Is it a flare or something else?

For the past three weeks I have been having lower abdomen pain and sometimes a feeling of tightness around my belly button. No blood or mucous. One or two bowel movements a day which sometimes seem to take alot of effort to evacuate (maybe because my muscles seem so sore.) It really feels like I've done a lot of sit ups and I just can't ever get rid of the discomfort.

I've been doing the Canasa suppositories every other night and am taking sulfasalazine 2 pills twice a day. I've also tried stool softeners to see if the bowel movements would be easier. I've taken tylenol a few times to see if they would help with the pain. Sometimes it feels like trapped gas so I take some gas-X to see if that will help with the pain.

With the UC, I've never had the typical diarhhea and blood multiples times a day so it is very hard for me to know if I am having a flare or if something else is going on. I have had abdominal surgeries (gall bladder, hysterectomy and bladder suspension with transvaginal mesh) so sometimes I wonder if adhesions or something related to those surgeries is the problem.

I have my biannual colonoscopy scheduled for a week from tomorrow but I'd sure like to get rid of some of this pain before I start the prep. Any ideas or suggestions?