Ulcerative Colitis and Work

Hi All

this is my first post. I was diagnosed with UC when I was 16. Since then I had 3 major flares but overall I managed to keep it under control.

Does anyone else become very nervous about needing to use the bathroom while out of the house? I find that if I make it a whole day at work without using the bathroom its a big milestone.

It just feels like UC is killing my life. I had to resign from my first real job because I had a big flare up and couldnt live away from home. Does anyone have any tips to working with UC and how you can get over the annoyance of the disease?

I had 5 perfectly good years where I was playing semi-professional sports and was super healthy. But now I had a flare up and everything is going downhill. I had to stop sports, gym and going out. Even going to work is difficult because u never know if u need the bathroom in a meeting.

Any advice for a young person with UC?

I havent seen my gastro in years. Like I said I thought I had it all under control for the last 5 years while I was at university.

Since I moved out and started working I just kep getting flare ups, my GP says that this is due to the stress of work and a new area. I work as an project engineer so its all office based luckily and I can run to the bathroom as often as needs be. I just miss the old days when I could go to the toilet once in the morning and not stress about it again.

Im not sure if its the stress of maybe needing the bathroom or actually needing the bathroom thats getting to me. Like going to the mall or shops requires motivational coaxing and prep work these days.

I am taking Asacol and a probiotic daily.

I just feel really bleak since the flare ups hit me. Like life is going downhill fast.

How do you manage to go to places like concerts and sporting events?

Having UC at any age is very challenging. I had it when I was around 22. It is very difficult for youngsters (I still am at 35) but when you are 18-30 lets say social life and friends is whats life is all about!

All week ends and evening were for socialising, go out, study, do anything. There wasn't such a thing as relaxing at home a whole week end. Now I do that more often. I think it's the settling and nesting part in me due to my age and the fact that I partied hard until 32.

I remember talking about everything to my friends, sexual subjects, life subjects but NEVER bathroom subjects. So having uc is something difficult when you are young cause you expect elders to talk about their bowels not when you are young! I can imagine how you can be in your own world.

However from 22 to 32 I managed to party as much as I could, travelled and worked hard. My trick was to spot any toilets around and parties were fun cause the loud music was absorbing any sounds and anyway always one guest ended up sick anyway :P So no one noticed me.

Also I always planned budget for a taxi so didn't have to stress about the way back and didn't have to sleep over to someone's house.

As for being involved in sport it can have some side effects: overall it helps your help and cramps but then it can activates as well your trips to the toilet. And the last thing you want is to run to the loo in the middle of a game and everyone watching you. Some might understand but lots of team players would see that as you let them down. And if you are a guy it's a kind of a no-no. It can be hard as well as some sports like hockey ask you to be on the rink for practice at weird hours like 6 am.

The sport I found was the most beneficial for my health and most accomodating for my uc was to cycle. It seems like my urgencies are more quiet on a bike, you can cycle quickly to the toilet if you need, it makes you take fresh air. You can always find some friends with you so you would still have that teamwork but without the stadium or the other team looking at you weird if you run to the loo.

There is a rugby player in the uk that made the news as he came out of his closet about battling uc.
Here is the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9740756.stm

As soon as I was diagnosed (last year) I informed my boss. Before I was diagnosed I missed work for at least a month because of all tests that was given to me. It ranged from pancreatitis to gallstones, to IBS to ultimately UC. Once I had my formal diagnosis and when I returned to work I gave her a bunch of literature to read so she was aware of my condition. Whether you want to do that or not is up to you. I only did it so she knows what is going on with me and potentially explain why I might need to take more time off than everyone else. Because of that she has been very understanding when I miss time with flare ups. She pushed me to apply for FMLA which was approved so I no longer need to explain or get a doctor's note if I need time off. You might want to do that as well.

I also told my friends and they all understand why I potentially could go weeks of being anti-social. Nothing against them, but during flares, the toilet becomes your best friend. When I do hang out with them, I carry some imodium with me which usually does the trick and of course I wear a diaper (I have no shame in doing so).

With that said, work and being socialble can be struggle sometimes because you never know when that urge is going to come (I dread any meeting longer than 30 minutes haha). Best advice I can give you is educate the coworkers or boss that you trust and be prepared for the worst. I always carry diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes with me.

I I get massive anxiety about bathroom. Flare just makes that worse. I stay at home in a flare. Sad. But that gonna have an accident plaques me. Sorry no help but I understand

hey lemon - seriously, how do you go in the car ? i mean wih seats, steering wheels, 23 cup-holders, how the heck - where do you have room ?????

Anti-inflammatory diet, reduce omega-6 increase omega-3.

I got this in 2006 at 42 and I have 2 year remissions that are really good.

I just worked the last 5 weeks from home because the GP's antibiotics caused and immediate deep flare. I handle everything related to HUGE databases so technically I can do online work from anywhere. I made sure that I was still responding to my pager 24x7 and attended online deployments, people on the conf call could tell how sick and near death I was. I put a mattress on the floor of my master bedroom and suspended a monitor over it so I could lie on my back and work without exerting myself. Resting while making forward progress.

I have started driving downtown to interview a backup guy, heading down now. I don't worry about the commute despite the flare because my urgency is not that great and only go 3 times per day. However the bathroom is small and sometimes full.

I was advised to drop from floor 12 to floor 7 and try there.

Advice ? Be a strong performer, make your boss successful and he wont care if your working from the dark side of the moon.

Raptor, for outdoor emergencies there is the WagBag. It comes in a small pouch with a biodegradable chemical in it and a double sealed container. We first used it for rock climbing but all the members of our family prefer it to digging holes and polluting the environment. We tried another brand but it didn't work as well. I don't remember the name of the other brand. Stash a few in your car and you are good to go. The package includes toilet paper and a hand sanitizer.