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Fasting during a flare

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 6/8/2017 10:35 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,
I've been experiencing a flare for the past two weeks, bad in the morning and then seem to settle around lunchtime and feel much better in the evening. Anyway, yesterday I didn't eat anything all day mostly because I couldn't be bothered and didn't feel hungry (usually during a flare I skip lunch and just have dinner). But today I feel a bit better. I'm just wondering what your experiences are? Does anyone do this and do they find it actually helps in beating a remission by resting the bowel, or is it just a false sense of feeling well and the second I eat something I'll be bad again? Should I really be feeding my gut bugs for the good ones to do their job?
Posted 6/8/2017 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
Never fast during a flare. I knew someone who fasted for religious reasons who had UC. He ended up being worse off. If you don't feel hungry that's one thing. If you feel hungry and have an appetite, by all means take advantage of it and eat. The first time I flared, the pred supplemented my loss of hunger and I felt better overall. The second time with C-Diff, I didn't have an appetite.
Posted 6/8/2017 11:55 PM (GMT 0)
I usually fast during the work day and always during flares. It's only ever helped with my symptoms. Sometimes, when you throw food into an inflamed colon, it can cause pain, gut spasm, etc... Normally, it takes food a few hours to pass through a healthy digestive system, but it your bowel isn't totally empty, eating can trigger spasms and urgency.

That said, I'm sure it's not great for nutrition and overall well-being, but it's all that works reliably for controlling my symptoms. And I doubt it's terrible in the short term unless you're underweight or nutrient deficient already.
Posted 6/9/2017 9:10 AM (GMT 0)
The less you eat the less you poop, while you're fasting. Once you eat normally you poop a lot again. It's temporary relief that only accelerates weight loss during flares.
Posted 6/9/2017 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
Try fasting and see if it helps but keep drinking fluids (maybe not caffeinated fluids).

I've done intermittent fasting when trying everything to get remission and got relief. I used veggie juice for energy and drank a lot of water and it was eye opening for me cause I love to eat and thought I'd faint with hunger. Nope, my gut adjusted pretty quickly and I had plenty of energy as long as I kept up liquid intake.

I worry about people developing fear of food or anorexia/bulimia when fasting is discussed.
The potential is there.
Posted 6/9/2017 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
I can't speak for UC specifically but I think I will experiment. Fasting has great health benefits it gives the body a chance to repair it self without working so hard. Think about an animal heck even your dog. When there sick they go somewhere quiet and rest. All they eat is a little bit of grass if anything.

Again I can't speak for UC but I have read things about how fasting is healthy for the body in the short term and used periodically. I was thinking of doing a juice fast one a month for two days just for maintenance.
Posted 6/9/2017 5:12 PM (GMT 0)
Fasting for a healthy body without disease might be OK. Many people misunderstand the concept of fasting and dont do it in a healthy way.
Newbies of UC again don't understand UC, the digestive process and symptomatic relief of no bms as seen as healing.

Fasting is used more for CD and rarely for UC.....

q
Posted 6/10/2017 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
Hi guys, thanks for your thoughts. For the first day this morning, I've had something that resembles a bowel movement and my bladder symptoms (I always get this terrible pressure/urgency/discomfort as soon as I flare) have gone. It's only one day so far and I started taking Qing Dai a few days ago so I'm not sure what's helped, or it may have just been a short flare (I tend to have fairly frequent but short flares). I certainly don't think it hurt and I do think I will use it as a tool when I flare next. My reasoning for this is that, I'm not absorbing anything during a flare anyway (all my mesalazine tablets pass through me completely intact) and the benefits of having a bowel rest and getting quicker faster also likely offset the minor nutrients I would absorb, and also they show that intermittent fasting is good from an insulin point of view as we rarely eat for sustenance anymore (although us folks do more than most).
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