Ulcerative Colitis in a 10 year old

Sheri,
I just want to say that Im so sorry your son is having to deal with this and that I hope that you find answers soon. There are a few parents on this board that will be of help to you.

On the topic of gluten, it does not hurt to try a gluten free diet. You have nothing to lose. Try not to substitute lots of gluten free packaged foods as they are high in carbs and sugar which arent good for any dysbiosis that is going on in his gut. Many folks here have varying levels of success with diets such as Low FODMAPs, Paleo, Specific Carbohydrate diet and other anti inflammatory diets.

best of luck to your family!

Sorry to hear this - it's a pretty tough thing to wrap your head around.

"Things are improving, although slowly, but when he does have loose BMs they are at night which means he isn't getting a lot of sleep. Is this common?"

I just had my third loading dose of Remicade and this is currently what I'm experiencing. It's exhausting. I don't think I've had a proper night sleep in 3+ months sadly. I'm really hoping things start to take shape soon (literally). I exist quite comfortably during the daytime aside from some initial hurdles when I first wake up and some time to settle my system a bit. Towards the evening, just after supper time, I think it starts to catch up to me and I get pretty queezy and sensitive.

I can't really say if it's common or not, but just want to let you know that I'm going through something similar. My theory is that while I'm improving, my flare was severe enough that my intestines still don't have the strength and are too sensitive to contain and properly digest/absorb what is going through my system long enough to last a full overnight - say it takes about 8-10 hours to get through my system instead of 24... again, all hypothetical. But it seems to conveniently align with my eating habits throughout the day, when I get up and how many times.

Currently operating on a low-residual diet... slowly introducing some whole wheat breads, a little bit more fruit and veg... tried some steak last night and I think I paid dearly for it. Maybe it was coincidence... I cooked two, so I'm going to try again in smaller proportion. Really hoping that a slight change in diet will help bulk things up a bit. Have metamucil ready to go, but a little timid to give it a try just yet.

DMC...no one in my family, on both mom & dad`s side has IBD either. i guess we`re just the lucky ones, ha!!

That sucks man!

You have to go to your kid and say. BTW, you're not going to eat this and that and this and forget icecream and chocolate and going out to eat with your friends at McD's.

A kid 10 years old doesn't understand that stuff, he wants to be like the other kids. It's hard to get a grown adult to adher to a diet, imagine a kid.

:-( !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Breaks my heart.. when kids are affected it really is hard to watch them go through the pain ... sometimes we feel so helpless and wish we could just yank the disease out. my prayers and thoughts for your son and your family. As a parent of two young boys I am praying they won't be impacted by this dreadful disease. No one in any of our family has ever had or even heard of this disease.

I'm sad to hear your son is going through this. As pathogen says you have nothing to lose trying a gluten (and dairy free) diet for a while.

I hope your son gets some relief soon. Man this disease sucks.

In most cases I don't believe diet is the cause of UC but the damage done to the colon from having UC can cause food intolerances of which your condition could get somewhat better by eliminating the foods which you have become intolerant to.