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Please tell me about your UC abdominal pain

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/9/2012 9:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, I am very curious how others describe their UC abdominal discomfort. I am wondering if what I am experiencing is the norm for UC or could it be something else. I am now going in about week 3 of my flare (originally diagn. in 5/2011) and have the following symptoms: urgency, frequency the blood has gotten better with the rowasa, but yesterday and intermittently I experience left sided abdominal discomfort when I am not in the bathroom. I was out grocery shopping yesterday and was having the left sided discomfort, Is this common?  Some of my symptoms I am not sure are "par for the course" or something else going on and it can be very scarey not knowing exactly is going on in your intestines.  Also, if you are in a flare with Diarrhea, urgency and frequency but no blood? The blood seemed to last the first week and then once I started the Rowasa enemas the blood was gone, but still have frequency and unexpected urgency. Thank you for your reading this and replies.

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35 yrs. old

Dx: Left Sided Colitis in 5/2011

Current Meds: Asacol HD 4800mg per day, Rowasa enemas pm, Fish Oil, VSL#3, Tumeric, Vit D and B complex

 

Posted 12/9/2012 9:18 PM (GMT 0)
Keep up with the enemas. The frequency and urgency will lessen. It can take longer to go away then the blood. Left side pain is common. For me my pain feels like menstrual cramps or just a localized cramp. Others have very intense pain that they end up needing painkillers for. I also tend to be more crampy if I'm more gassy. I also have pain if I'm just having a day where I have more bm's which is usually caused by something I ate. A heating pad helps me a lot if I'm in pain.
Posted 12/9/2012 9:29 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you Sherbear46! It is just very scarey for me to not know if this is the UC or something else and what is causing this pain? I noticed the pain seemed more yesterday but today is a little less.
Posted 12/9/2012 9:32 PM (GMT 0)
my pain gets unbearable. it's definitely the UC causing it without a doubt. there have been months were i needed a heating pad 24 hours a day and the only time i didn't use it was when i was bathing.
Posted 12/9/2012 9:35 PM (GMT 0)

bananagirl said...
my pain gets unbearable. it's definitely the UC causing it without a doubt. there have been months were i needed a heating pad 24 hours a day and the only time i didn't use it was when i was bathing.

Man, U.C. is so weird, I have pancolitis where the whole thing is inflammed. I don't have pains.*knock on wood*

I get discomfort, maybe that's pain, but not something that I would need a heating pad or be curled up on the floor kinda of deal.
Posted 12/9/2012 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
somedude, uhh you are so "lucky" and i say that as a total joke haha but yeah, i'd say pain is my number one symptom. weirdly though, since i started my iron supplements a few days ago, my bm's have been so much less painful. i forgot what it was like to not want to cry on the can.
Posted 12/9/2012 10:51 PM (GMT 0)
Doubled over with cramps. Break out in a sweat. Gas galore! Then come the hemorrhoids from going to the bathroom 20 times a day.
Posted 12/10/2012 2:41 AM (GMT 0)
Over the years I have catalogued a lot if different flare pains at different times- usually not more than a couple of these at the same time:
- a severe sunburn like stinging feeling throughout the inside of the abdomen
- the sharp ache pain sort of like the "stitches" pain one can get from running fast suddenly without any warm up
- feelings like little knives cutting (or little weasels biting) inside the gut
- a sickly, sore vbrating feeling throughout the gut, esp in the pelvis
- a feeling like a local gunshot wound in the belly
- trapped gas cramps
- rectal burning
- a dull ache
In my case my symptoms tend to start in mid abdomen and later transfer to the pelvis and rectum.

We are all so different. It's possible that I "really" have crohns, or I have UC but it is intercting heavily with non inflammatory IBS.
Posted 12/10/2012 3:24 AM (GMT 0)
I think women may have more nerve endings in their pelvis - especially if you've given birth! I know that I was much more sensitive to pelvic discomfort after having my first child.
Posted 12/10/2012 3:37 AM (GMT 0)
I'm another lucky one without much pain.

I've had diarrhea more or less since July 20ll (UC diagnosis came Jan 2012) and just recently (like august of this year) I've started to feel a hot sensation in my abdomen, not that much different than what you feel like if you've eaten some really great spicy food. So for me this is a sensation, not pain.

The odd time I do have some form to my stool, I feel extremely nauseated and have to actually use breathing techniques to get through the pain while I'm having that kind of a BM.
Posted 12/10/2012 7:05 AM (GMT 0)
Pain and discomfort along the colon is very common with UC. The location of the sensations depends on the location of your UC. When you get the sensations depends on your gastrocolic reflex which is governed by when you eat. Reflexes can start occuring as soon as 15 minutes after eating.

I have been keeping notes on my pain and discomfort - the intensity of pain seems to depend on whether the colon has something moving along it (gas, bowel movement) or not. The frequency of pains varies a lot; from every 30 minutes up to 6 hours. Number of occurrences per day varies - I would guess the average is 20.
Posted 12/10/2012 3:09 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks so much for sharing, I really appreciate this, very helpful.
Posted 12/10/2012 3:31 PM (GMT 0)
I didn't have any pain when I was flaring. I'd have spasms during BM's that would literally pull me forward, but it didn't hurt. It was really odd.
Posted 12/11/2012 5:42 AM (GMT 0)
Been experiencing horrible stomach cramps starting in evening and lasting pretty much all night. Wake up almost as soon as heating pad shuts off to turn it back on. In horrible pain as I'm writing this. I'm 99% positive it's not from a bad food choice, any other thoughts as to what's causing it or How to stop it other than relying on heating pad to minimize...?

*getting to tailend of flare; no more blood, no mucous, very little urgency, down to Canasa supp every other night. AND taking Bentyl at night only.
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