Nasty flare/need diet advice

Hey Catlover! It can be overwhelming when first diagnosed!

If it eases your mind on the Lialda dose, with the exception of a 2 month window where my GI tried to drop it, I've been at the max dose of 4 pills/day for 6 years; and all good. One thing that works well for me, in terms of overall management of UC is having my GI lay out a game plan that includes: 1) maintenance/remission and 2) Next steps for meds/treatment for if and when it flares. Item 2 will look different depending on symptoms, length of remission, etc. Until you get the hang of what's going on with your body, don't be afraid to ask your Gi's office questions!

You'll hear many on this forum encourage you to ask for Rowasa. A lot of Gi's don't go that route unless you mention it. Based on your current symptoms, I would be asking the GI what the game plan is if symptoms return as you taper pred.

On eating - for me, I have to stick to a pretty bland diet during flares. This one, I'm doing mostly eggs, romaine salads with chicken, cooked sushi, kefir, and ensure. Some people have issues with eggs and dairy. When I'm in a solid remission, I can eat almost everything with just a few exceptions. Good luck!!

While diet is certainly not the cause of UC, I have, in my personal experience, found it helpful to limit or eliminate certain things from my diet. I started with the SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) back in March when I was in my worst flare ever. In the intervening 7 months I've tuned that diet to be more applicable to real life (ie, sometimes I eat potatoes).

I would suggest cutting out grains, dairy and sugar and see how you do.

PS it's very hard to eliminate sugar because they sneak it into EVERYTHING but since doing that I feel much more enlightened and in control of what I consume.