
2) If you have done something beforehand to strenghten the immune system - will that work?
Posted 2/6/2009 4:10 AM (GMT 0)
Never stress for me. I do better when I'm under stress.
Seasonal, I think.
And antibiotics and any kind of illness.
Posted 2/6/2009 4:19 AM (GMT 0)
antibiotics and/or illnesses
Posted 2/6/2009 4:19 AM (GMT 0)
Your stress may very well be keeping your mind off your UC! : )

Peety said...
Never stress for me. I do better when I'm under stress.
Seasonal, I think.
And antibiotics and any kind of illness.

Posted 2/6/2009 4:22 AM (GMT 0)
You're right, I think that's entirely possible. Too bad my life is not very stressful, OTHER THAN the UC.
Posted 2/6/2009 7:43 AM (GMT 0)

Peety said...
You're right, I think that's entirely possible. Too bad my life is not very stressful, OTHER THAN the UC.

So an Attorney without stress? turn

I've had a couple of flares after a stressful work period. So not during the stressful period, but immediately after, when on holiday or when things are just cooling down.

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