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advice please. 1 remaining symptom ..... frequency/volume

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/9/2013 2:14 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Guys,

Still battling a flare from April 2012. All previous flares were managed very well with pred taper on to colazal. Was lucky enough to see colitis as a minor issue every 2-3 years for as long as a pred taper for the lat 18 years!

Situation now is cc herbal and l glutamine plus colazal and imuran has got me to a point where there is no blood 90 % formed stools and and 2-3 bm's. Im also using salofalk foam (mesalazine) as i believe this has kept the blood away.

Now guys here is the weird thing about this flare compared to all my others. Im either constipated (even when constipated I still go 1-3 times a day but never feel "empty") on formed to mushy stool. Now finally formed stool but volume is a lot 2 - 3 times. Looking at the stool it is as normal as i have seen it (im classing normal as what i see my 5 year old sons as lol) so normally this would mean i am fine. BUT i still feel uncomfortable for the most part of the day, by this i mean the heavy feeling and pain as if there is another stool wanting to come kind of feeling.

I understand I may still be constipated BUT i have never had so much stool come out surely its all up to date now!

Any ideas? by the way my normal in remission is 1-2 times a day. with only the 1st one with some urgency.
Posted 12/9/2013 3:05 PM (GMT 0)
Have you considered adding soluble fiber like psyllium?
Posted 12/9/2013 3:16 PM (GMT 0)
tried it but give me more stomach pain and brings blood back. tried slippery elm which help to a degree
Posted 12/9/2013 3:26 PM (GMT 0)
I don't have anything more to add, except maybe to ask if you ramped up slowly when you added psyllium? I started with one caplet and got up to 3 per day and stopped there. I still have problems similar to you and I'm ok where I am right now. I'm sure there is improvement to be had but I'm anxious about playing around too much with the good remission I'm in. For me I don't have quite the amount of tenesmus that you describe but I know if I don't have a large bm then I'm going to have trouble the next day trying to "catch up."

I do find that exercise helps keep things moving. Yoga especially (which I haven't done in a long while) has some great twisting stretches which massage the bowel and move things along.
Posted 12/10/2013 10:52 AM (GMT 0)
Points taken will reintroduce psyllium (metamucil) but more slowly. Still only symptom is volume of stool going from formed to mush. So irritating how you think you are nearly there but life is still so unbearable with this stupid functioning bowel. Staying disciplined on the rectal meds. been 11 days straight and noticing morning pain is starting to ease. hey ho... keep advice coming please!
Posted 12/10/2013 1:00 PM (GMT 0)
some folks (including me) do better with psyllium seed powder instead of husk - I think I remember that Metamucil is husk, but i'll check and let you know for sure -


Metamucil Sugar Free Original Smooth
Fiber Supplement Powder Ingredients

Psyllium Husk, Maltodextrin, Citric Acid


some people do have problems with maltodextrin & citric acid - better to use just plain old, unviolated psyllium, either seed or husk -

Post Edited (soystud) : 12/10/2013 6:59:31 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 12/10/2013 3:19 PM (GMT 0)
Your symptoms seem normal and indicate (to me) there's still inflammation but much less than before.
It's all a question of degrees, right?

Volume, for me, is connected to the amount of fiber. More fiber=more volume.
And then there's the IBS issue. If I ate something the day before that is disliked = more frequency and volume.

We are all in search of perfection, 1 BM normal volume.
Don't worry, be happy. If you have no urgency and no blood you are headed in the right direction.
Posted 12/10/2013 4:18 PM (GMT 0)
My volume feels bigger as well now. But with no urgency and no blood don't see anything bad about it. MY theory is that we probably will never get to a "normal" BM but close is good too.
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