Did UC got worse with aging ?

We may never know the real true answer to this question.

hateuc, I could only wish that my body and mind was like a fine bottle of wine that has gotten better with age. The short answer to your question is I primarily eliminated foods from my diet to improve my health.

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For me this disease seemed to be very random in its coming and goings where I would flare in the spring and in the fall but at some point, about a decade after being diagnosed, I decided that the flares were not random and I began to track everything I ate and came into contact with.

For the past five years I have been eliminating items that seemed to adversely affect my health and I have been rewarded with a disease that seems to be completely controllable.

If I wanted a toilet full of blood tomorrow I would just need to eat a slice of bread today. Its effect is now that intense. I had repeated that experiment several times trying to convince myself that it was not happening but the bleeding happened every time. Bread use to just give me minor symptoms such as loose stool, digestive ache, etc. but as the years passed bread's effects have become far worse.

If I want a toilet full of blood in a week or two then I just need to consume some ice cream for a number of days in a row. I suspect that it is the carrageenan. The same effect happens when having a non-flour crust pumpkin pie that I made. The only culprit that I could find was the carrageenan in the evaporated milk.

If I want to be depressed and full of anxiety I just need to eat popcorn for a few days in a row. Yet another experiment that I have repeated a number of times. I really like popcorn.

I think that all of the above responses have to do with the bacteria in my digestive system. Prior to coming down with this disease I was able to eat anything with no issue but then I had surgery on my hand and they gave me a bunch of antibiotics and within about a year I was diagnosed with this disease.

Anyway, as long as I control what I put into my body then this disease is essentially non-existent for me. Making all of my meals takes a fair amount of effort but it allows me to live a normal life other than eating out.

I had taken Asacol since shortly after I was diagnosed but it never prevented any flares over the years but I kept taking it and now take Lialda to pacify my GI. He believes that it reduces the likelihood of colon cancer. I have had success using mesalamine enemas to get out of flares so location, location, location seems to be very important. I had used Prednisone many times to get me out of flares so I could continue with my job. It never failed to work swiftly but the side effects were difficult to manage. Sadly, I'm now on testosterone to deal with the Prenisone's long term side effects.

I have had very good results using Qing Dai to control flares starting up. There are times that I eat out and although I am very careful what I consume (or what I thought I consumed) I still end up with symptoms.

I continue to pursue means of improving my guts bacteria. I keep hitting up my GI for a fecal transplant but it looks like I'll need to have a medical vacation to make that happen unless some poop pills hit the market soon.

Tap said...
I have had very good results using Qing Dai to control flares starting up.

Where do you get your Qing Dai? I would like to check it out. You are one of the people who first told us about powdered psyllium seed and it turned out to be very effective, at least for me. Maybe Qing Dai will be another home run.

Thanks

Thanks Tap, very informative!
B

tap said...

hateuc said...
I suspect the people who have been lucky enough to age out are probably not hanging out on this forum, so you may get a skewed opinion.
B

The OP's question appeared to be only directed at those that are getting worse as they age so I assumed she was not interested in the comments of those of us that have gotten better as we age.

All comments on the subject were interesting to me. And Tap's comment about what works or does work for her reinforce the fact that I'm not wasting time doing a dairy food.

For me, hormonal issues play a big role. My worst flare ever, like 10x worst than any I'd experienced before, happened when I was 43. When I was taking hormonal birth control in my 30's, I'd have mini flares every time I started and stopped. And I knew I was pregnant after 2 weeks of trying because of the flare that came out of nowhere and disappeared within a week. I begged my dr to do a pregnancy test. It showed my HCG as barely elevated. but I knew I was pregnant (and I was).

Something to consider.

Unfortunately, I don't know what to do to avoid the fluctuations and flares.

Chantrelle, I hope you get to meet Tournevice, a French-Canadian member of this forum who has been living in England recently, where she got to try the Rx mesalamine retention foam available there. She has a great sense of humor and always cheers us up when she posts. You might want to look up her earlier comments here. / Old Hat (33 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)