Has anyone gotten out of a flare NOT using rectals?

That's great news totes. I thought you were only a few weeks away a few weeks ago. You still have a little ways to go. Well I am thankful you're feeling so much better. It will be nice to be healthy when you have the new little one. I can't imagine how difficult it would be with a newborn and a flare up.

G7...One would assume that rectals aren't the only med prescribed....not that they haven't been discussed to death already, it's puzzling that you don't get the concept of the use of them.

Maybe because they didn't work for the hard cases (like mine)? Is that really so difficult to accept? I'm seeing the same patterns for people here - they get told to take rectals which may work short term, but then end up going on stronger medications. I will grant you that rectals will help some of the milder cases.

G7....
Well, I don't know of anyone whose UC has been cured, so it'll always come back, eventually, regardless of what med/meds one is on. It's but one aspect of med regimen options.

Maybe my expectations are different than yours, hence your irritation at my supposed non-understanding of your situation. I see many who don't have success with 5ASA enemas as long as I have....fruitgirl for one, who did amazing for 5 years maintenance and then whammo...can't use them any longer.

One of the issues may be non use of enemas and more of the suppositories (therefore not enough coverage), not a high enough dosage of the enemas or too high a dosage of the enemas, sensitivity of an ingredient in the enema/supps, needing to use supps as supplement to the enemas, needing to alternate/add 5ASA with steroid...etc. Rectals still have a range of options.

Good to see BeatUC is back to normal nowadays..it's weird to have it any other way....lol.

q

it's part of healing as inflammation is regressing. Limited in the rectum inflammation will cause those symptoms....the colon slows down a bit or a lot more, stool shape will change to narrow or harder and sometimes pebble-like.

Continue the Canasa for a few more weeks at the very least. Actually, the retention enemas would be best with higher dosage of medication...but the supps are better than nothing at all. They can be used twice a day as well if you have the doctor's OK.

You might consider to add a fibre supplement such as psyllium capsules or benefibre to start bulking and softening the stool. Take it with meals so it acts like food. This will also help keep your colon "exercised", even out peristalsis and help avoid hard stools.
Make sure you take in enough fluids throughout the day as well.

ARe you on any probiotics?

q

quincy said...
G7....
Well, I don't know of anyone whose UC has been cured, so it'll always come back, eventually, regardless of what med/meds one is on. It's but one aspect of med regimen options.

Maybe my expectations are different than yours, hence your irritation at my supposed non-understanding of your situation. I see many who don't have success with 5ASA enemas as long as I have....fruitgirl for one, who did amazing for 5 years maintenance and then whammo...can't use them any longer.

One of the issues may be non use of enemas and more of the suppositories (therefore not enough coverage), not a high enough dosage of the enemas or too high a dosage of the enemas, sensitivity of an ingredient in the enema/supps, needing to use supps as supplement to the enemas, needing to alternate/add 5ASA with steroid...etc. Rectals still have a range of options.

Good to see BeatUC is back to normal nowadays..it's weird to have it any other way....lol.

q

Yes... I think our expectations do play some role in whether we are willing to partake in administering certain rectal preparations indefinitely.

I developed an intolerance to them, but this was long after my colon started healing - so I don't think using them as maintenance is an option. It is not worth the money investment to me. Perhaps it was my colon's way of saying I do not need them.

I'm also one of the rare folks who believes the disease is curable, so that may be why I'm iffy on the concept of using rectals continuously. I think it is a great tool to help reach remission though.

This forum represents the 10-15% of cases that are severe or borderline severe, and those who are in remission or cured do not post here, so I don't think it is a good sample size to base our arguments on. Dr.Briggs (see Briggs protocol), pathogenkiller, FecalTransplantForUC are just a few examples of users that stopped posting here. I do know that they don't have any trace of UC pathology, and they aren't on medications.

I do live close to two people who are not on any medications after going through hell with the disease. FecalTransplantForUC (Michael Hurst), the poster boy for FMT, lives 30 minutes away and his story was featured on my local news channel recently... it should inspire anyone given he was three days away from surgery. It was a severe case and it always inspires me when I'm down. I think FMT is an incredibly promising treatment as long as one honors the nutritional adjuncts to repair the colon.

I really do believe what we are told plays a huge role in whether our bodies will heal or not. This might be why the placebo induces remission in some percentage of patients. I think the fear holds us as prisoners and hope sets us free (from Shawshank Redemption).

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this.

Take care.

Post Edited (Guardian7) : 3/13/2015 10:31:53 AM (GMT-6)

I disagree, I think many of us are in remission and like to post what got us there. As far as a cure goes, UC can come and go, if you're in remission for years, thats sort of cured in my book.

Post Edited (beatUC) : 3/13/2015 12:14:57 PM (GMT-6)