Is it a Flare ? Urgent Help Please

Hello All,

For the last 3 days, I'm having mild to loose bowels recurring 3 to 4 times a day. Bowels are semi-solid, not completely watery. No blood in the stools. Not sure what triggered this. If food triggered this how long does it take for that to eliminate completely from the body?
I'm traveling out of the country for a month in a week from now and I really want to keep things under control.
Any specific recommendations or tips?

Thanks in advance

If there is no blood then this might be an IBS episode. Hopefully temporary but things could change for the worst.

I like knowing what helped me get thru episodes like this in the past. In my case it is taking specific probiotics that have worked for me, and avoiding triggering foods that usually affect me.

Flares happen without blood, so that's not a indicator of not flaring. I suspect you had suspected flaring symptoms before this.

Are you stil on Colazal? My suggestion is retention enemas asap. Since you're going to be travelling, I suggest mesalamine or foam enems.

q

As far as the research I have seen, probiotics don't work--except for VSL 3 that has been shown to help with pouchitis.

Since your colitis is on the left side, you may want to try the mesalamine enemas and/or the mesalamine suppositories. They are very effective.

I would say that if 3-4 days pass and you have the same symptoms, go to your doctor and have them check you for C.Diff and also have a stool's test, called a calprotectin, that is very sharp in detecting inflammation in the colon. If your calprotectin is abnormally high, your doctor will probably want to change your meds.

One of the keys for this disease is not letting it get out of control. The moment you feel symptoms, you need to act. Talking to the folks in this board is always a good step.