Is this another flare?

Hi

Is this classed as a flare? Solid stools 3-4 times a day, a little amount of blood in most movements. No D. Urgency has always been there for years, even before I was diagnosed when I had to go I HAD TO GO.

Some stools more 'fluffy' than usual. A fair amount of gas which is sometimes a little tough to pass (ie builds up for a while and doesn't always come out easily.)

I'm on enemas nightly and balsalzide 6x a day. It's not interfering with life and is very manageable. No accidents apart from once when straining to pass wind.

Any thoughts?

Blood unless from hemmies or a fissure is a symptom of a flare in my eyes.

This time i didnt have it but last time "fluffy poop" was my flare i dicator. Thats one reason this snuck up!

Thanks all for your replies.

I thought it could be the start of something but was wishing it wasn't. I'll get onto my consultant and see what he wants to do. Talks about the next stage of medication which I'm not really up for as I notice my UC really reacts to diet and it doesn't feel that bad at all really.

Anyways thanks a lot all

I've never talked to an assistant or nurse instead or the doctor unless it was seeing a new doctor. All I know is that on a personal level.....it would cause me more anger if info wasn't relayed or more options given. Especially fron what I've seen on here..
q

hey dubble H - it's your uc, you can define it any way you want - sounds like simmering symptoms, but not what i would consider a full on flare -

regardless, it does seem like something to address -

so how exactly does your diet affect your colon ?

I don't think you read it correctly, Gary, based on this:

"If I read it correctly I think it said that consultants were more experienced than a GP but I'm assuming they are not more experienced than a GI..."

Consultants are more specialized than a GP, not necessarily more experienced. And a consultant IS a gastroenterologist, or whatever other specialty (nephrology, oncology, etc.) he or she has chosen.

As far as IBD nurses go, I sort of wonder if they're like the PAs and NPs that we have in the US. My current gastro's office has a couple of PA's.

When I read it, it sounded like consultant=specialist. So, when we write about our doctors we use the term specialist and GI interchangeably. ie. "My GP referred me to a specialist. When I saw the GI she said blah blah blah."

So maybe the UK people are using "consultant" and "GI" interchangeably. This is my guess. We need a person actually in the UK to clear this up.

Excellent, thanks NCOT!

Just though i'd answer the IBD nurse question in terms of how it works Canada. I have an IBD nurse, or rather, my GI doctor has a (or several) IBD nurses. These nurses are specialists in IBD, and they are amazing, compassionate and incredibly useful.
I have the direct phone number to my IBD nurse, and if I have any questions, or start flaring (or start flaring worse), I call my IBD nurse, and she relays the info to the GI doctor if necessary, they discuss my case, and she calls me back. The GI doctor is just too busy to answer phone calls, and it can take weeks to get an in-person appointment with her, whereas the nurse can act immediately.
I've been in a mild flare since December, and it turned bad last week - I became house-bound again, so I called my IBD nurse on Friday, she discussed with my GI and within hours I had Prednisone in my hands, and huge relief.
The nurse just phones in prescriptions to my pharmacy, and orders bloodwork through the lab nearest me, so I don't have to take as much time off work. The earliest I could get an appointment with my GI doctor is in two weeks from now (the earliest they could fit me in), to start a new med (likely Imuran). So I still get in to see my GI soon as possible but having an IBD nurse to turn to in the meantime is great, as I don't have to miss work!

Hey juststud, the diet thing, well I find if I eat certain foods the next day or sometimes the same day my bowels react, sometimes it's gas, sometimes its D.

I've kept a log and through trailing for over a year I've figured out some foods dont agree well with me. I won't put the list here but things such as raw onion, anything very garlicky, dairy, tomatoes etc.

I also take slippery elm daily and l'glutamine, the latter Has really helped.

Quincy - I was using salofalk enemas for over a year. My doc has just asked me to try peer enemas. Actually led in bed working up the courage to use one right now. Haha

PA =

physicians assistant (pretty sure it's this one)

punk ass (or arse)

pecker ass (now that one just doesn't make sense)

pain in the ass (have seen a few of those)


think that's it ;-)