Yeah. I got the letter too. We've been in isolation for the same length of time as you (I took the kids out of school a week before they closed and husband also hasn't left the house now). It's fine...
I don't get night sweats. The only time I had them was after giving birth. So many people helped, at least temporarily by these TB anti-biotics. Looking forward to getting on a drug trial when they...
Hmmm... so I guess this means I should start a biologic even though my gut is better than at any time since 2006. I get that flaring again is highly likely. Would just love to hear a story or two of...
Thanks for all your responses and sorry for mis-spelling the anti-biotic! I'm on it for 6 months. And yes it is pretty hard on the liver. I'm of the view that we all have infections of some sort -...
I've been taking TB antibiotics for latent TB as a precursor to starting a biologic for the first time. Pretty much steroid dependent and flaring on and off for 5 years, despite AZA. Here's the...
I've used the 1g pentasa enemas in the past but I much prefer the salofalk 2g/59ml ones. They are available on the NHS and your GP should be able to find it on his system. Any pharmacy can order in....
I am glad you posted on this dose splitting issue. It never made sense to me that it should be as effective in one dose as it is in two. I understand its passage is unpredictable, but dose splitting...
I'm afraid I also flared after both births. Not immediately and it wasn't dramatic. It is very hard to keep to your drug schedule if you have a long labour and recovery. Put your partner in charge of...
In our family, the three of us who have developed the uc are all the high performing career people. We definitely have always pushed ourselves and lived life with higher stress levels than our...
I've been using then a few months and they seem to work. I only use 14mg day time only. It disturbs sleep. I probably need to up it to 21mg to get a slightly less precarious remission. You need to...
1 uncle with UC and almost everyone with bowel issues on the paternal side. We should give up breeding and let the family line run out!...
Ah! Thanks for the name. I'll look him up. Have been following other Chinese medicine threads with interest but really wouldn't know where to start. Sounds like I live in the right part of England to...
TCM = traditional Chinese medicine No advice but would you mind sharing the name of the TCM practitioner in Brighton? Also, I guess you see a consultant at Royal Sussex? Any good? I need to find a...
Since we are on the subject... I think an anal fissure was the trigger for my colitis. Obviously not the cause because I've got other family members with it so was always going to be on the list for...
Well yes my guts are a bit better, though I've got a horrible cold virus. Bananagirl has pushed me into thinking it is double or quits with the nicotine. I should get myself used to 14mg before I...
I'm in England so insurance doesn't apply. I'm paying for it myself until I see whether it works. Then I'll go to the GI and ask for a prescription. The NICE guidelines that govern our drug licence...
It could be a bug. I had norovirus a month ago and maybe that has upset things. I've also just developed some sort of sore throat and exhaustion virus. Nausea has been a problem when I'm on the...
Merry Christmas everyone - hope your bowels are coping with the food deluge. Inspired by others, I am now 3 weeks into trialling nicotine patches. I'm only at 7mg worn for 24 hours but already I can...
I flared during pregnancy and just wanted to add that prednisolone is safe in late pregnancy. Also, if you have responded very fast and well to pred in the past then you might be able to persuade...
Yes. Not quite sure what level but I was rushed into hospital for monitoring. Stayed there 5 days with an inflamed liver. Then went home none the wiser as to what had happened. I stopped imuran when...
From many years of reading this site I'd say that diets only marginally improve a handful of cases. They may help maintain remission for some but I rarely read about someone who has turned around a...
It's a reasonable question. The standard 40mg dose then taper is based on some reasonable evidence that it is the best steroid sparing approach for the average person in a flare. I am smaller than...
I never smoked much, but I think it was just enough to keep UC at bay. I had my first flare within a year of quitting entirely. I believe both nicotine and carbon monoxide smoke have a protective...
In my experience GIs rather overstate how many people are helped by AZA/6MP. I seem to remember in trials that a third improved anyway with placebo and no more than another third got better with AZA....
There are two well accepted medical issues: 1. Absorption of pills during a flare might be an issue though shouldn't worry us UCers too much since we have well functioning stomachs and small...
Studies have shown that sulphites are associated with inflammation in the gut, which might explain why so many if us do so much better on gin and vodka than we do on beer and wine. I haven't tried...
I'm planning on starting nicotine patches just as soon as I finish breastfeeding my second (and last) baby. I'm pretty confident smoking pushed me into remission before my diagnosis 7 years ago....
If you do stop taking asacol, keep some back in the cupboard so that you can re-start within minutes of seeing any symptoms reemerge....
Thanks for the updates everyone. I don't think I can start nicotine patches now since I'm still breastfeeding. But I'm going to try them soon - my gastro keeps hassling me to try AZA one last time,...
So, I hadn't been on this site for a while due to having a baby and enjoying a lengthy remission. Now I return to find bananagirl doing well on nicotine. This is great news because your UC always...
Be careful about dieting. I find it aggravates my colitis. Take it slowly....
I used to always start with blood, then D a few days later. However, my last two flares starting with a couple of weeks of D getting worse until finally blood appeared. Very strange....
Sorry to hear there are supply problems with Salofalk... they are the best! I'm also in the UK. Get an emergency appointment with the GP and ask for a standard Pentasa 1g/100ml enema. They are really...
I had two kids post-diagnosis. It's been fine, but I do have my extended family around to help when I flare. Don't let your IBD take over your life. But before you get pregnant...: 1. Get into a good...
Ferrous Sulphate caused bleeding in my colon. It is pretty harsh. Your choices depend on how bad the anemia is. The safest choice is to find liquid iron supplements that are plant based because...
Many post partum flare stories come from previously undiagnosed UC cases so they didn't have a drug regime in place. I had no problems in the first six months. The only bit of advice I'd have is that...
I don't post so much, but this forum is my GI. My new real life GI is burnt out and about 10 years behind current scientific thinking, but I'm not bothered because I can come on here and read the...
I appreciate your post sixfour. I do know 2 UC sufferers who maintain remission by smoking. You wouldn't find them on forums like this because UC isn't a big deal in their life. I always found the...
I think migrants hold the key to understanding the role of pathogens, food, agriculture and chemical exposure in the causal chain. We all know the headline story about taking on the prevalence rates...
Congrats! I came off imuran before my first pregnancy but GI said most people stay on it with no obvious ill effects. There are studies of immunosuppressants and pregnancy. Google and you'll find a...
In the UK breakfast cereals are a little different - less sugar! Many are fortified with multivitamins and iron. I can tolerate it much better than vitamin pills and started to eat it every day after...
I lived with a guy for 6 years. In the sixth year I was diagnosed with UC (no family history) and he was diagnosed with colon cancer (no family history; young; thin; vegetarian). I've never believed...
I'm in a very nice remission following the easiest pred taper imaginable and have been mulling over why. No magic bullet, but I'm having a relatively small amount of resistant starch (beans mostly)...
I decided to come off aza (same thing as 6mp) for both pregnancies because the evidence seemed rather equivocal. Search for recent cohrane reviews on it. First time round I got lucky and survived....
Wow. As an English person I've always been intrigued by how much you Americans seem to go for colonoscopies. People with UC in England will usually get scoped once at diagnosis and then wait 8 years...
I agree you need to pack all your meds. You can use any doctor in NZ and they will just charge private rates, but getting a prescription fulfilled could be expensive and not covered by insurance....
Now is the perfect time to take it because it'll knock your exhaustion on the head and give you enough drive to get everything done! 20mg is a low starting dose but I've used it successfully (I'm a...
Nice article. I'm from the UK and we clearly have a very different prescription system because I pay £140 a year for as many drugs as I want and the National Health Service picks up the tab. But how...
I'm in my first trimester and flaring. Was in remission before I got pregnant but I don't think my colon was in good enough shape to withstand the pregnancy multivitamins and hormones. If you...
This was me until two months ago. Then I descended into a flare again. So beware! I guess our colons are just too damaged by a long flare to absorb liquid effectively. There must be things you can do...