flare up same time every year... any relevance?

hi i'm a new member! nice to meet u all...

in june of 2006 i was diagnosed with ulcerative proctitis which was controlled with just canasa every other day or so and i thought, "ok, could be worse... all i have to do is use suppositories for the rest of my life" not so bad...
until... feb 2009, really bad flare up! cramping, diarrhea, bleeding & mucous, and vomitting...had another colonoscopy which showed it turned into ulcerative colitis! ugh... so dr. put me on prednisone and lialda along with canasa as needed... i was only on prednisone for a few months (yes, with all the side effects) and the lialda was making my hair fall out so i switched to apriso 4/day as well as the canasa as needed still... felt fine since then so i totally thought i was in remission.. until...
jan/feb 2010 rolls around and same thing all over again! not as bad this time probably cuz i've been on apriso, so we tried to control it with rowasa first cuz i was really hesitant on taking prednisone again... (traumatized by the side effects) it seemed to be working ok but then just got another routine colonoscopy AND endoscopy too this time bc i've been feeling nausea and vomitting... turns out i have tons of inflammation and a stomach ulcer as well!!! haha ***?
so now he has me on prednisone, prevacid, and apriso... ugh..

anyway, i told him it was strange that it happened the same time of year last year and he didn't really think anything of it... i'm still curious if it's a coincidence or what?

another random question: whenever i flare up i have nausea and vomitting like crazy! .. but i've been told that it's not a symptom of uc. i'm confused...

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! thx!

I have seen LOTS of posts about seasonal flares! Seems like a lot of people flare around the Holidays, cold and flu season, Heck maybe you have seasonal allergies? You are not wrong at all to be suspicious of this! I am having my first major flare so I haven't seen a pattern myself lately, but I know there were outside influences that contributed: Stress, horrible cold, and 2 stomach bugs back to back. So, I absolutely think you could be having some life stuff at that time of year that contributes!

Yes, many of us have our "special seasons."
My son just started a flare - he had his first flare and onset of the whole UC thing in Spring 3 years ago - and when I called his GI's nurse for guidance, she said, "I'm glad you reached me so quickly - Spring and Fall are so busy around here, the bug flare times...."

Also, I forgot to mention that I live in a valley. Dutchess county NY has the highest rate of allergies in the state. I NEVER had such exacerbated
symptoms until I moved here. My U/C diagnoses was made about a year after moving here...Hmmmm! Many factors affect us so who knows!

i definitely have seasonal flares-they seem to happen around the holidays and cold/flu season. Usually same timeframe you posted-this whole Jan/Feb/Mar time of year. I attribute it some to stress, and getting sick with colds/flu/etc. But I have never been tested for allergies, and I probably should! That could definitely contribute, and if I could control that it would be a good thing. But anyway, I flare pretty much every year at this time, to varying degrees. Last year was minor, this year and 2008 were major, requiring hospitalization. Hopefully I will get a handle on this and keep things more even keeled from now on!

Also, when I am in my worst flares, I am extremely nauseous. I don't vomit generally, but I do have to keep a bucket handy in case. I think it is not all that uncommon for people who are having bad flares, and I had been told it was definitely part of the UC.

I flare year round but I've noticed that fall and spring are the worst for me too.

UC_Guy: my thoughts are with you!!! Im so sorry to hear of your flare. I seem to flare up around end of jan till end of march: this is the fall season here in australia. Im seriously considering getting tested for seasonal allergies.

Healing wishes your way