New here, lots of questions

Hi, and welcome, although I'm sorry that you're here! It's not necessairly true that you'll get worse...it seems that many of us on here have had some pretty nasty flares, though. Some people have pretty mild cases of UC, so don't have horrible symptoms, and I imagine a lot of them don't come to sites like this. My first (and so far only) got bad enough that I was having 15-20 BMs/day, but I've been in a nice remission since May.

For me, remission means normal bowel habits (1-2 non-urgent BM's day), like I was pre-UC. The decision of whether to try meds or diet first is a very personal one. Both diet and meds can be very frustrating...what works for me may not work for others, etc. However, the meds do have the benefit of having had a number of controlled studies done. I chose the meds route, simply b/c I was incredibly sick and had a newborn to take care of, and figured I had a higher chance of getting better faster with meds. Plus, I'm not one to be bothered by taking meds.

I started out with just oral mesalamine (Asacol) then added rectal mesalamine (Rowasa) a week later. I was close to remission when I got a tummy bug, which set me back pretty far. So my doc and I decided to do a quick course of prednisone, b/c I'd been sick for so long and b/c I had a job interview coming up. I was able to get off the pred easily, and have been in remission ever since. I started tapering the Rowasa after I'd been in remission for a few weeks (to every other night for a couple of weeks to the twice weekly I'm at now, and where I intend to stay). I also switched to Apriso from Asacol, simply for convenience of only having to take pills once a day as I was having trouble remembering my noon dose of Asacol.

The mesalamine drugs are generally quite well-tolerated, and are definitely what I'd choose to start with. If you do choose to use meds, DEFINITELY request both oral and rectal forms. Don't leave without an Rx for both! And don't let you doctor put you on pred...you definitely aren't sick enough for that at this point!

Good luck!

We are never laughing at your questions! That's what this board is for. Questions.
Did your doctor say you have UC, or is that what the upcoming appointment is for? If you do, then it does sound like you are probably in a mild UC flare and you will likely need meds to get out of it. Unless you are in the very slim minority for whom diet alone can fix you.
And yes, remission should be more or less like you were before your problems began, although what remission is can vary from person to person.
Good luck and I hope you stick around the forum. As you've noticed, you can quickly educate yourself about the different meds, diets, and realities of UC on here!

Thank you everyone for your replies. Let me address the questions if I can and ask more questions of my own...

I do not know for sure that it's UC, but on my report from the colonoscopy it said colitis from the rectum to the descending colon (I don't know if that's ALL of the left side or just part of it, I will be sure to find out Thursday). From what I've read, not all colitis is UC, right? Sometimes it's hard to figure out all this information but I am trying!

What is 6MP?

And...yes, I'm thinking a med to get out of this flare, even though compared to what I've read here, mine is mild so far and then yes, I'm pursuing the diet/nutrition aspect as well. My aunt has had colitis for decades (and I didn't know this until I was diagnosed, she lives halfway across the country) and she does natural remedies/diet. So when I find out exactly what I have I am going to call her and compare notes.

Thank you for not thinking I'm crazy for asking all these questions even though I'm not in that bad of shape. I am a person who needs information from people who have been there. I have printouts I'm taking to my dr. appt...he's going to love me or think I'm crazy...lol

I tried the med free approach with no luck. I am happy I had the opportunity to try different treatments even though they failed. I feel like I have given the holistic approach a chance but maybe it doesn't work for me, but that doesn't mean it won't work for you. I tried the SCD diet, Low Residue diet, I've tried many vitimans and herbs along with probiotics (which I still take and believe help but not enough to get me off medication).

I currently take Asacol and it has helped me to get into remission. I am not sure if this is quite remission, my movements are still a bit urgent but I don't see blood or mucus and I only go once or twice a day. Things are pretty predictible, not like I was before the Asacol, running to the toilet constantly, unable to pass wind for fear of dirtying my panties and sadly, I did soil them on a few occassions.

I remember when my colitis was a smaller flare, going 2-4 times a day. I was able to treat it with rectal Canasa suppositories as needed, sometimes every night, sometimes every other night. The problem was that they were extremely expensive and I didn't know about the Axcan patient assistance program. I stopped taking the Canasa and tried all these diets and herbals. I had no luck and quickly got worse, worse to the point that I couldn't pass wind - if you catch my drift. I ended up very sick from loss of blood and barely able to walk across the room without collapsing. I became terribly anemic and felt like hell. Recently terminated from employment with no insurance, I had to drag myself to a new GI and pay out of pocket, she prescribed me Asacol and more Canasa. I found out about the PA programs and got drugs for free and about 9 months later, here I am, much healthier.

So my point is, treat it properly now, if I had continued the Canasa, I wonder if I would need to be on Asacol now. Maybe I would still be controlling my colitis with rectal meds. That would be a dream. The oral meds don't give me many bad side effects but I have to take 9 pills a day and it's hard to remember. They are also expensive. I get them for free but I see a lot of people struggling to pay for them.

colitis and UC are different. I don't know exactly what I have. The two biopsy reports seemed to contradict eachother. I think regardless of whether it is colitis or UC, they will try to treat it with 5ASAs. You could probably be treated with a low dose, maybe Canasa would help.