Flaring again, please help

I also don't mind taking meds, but like fruitgirl, I LOVE taking my Apriso only once a day! I have been taking it for about 6 weeks now. I made a lot of med changes at the same time, so it's hard to say if it has helped or not. I was taking 4 Asacols 3 times per day previously.

Not to mention, I don't have to worry about people in my office (everyone shares this big room) watching me take my pills. They are nosy!

Anyway, good luck with getting this flare under control!

I also wanted to add that I started working out about a month and a half ago. I joined a gym and had been doing cardio about 3-4 times/week and lifting weights about 2-3 times a week. I have also been walking a ton outside. Do you think the exercise could have irritated things at all? I think I am going to rest for a little bit...I can't imagine doing cardio when I'm feeling this unwell.

Also, my appetite is practically gone. I usually eat a lot but the past 4 days or so I am just not hungry at all. I'm still making myself eat though.

     I have to stick to a low residue diet while flaring.  Fiber really irritates my ulcerations.

Sorry, I was healthier when I smoked than I am in a flare -- even my doctor agrees. To each his own: Here's to speedy remission.

sara...even i used to forget my medicine so i put alarm in my cell phone... alarm reminds me to take my medicine....taking medicine on time is very important! Hang in there, even i had to wait for 2 months to get my GI appointment... i am taking day + night canasa suppository + oral medicine since past 6 months.. still having the flare up! :-(

Hi, Old Hat! I was hoping you would stop in! I was doing really well for a while but then all of a sudden this flare hit me. Hate how that happens... however, I have improved a lot in the past two days. My urgency has decreased, bathroom trips are down, haven't had to wake up in the night for past two nights, blood is less. Yes, I'm still using the generic Rowasa. I should ask if my insurance covers the brand name at all, but I kind of doubt it does. I think you may be right about the ice cream doing me in. I so don't want that to be true though! :) I'm a big fan of dark chocolate too. I will take your suggestions and rent some movies to watch with my boyfriend and lay off the exercise for a while and the sweets.

Another doctor at the clinic I go to called me back late yesterday afternoon but I missed his call. He left a message saying we might have to do a course of pred. I think I will keep using the Rowasa for another week or two and see how I am. If I'm worse, I'll ask about the Cortifoam. Thanks again for your post.

quincy - Smoking herbal cigs is not an option for me. A big part of the addiction to smoking was psychological for me...I have overcome a lot of that, but going through the act of smoking again would undo a lot of the work I put into overcoming that addiction. I'm not sure if that makes sense or not. Plus, even herbal cigs are bad for you. I do appreciate your advice though.

AmyWaffle - When I first was diagnosed I believe I had pancolitis, and I did not need pred. I got it under control with Asacol and Rowasa. I know that probably won't be the case always though. Thank you for your suggestions.

Hi Saposs - That's a good idea. I set an alarm on my phone for my birth control pill. My doctor also told me I could take 6 pills two times a day instead of three times a day, which would probably help. Sorry you are still in a flare up after 6 months. Hope you feel better soon.

seconder - I can understand where you're coming from. If nothing else had worked and it was either surgery or smoking, maybe I would try smoking again, but I still have lots of options and I really don't want to smoke again.

Glad you're feeling better, Sara: way to go!!!!!!! As I recall, Trixy & *Jen* went back to brand-name Rowasa from generic-- in case you want to look up their old posts. I'm hoping you're going to mend w/o needing steroids, but if you needed Cortifoam to speed healing in the rectum it really would not be a big deal. It's only a 10% steroid formula so no major systemic absorption occurs from that. You are absolutely right to avoid smoking, hopefully forever! It's great that you beat the habit & can spend the cig $$$ on better things. Think about sweets/chocolate as museum items in the meantime-- 'til you defeat this flare. A good friend advised me to do that many yrs ago & it does help me to steel myself & fight off urgency by not eating the stuff most likely to prolong it. (So-- as Christine wrote a while back-- no hot fudge sundaes! LOL ... sigh!) / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])

Hi guys. Thanks for the posts.

The doctor got back to me the other day and his advice was for me to use Rowasa twice a day - once in the mornings and once at night. He said to do a "21-day course" of this and then see how things are doing. He told me that he rarely ever sees patients come out of a flare just doing Rowasa nightly and not in the mornings also.

I have never heard of anyone else doing this here. Have any of you had experience with this? I feel like it would be very hard to hold in the morning dose, because I get up and quickly get ready for work and then work all day. I have Canasa also so maybe I could do that in the mornings instead. It's funny how different all the GIs are in what they advise us to do.

Sara, I generally have to be cautious about fruit &  juices. I drink 4 oz. of o.j. daily & now can tolerate about a dozen blueberries on my AM cereal, but that's it. Anything else is applesauce-style. The past 2 summers I was well enough to digest apples, pears, & peaches, skins & all (also fresh corn!), but that flare I had in March really set my colon back-- Grrrrrrrrrr! Citrus has been hard to process for decades & I would not go near a grapefruit. Melons have been good & I may try them again in another month or so. I nearly had a relapse last month, though, so I'm trying not to eat anything in excess-- except for boiled rice daily. It helped me after diagnosis & it seems to make a big difference to my colon function again now-- quiets things down & helps the Colazal do its stuff. RE AM Rowasa: I would love to see a doctor insert one & go off to work!!!!!!! They should get real. Try using Canasa in AM & gauge how that works for you in combo with nightly Rowasa. I think Quincy would agree on this, too. Glad you're feeling some improvement & also to hear that gastro finally got thru to you by phone. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])   P.S. Did I say how much I've come to hate bananas? Beware that the serotonin in them (neurotransmitter) can be upsetting to empty stomach-- my 1980s gastro warned me about it.

Hi Old Hat. Sorry I haven't responded in a few days. My internet was down at my house all weekend and it's been really busy at work. Interesting about the bananas. I've always considered that a "safe" food. I eat them almost daily. I'll have to pay more attention to what they might be doing. I will try adding more boiled rice to my diet as well. I'm glad you didn't have to take the Xifaxin, but sorry that your March flare really set you back.

I'm doing okay. I've had a few bad days with bad urgency and lots of bleeding again, but mostly I've been improving.

Wow, that sucks! I hope it was just some sort of mistake and you can still get your prescriptions covered. Let me know what happens.

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that, Old Hat. I hope everything gets worked out. That must be so frustrating.

I am doing pretty good UC-wise now, but not doing very well emotionally so I'm scared my flare is going to come back with a vengeance. Got into a bad fight with my boyfriend on Sunday and he ended up leaving back to Indiana (where he's from & 9 hours away from me...). I've been pretty upset about the whole thing, so I haven't been on this site much lately. We had planned to take a weeklong vacation to Colorado next week, too...

You can purchase them at a "nutrition/health food/vitamin" store...at least, that's where I saw them.

q