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My alcohol experiment with colitis

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Posted 4/10/2010 10:58 PM (GMT 0)
I've been in a flare since Feb 25th. Last night I tried alcohol again for the first time in over a month. Here are my results.

I had two cranberry and vodkas with dinner. about an hour after I had some left-sided pain, which obviously I wasn't pleased about. I stopped drinking for about two hours.

Later on in the night, I tried a few more cranberry and vodkas and had no trouble. I decided to try beer. I had about four beers over the next few hours and still no trouble.

Had a BM around 2:30am (I was still up), formed stools and no blood. There was some blood on the TP which I think might be from a fissure.

I woke up this morning feeling fine. Had a BM around 2:30 pm, again formed stool and no blood on the stool, small amount on TP.

I have had almost no pain all day today. I've had several beers today as well.

I am not in any way claiming that the alcohol has helped my colitis nor am I claiming that it's okay to drink while flaring. In all honesty, I believe that I'm entering remission due to the prednisone and the alcohol simply isn't affecting my UC at this stage.

I wanted to post this because I know that young people with social lives that involve alcohol will look here for answers. If you're reading this because you want to know if you can drink while flaring, my suggestion is to do the same thing you do with everyone else while flaring, experiment responsibly. In this one case, I had good results.

If anyone else has experiences with alcohol while flaring, please share.
Posted 4/10/2010 11:06 PM (GMT 0)
My experience with alcohol (and I don't drink much) is that it stops urgency totally, seems to put my colon into a stupor.
But the next day things are worse and it didn't seem worth the fun.
Just my 2 cents.
Posted 4/11/2010 12:01 AM (GMT 0)
Drinking doesnt really effect my uc either but the gas related with it bothers me the next day. I had a few pitchers with some friends last night and Im definitely paying for it today.
Posted 4/11/2010 12:23 AM (GMT 0)
The carbonation in beer doesn't do me any good. And... I really don't drink anything except wine, and that only occasionally.
My experience has been that in some flares it affects my bleeding and urgency and in some it doesn't so each time I need to proceed carefully until I know what the situation might be.
Posted 4/11/2010 12:25 AM (GMT 0)
I get hellacious hangovers
Posted 4/11/2010 5:40 AM (GMT 0)
I usually go on a twentythree year drinking run and end up in jail.

Posted 4/11/2010 12:43 PM (GMT 0)
Durangokid, I just wanted to congratulate you on your sobriety. That is awesome and keep it up!

Juju, I drink on occasion too but I try not to overdo it (because I am on 6mp). I find that the night that I drink, I am perfectly fine but boy oh boy do I pay for it the day after. If I am flaring, the next day I expect lots of cramping, lots of bleeding and lots of bms. But in remission, the most it does it me is give me an extra bm or two with some cramping. I know that young people just want to get out there, be normal and have fun but please be responsible with the drinking in regards with Uc....it's all about moderation :)
Posted 4/11/2010 12:54 PM (GMT 0)
when I wasnt flaring i could drink whatever, whenever. I did still notice that the next morning I would have looser stools. In fact I have heard my hubby and his friend talk about the post drinking 'wet farts' or sharts as we call them. So I think it has a little bit of a laxative effect on lots of people. O+I have hardly drank in overa year because I was preggo for 9 months and then i have been flaring for 5 months post preg. i do miss my wine.
Hubby is a sommelier (wine expert) to boot. We even did a self planned wine tour of the south of france the summer before I got pregnant. I miss my wine...
Posted 4/11/2010 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
i started flaring on april 1 and was put on 40 mg of pred on april 3.  i had a few beers during the day on april 5 for some tailgating that didn't sit well and caused multiple bm's throughout the day.  this past weekend, i stuck to strictly vodka (vodka and gatorade, vodka and tonic) and it worked out well.  i didn't have any bm's while i was drinking and felt fine the following mornings.  i'm not sure if its more of the pred working or if vodka doesn't affect my UC. 

Posted 4/11/2010 2:56 PM (GMT 0)
I experimented with a light beer this weekend but to be honest, it was shared with my boyfriend so not really sure how it affected me. I had no true symptoms with the half light beer (I was too scared to drink any more!). When I'm not flaring, I can drink whatever, whenever, and many drinks with no pain or bleeding (sometimes good bms next morning). When I began flaring (first few weeks), I was able to drink beers with very minimal bloating and cramping. NOW it seems like I'm very sensitive to alcohol and other foods. I just finished Rowasa enemas a few weeks ago with great results but after I finished them, seems like I'm back to flaring. : ( I see my doc on Thursday so he may suggest another medication or back on the enemas for longer period of time.

Does anyone have any recommendations/suggestions?
Posted 4/11/2010 3:42 PM (GMT 0)

Red_34 said...
Durangokid, I just wanted to congratulate you on your sobriety. That is awesome and keep it up!

Thanks so much Sherry, but I can't really take much credit!  It was fun for many years, but it just quit working for me.

Posted 4/11/2010 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
Juju: Thanks for opening this topic - you're absolutely right that youngsters are interested in learning how alcohol affects UC. Congrats on what it seems like a good weekend out! You're experience keeps me excited and hopeful that I too, will be able to have drinks soon without any significant bad symptoms.

Hope you're feeling well today and party on! : )
Posted 4/11/2010 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
Update:

Drank again last night (went to a party, lots of beer). This morning I woke up with some right-sided pain. Awaiting the next BM to see if anything changes.
Posted 4/11/2010 6:57 PM (GMT 0)
I spoke to soon...I should've waited a little longer before posting my "results" of this experiment.

Just had a BM. LOTS of blood. Definitely makes sense with the pain I had this morning.

I'm not sure if this is a result of the alcohol or something else. I definitely want to stress to use precaution if you try the alcohol thing.

I'll post again if anything else happens.
Posted 4/11/2010 6:58 PM (GMT 0)
While having a drink or two may be okay when you are down to 5 mgs of prednisone, I wouldn't make a habit of it. Both prednisone and alcohol are hard on the liver:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/prednisone-and-alcohol.html
Posted 4/11/2010 7:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Juju,
Thanks for being our guinea pig in the name of science! :-)

I wonder if beer should be a separate experiment, though. I'm with you on the Vodka/Cranberries... I've heard that vodka is one of the 'cleanest' alcohol choices in terms of carbs and sugars.

Beer on the other hand, has tons of carbs/sugars, plus the carbonation factor. Puts more variables that can cause a reaction into the experiment. Back to to the lab!
Posted 4/12/2010 12:17 AM (GMT 0)
I'll bite on this topic. Personally alcohol is a godsend when it comes to urgency .... BUT ... and I emphasize but ... #1 it is a personal thing and everyone is going to be different. #2 I think alcohol will dehydrate you and will also alleviate stress to a certain factor at least with me. I don't think about dropping a deuce when I drink. #3 For me, it is Drag Me To Hell when I wake up in the morning. I have pancolitis blah blah blah, but, man I do pay for my sins the night before. #4 obviously this should be, in no way, to advocate drinking (which I know the poster is not). What is weird is the first two or three drinks will make me go to the bathroom like crazy, but after that I will have the entire night free of any BM and I am notorious for at least 20 or more BM per day. This is actually a good topic and I am sure a lot of the young'ens will be reading this. Just be safe and take care of yourself. Just my 2 or 3 cents ;)
Posted 4/12/2010 1:45 AM (GMT 0)
Interesting thread. I once tried some scotch and water while in a flare out of desperation to see if it would help. I already happened to be on a very low carb diet because it dampens symptoms, which is why I opted for scotch. In any case, it was like raw acid on a wound- it burned and mt flare worsened. The experiment was a total failure. I once had ten med free and symptom free UC years and used to have a single scotch or vodka two times a week without issues.. in any case, more power to anyone who finds alcohol helps, but in my case it worsens any UC activity quite a bit.
Posted 4/12/2010 7:56 PM (GMT 0)
All forms of alcohol is bad for my UC. I find that even alcohol based tictures aggravate my UC. Alcohol , pizzas and popcorn are my biggest enemies
Posted 4/13/2010 2:17 AM (GMT 0)
Update: Haven't had a BM today. Pain has been mild to moderate, which is an improvement from yesterday.

I want to add that I also participated in another substance the other night (one that is sometimes claimed to help UC, you know what I'm talking about) and I think that might be the culprit. I have tried that substance a couple times now in hopes that it would help and it's actually caused me more trouble each time.

I might try alcohol again this weekend, this time in more moderation, and not with the other thing.
Posted 4/15/2010 3:27 AM (GMT 0)
Alcohol & Experiment should not be in one sentence, lol. Final last words..

Good luck and God Bless!
Posted 4/15/2010 3:21 PM (GMT 0)
I think the day-after effects are the result of the dehydration that drinking alcohol causes. But you will pay for exposing your gut to it, eventually.

I could always drink beer -- now low-gluten beer (heineken) -- and white wine, in moderation. But red wine and hard alcohol would tear me up and were absolutely off limits if I was flaring. Not to mention, it takes longer and longer to get over a hangover as you get older...not worth ruining the whole weekend...
Posted 4/15/2010 6:46 PM (GMT 0)
FWIW, I (or I should say my colon) can tolerate one incident of drinking (a couple drinks or even more) in isolation fairly well. But if I have even two drinks on two or more consecutive nights, then I have trouble.

Hangover-wise, is a different story. A couple drinks one nights, two nights, three nights are fine. More than a couple even just one night leads to the hangover.
Posted 4/15/2010 6:51 PM (GMT 0)
With me I was basically just fine so I thought I try having a glass of red wine. Well the next 4 days my gut really bothered me. So I won't touch alcohol now.
Posted 4/15/2010 7:44 PM (GMT 0)
It's very weird that the first night and first day after I had no trouble. Then following the second day it was a different story.

I definitely did not ease into it the second night at all. After no problems the first night, I drank heavily (and all beer) the second night. Probably not the smartest thing while recovering from a flare. I also really do believe the other substance contributed to the problem.

I've told myself I won't be drinking this weekend, but I probably will. I'll try to be more responsible with it and post some results again. Now I'm off prednisone too, which may make a difference.
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