Cyclical nature

A small group of UC'ers and I have been talking intensely about something our disease symptoms have in common and I'm curious what others here think.

My UC is a yearly event. It comes on pretty strong for 2 months and then enters the recovery phase after that. For all intents and purposes I am derailed for 3-4 months out of the year. The rest of the year is spent more or less unaffected, feeling strong, and life is unimpeded. BMs normal, no blood, can eat practically anything I want (except gluten and dairy).

So I'm curious what your theory is about the cyclical nature of our disease? Why do some people have never ending flares while others flare like clockwork once a year?

One person in our group thinks that it has something to do with how change in season, sunlight and temperature impact us, but one of us lives near the equator where the seasons hardly change.

I'm not asking for scientific proof of people's thoughts here, but feel free to post links to other info if you like. This is just a theoretical thread.

Mine haven't really been in a cycle either. Mine start, and then they would end when a drug worked. If nothing worked, I continued to flare indefinitely. I also tried diet and supplements without any improvement.

I have seen a lot of people mention weather as a potential trigger for their cycle, and seasons, but not the case for me so I can't say too much on the issue.

I recall there were some posters who reported seasonal flares and speculated it may have some kind of connection to seasonal allergies.

I get a flare every year around the same time, spring or fall (mostly fall). Usually the duration is a few months, but there has been the odd longer flare. Either way its' almost impossible for me to commit to anything long term or be involved with long range planning or travel. To me that part of it sucks the most...

Our digestive tract, much like our skin, is exposed to a lot of exterior environmental things. Everytime we breath or eat something we're exposing our digestive system to bacteria, fungi spores, allergens, and countless other things. While their are acids and enzymes that kill some things, some are resistant and pass all the way through.
Who says they're not at least partially responsible for the cascade leading to a flare. Certainly traveler's-diarrhea, tap water and other environmental factors can cause even normal folks to have issues when abroad. What does that mean to us with already wacky/vulnerable digestive tracts? Plausible perhaps...