Ulcerative Colitis?!
Question: I'm in the middle of my second flare up ever of UC... I was diagnosed the summer of 2007. I'm taking 4 Asacols 3 times a day, Prednisone, and all kinds of vitamins. I haven't been able to process solid food so I've been eating a lot of soup. I follow a strict diet and avoid stress as much as possible. My question is: What am I doing that's preventing my flare up from at least calming down? Does anyone have suggestions on other ways I can treat my flare up?
Answers: I'm in the middle of my second flare up ever of UC... I was diagnosed the summer of 2007. I'm taking 4 Asacols 3 times a day, Prednisone, and all kinds of vitamins. I haven't been able to process solid food so I've been eating a lot of soup. I follow a strict diet and avoid stress as much as possible. My question is: What am I doing that's preventing my flare up from at least calming down? Does anyone have suggestions on other ways I can treat my flare up?
You're not doing anything wrong. Inflammatory bowel diseases just flare and there's nothing you can do right or wrong when it happens. Prednisone will most likely get it under control, but it's tricky to taper back down from the steroids. Your doctor will probably change you from Asacol to another med or change dosages - just bear with the changes while you work together to find a better med combination to keep you flare-free. I have severe Crohn's Disease and have been in a constant flare for a long time and have been getting all of my nutrition via i.v. since January 2007 and am still flaring, so I'm proof that what you eat doesn't cause or help a flare, although some foods can cause your symptoms to increase along the way, but those foods are different for each person.
Here's some things that have worked for me in the past, but remember, everybody's disease is different and you have to figure out what works for you: If you're sticking to liquids right now, I recommend Slim Fast - that sounds strange, but Slim Fast has about the same amount of fat and calories as Ensure or Boost and tastes much better and is cheaper. Some of the kids' nutritional supplement drinks don't taste too bad, either. And, if you can tolerate Boost or Ensure (yuck from me!!), go for it!! Gerber (yes, as in the baby food company) has a powdered electrolyte supplement you can add to your water bottle which tastes better than Pedialyte; it's called LiquiLytes instant mix - I'm a fan of the apple and mixed fruit flavors. Other things to try to keep your nutritional status up are breakfast shakes (I buy the Walmart generic version, but think Nestle breakfast shakes type of product), milkshakes (if you can tolerate dairy products at all - great source of calories), and lots of beef/chicken broths. I find that the Campbell's Chicken & Stars doesn't cause as much cramping for me as the regular Chicken Noodle soup - probably because the noodles and meat chunks are much smaller. As you gradually begin adding more bulky foods to your diet, try things like baby foods - the boxed powdered rice or mixed grain cereals are a great place to start and then you can work up to some of the bottled custards and baby food dessert items. Remember that baby foods with meat and vegetables are still meat and vegetables and your intestines will not be fooled by the consistency! Once your diarrhea gets better or more under control, you might try adding in things like oatmeal (think runny consistency), scrambled eggs (very bland), and similar items. Applesauce and jello (and saltines if you're up for any solids at all) are always faithful standbys through any flare, but I personally can't stand the sight of jello after awhile - luckily, there's lots of flavor choices to keep some excitement in your bland diet life!
Just remember, you haven't done anything to cause UC or cause your flare to occur or linger. That's just how these diseases work. Hang tough and know that it will eventually get better - trust your body and only eat/drink what you know you can tolerate and what works for you. Do your best to stay hydrated and know that your weight is something you can work on getting back up after the prednisone does its thing (and I promise, the steroid weight and side effects really DO go away as soon as you get off the steroids)! Keep your doctor in the loop about how your symptoms are affecting your daily functioning and your sleep. Toughing it out is what you have to do on a daily basis - you shouldn't try to tough out everything during a major flare. There are meds out there to help with the symptoms as you wait out the flare, but your doctor can't tell you about them if you don't share with your doctor how poorly you're feeling. Hang in there - a break from the diarrhea and pain is just around the corner! Until then, my favorite Crohn's/UC tip: Cotonelle toilet paper with aloe - it's worth every penny!
You probably already have, but check out the Crohn's and Colitis website for some information. They have lots of technical info that's good to know about your disease. Their website is: http://www.ccfa.org
A website I really like is for people with Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis and it's more of a chat board. I've never written in, but have found lots of helpful information in the various categories and it's sometimes more of a help to just know someone else is dealing with the same things, even if there's no magic answer. The "IBD Sucks" website is: http://www.ibdsucks.com
I am not really sure but maybe its your body getting used to the meds and such. one of my past friends had colitis( not sure if it was teh same asyours) and had some colonoscopys and all kinds of stuff. Apparently she got it from having so much stress, shes like 19 now. She couldn't eat solid foods for a while and vegetables made her have slight rectal bleeding and she would go to the bathroom almost immediatly after eating. Do u get that to?
You should talk with your doctor(s) so that they can be aware! Maybe you can also switch up the types of soups you eat so u get some different variety.