Phone Hell

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to tell you that the phone has become my greatest enemy.

I find that when I have a call and answer it, its only a matter of time before I need to go to the toilet. I can't put the phone down or end the conversation early without having an accident.

At home I can just about get away with it, but at work I fear that deathly ring.

What do I do?

Help

G

I often have this same problem, mostly just at home, not work. I have started just pooping while on the phone at home, but, yeah, it would be kind of hard to do that at work and not get funny looks.

Can you see your GI doctor and maybe they can up your meds a little to get your flare more under control?

I spend a lot of time on conference calls at work, and I have a wireless headset which has been a life safer for me (I don't have UC, but I've been trying to drink more water, and I seem to have to go to the bathroom every 15-20 minutes). So, I put myself on mute, go to the bathroom, and when I'm out take myself off mute.

At work for me, it is a shared restroom with multiple stalls, so if someone is in there with me, if I take myself off mute, even if I don't flush, if the other person does . . . So, it's not perfect, but it's far better than trying to hold it.

At home, I used my cordless phone (the handset also has a speaker phone), and I put it on speaker, and put myself on mute. I hope this helps you. Also, if your urgency is really bad, your flare is probably not under control - so you should (if you aren't already) look into what you can do to quickly bring this flare under control. Also, in the past, I've heard quincy mention a med (I think the name is Bentyl) for urgency - maybe someone can update this ticket with the meds that help with controlling the urgency associated with a UC flare.

Feel better soon.

PV

Just be thankful phones with video hasn't caught on! On the other hand, it could encourage those calling you to hang up faster!

That is so weird you brought this up! I thought I was an odd ball! It doesn't bother me much when I'm in remission but as soon as I would get on the phone while in a flare, for some odd reason I have to get to the bathroom. I don't work so it only happens at home. Usually it's just my friends that call so either I tell them I have to use the bathroom real quick to either hold or I will call them back. But if you're at work that is kind of hard to do so I agree with a headset if you can.

OK, I am not the one with UC, my daughter is. But I was waiting for her doctor to call me back (daily followup to see how her flare is and how the meds are working). Of course, he had to call while I was in the bathroom. And since we all know how hard it is to speak with the doctor, there I sat doing my thing while talking to him about bratcat doing her thing! And in the back of my mind I was thinking about all of you!

We were in the process of putting our house on the market during my last flare. It would never fail either the realtor or mortgage people would call...literally 2 seconds into the conversation I would get awful urgency. Maybe it is psychological?? I remember squeezing and praying hard I would make it!