Bad flare. In hospital.

Ok. Thank you.

Keith -- Just one more thing. I read some of these posts quickly beforehand. I was having mild flareup symptoms for a week or two before this race, so it didnt really come on quick. I feel like most my flares just kind of come on somewhat quickly though. This disease is so confusing!!!

Worst thing I remember about Flagyl is it made everything taste metallic.

That's great news Sara! Anything is better than just plain ol' UC flaring. I am sure you will get back to 100% quickly with the antibiotics.

If you're in the hospital then you could ask for Flagyl via IV, it works a little quicker and maybe you won't have the taste issue while on it (only a guess).

Glad you're home and it is not a regular flare. Hopefully all back to normal after the antibiotics are started. Whew, good to be out of the hospital and on your way!
B

Hi Keith,

Yes, Im starting to feel much better, thanks. Just exhausted and still having some tummy issues but nothing like it was. Trying to rest a lot, eat heathy and take it easy. Thanks for checking in on me.

So the doctor I saw it was completely wrong. It was not an infection. It was my colitis and I have no idea why he told me it was an infection because all my test results are clear as mud. I saw my regular gastroenterologist today and he showed me all the results and he told me it was my ulcerative colitis. He also told me it was affecting my whole colon not just the sigmoid like that other doctor told me. I was very bummed. He put me on Uceris for 2 months (which my insurance doesnt cover so I had to pay $119 after their copay savings card...) and is testing my blood to see if I can take imuran.

I just cannot believe that doctor told me it was an infection and put me on 2 antibiotics. The antibiotics are making me feel better which I don't really understand either but I can't be on antibiotics forever so I'm scared I will start feeling really bad once I'm off them in a few days. It's like the doctor could not read or something because he tested my stool for basically every common bacteria and they were all negative.

All good points, thank you! And thanks for thinking of me. :)

I wouldn't worry too much Sara. You did what you did based on the information you had at the time. hehe. I have done that WAY too many times, jumped the gun, and wore my emotions on my sleeve. I am sure he will not forget you, and he would love to have you as a patient. In the end, I would imagine, knowledgeable, interested patients are hard to come by, and he probably appreciates those qualities in you. Of course you were angry that you thought you received incorrect information. it's understandable. I really hope you get some relief with the Uceris. Btw, insurance covered mine, I ended up paying $25 out of pocket per script.

Uceris costs over a thousand dollars a month as an expensive brandnamed medication. "The cost for Uceris oral tablet, extended release 9 mg is around $1,719 for a supply of 30 tablets, depending on the pharmacy you visit". Prednisone costs $20 or less for a similarly effective steriod (pred fits under Wal-Mart's $4 generic prescription program). There's obvious advantage to us by having less side effects with uceris but when an insurance company's profit is their primary motive it's easy to see which medication isn't covered, or at least heavily discouraged with much higher out of pocket costs. I've never tried uceris due to my cost.

Steroid enemas or foams are equivalent in side effects to uceris and often generic. So, rectal route is often a much better substitution than straight pred is when your goal is limiting odds of potential side effects. Although, I see you have pancolitis, so those rectal routes certainly cannot cover the entire large intestine (at most half of it).

Yeah insurance company's are evil, indefensible.

Budesonide (or entocort) are often suggested as equivalent or generic equivalent to uceris. As Uceris is a Budesonide (a slightly different form of steroid that's supposed to be less side effects). Not a whole lot of actual tangible difference with non-delayed-release budesonide, I'd say results are far from miraculous.

Good luck!

Im back in the hospital! I did three rounds of strong antibiotics and got better each time but then got sick again a few days after round one and two ended. I got sick the third time before my antibiotic course was even over. So im back. Doing another prep. Getting scoped tomorrow. Had CT scan tonight that showed inflammation (not sure why they even did that but it was the ER). My stool samples after my first round of antibiotics came back positive for campylobacter (food poisoning).

Thanks. I'm not sure yet. They are doing another stool culture to test for infectious causes. Last week, I saw my new GI and I was doing fine, so he said I didnt need to go on Remicade or imuran, etc. He thought it was just an infection.Then my symptoms came back Sunday. Now I'm not sure what is going on...UC or a stubborn infection or both...? I put myself back on pred on Sunday but it didn't seem to help at all.

You and me both! Lol. Thanks!