Alcohol

If I get drunk enough on the right kind of booze it makes me bleed and have soft/watery stool. Not to mention it's hell on my joints. But just a bit is fine. I dunno how it does it.

Well it definitely does something to me, but I don't know how exactly it is doing it. If I drink one or two glasses of whatever (wine, beer, liquor), no more than every two weeks, it seems to be fine. However, on vacation in early January I drank two glasses of wine on about 4 consecutive nights and ran into trouble.

If it helps you figure anything out, any time I've read anything about colon cancer, alcohol use is mentioned as a risk factor. Mind you, alcohol use is mentioned as a risk factor for nearly everything.

From some medical web page...

"The function of the liver is to break down toxic substances (such as drugs and alcohol) and filter them from the body. In addition to this important purpose, the liver filters the blood, synthesizes chemicals needed by the body, and stores vitamins, sugars, fats and other nutrients. When alcohol is present in the body, the liver deals solely with ridding the body of the toxin. As a result, fatty acids may build up in the liver.

Alcohol can damage the liver by destroying or altering its cells and may even worsen an existing liver condition. Chronic liver disease is a serious complication of IBD that affects from 5 to 15% of people with IBD."

Burli...considering the recent past, the meds you've been on, drinking should be last on your list of wants.

My take on it.

q

Alcohol is my biggest enemy even the little alcohol in tinctures makes my UC flares

I've used alcohol in the past to curb urgency. Narcotics are the only thing that stops my urgency. These pain meds I'm on are much better than alcohol (no headache, no dehydration, less damage to liver, less effect on motor skills, nice callm feeling to boot). I started weaning myself off the oxycodone yesterday and the pain is not so much the issue anymore..it's the urgency. Without them I wouldn't be able to work. I'm going to ask the doc for a presciption where I can take them as needed for urgency but I'm afraid he'll say "no". I'll ask anyway.

I've tried the antispasmodics and other suggestions (natural ways) and even dropping 6-8 Imodiums doesn't work. I know many with UC just don't leave the house. I told my regular doctor about it and he just gave me Xanax which doesn't help and makes me sleepy. I'm not sure what the concern is with taking 1 (4-6 hour) oxycodon in the morning (during rough spells) so I can make it to work and through the morning in meetings and presentations and then having them on hand for emergencies such as plane travel or vacations and tours where bathroom access is minimal; 2 per day at most and as needed (most days I need nothing). The drug gets out of my system in this manner so I don't see any concern for addiction. Addicts who abuse them for the mere high they get have made it hard for people like me to use them judiciously for real medical reasons. The concern with this drug is its addiction for its high not its use in this intermittent manner for true medical reasons. Hopefully my doctor is reasonable and will do it.

Quincy: you right about alcohol being on my list of wants. I really don't desire alcohol anymore. I hope this will solve things