Headed to the hospital...

So my UC flare went out of control last night. I'm on 20 mg prednisone. Just started Imuran 5mg on Wednesday and Aasacol. I lost a lot of blood last night. Maybe a quarter to a half gallon and it hasn't slowed down. My eyes are turning yellow leading me to believe I'm anaemic. The pain is excruciating and constant. I'll keep everyone updated on what happens. I hope I'm making the right decision to go to the hospital. My GI doesn't answer his phone on weekends and I'm afraid to let it get any worse or I might kick the bucket lol. I'm very light headed. Any tips for trips to the ER?

DMC beat me to it. Yellow eyes=jaundice=liver which can be a result of 6mp. Tell them all the meds you are on and have been on. You will probably need IV prednisone. Ask for mesalamine enemas and/or steroid enemas as ER docs are not well versed in UC meds. When they send you home make sure you have RX scripts for those rectal meds, they really help stop the bleeding and have fewer side effects than oral RX.

Good luck.

Definitely made the right decision, so sorry you're going through this and hope you get better soon

So sorry to hear that but it's definitely the right decision.

At least in hospitals, in my experience, they love prednisone and will give you lots of it. See if they'll go higher than 40 mg for a day or two. It can really kickstart the healing.

Also, don't be too afraid of prednisone. Yes, it has some terrible side effects if you take it long term but a few weeks or months can be a lifesaver. There are many horror stories about it on this forum but those terrible effects don't happen to most patients. I was on it for seven months and have had zero lasting side effects. I was on it for a second round, where I started at a much higher dose, and was able to get off of it in seven weeks. Both times it got me into remission.

Insist on the rectals. That is a big part of what got me well in seven weeks. The first time I was very sick, I did not use rectals, and it took seven months to recover

Two other pieces of advice for being in the hospital. One, push back on your doctors if you don't agree with what they're doing. It's so hard to do that when you feel like hell but it will help you. Ask for a new G.I. if you need to. It's useful to have a smart phone or tablet so you can surf the web and find information on whatever they suggest. Also helpful is having a family member or friend who can be there to help you.

The other piece of advice is do not let them release you until you feel like you can go home and be okay. When I was in the hospital, they released me before I had any solid food by mouth and I was back less than 24 hours later and spent another four days there. Idiots.

I hope you get things under control soon. You will be okay. Post here to let us know how you're doing and if you have any questions.

Glad it's going well so far! You definitely did the right thing.

Don't forget to ask for a c diff test! Tell them you haven't responded to prednisones or any of the other standard minu tell them you haven't responded well to prednisones or any of the other standard meds.

Hey guys I haven't asked abt C Diff. I got a colonoscopy six weeks ago when I started flaring and did stool tests two weeks before that. Those stool tests came back clean. Should I be tested for C Diff again? Could I contract it that fast? I don't know much about C diff

Agreed...my mom had UC and she contracted C-Diff quite often (even back to back) so it's always a good idea to get it checked out if things are still bothersome...hope things get better for you soon!

Definitely ask to be retested.

If they're reluctant, you could mention to them that if you do have it, they could neglect to take required precautions and spread it in the hospital.

http://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201504/are-hospitals-doing-all-they-can-prevent-c-diff-infections