Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Ulcerative Colitis Symptoms

Question:
I am a 46 year old man that was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis recently.  Symptoms started last November with cramping and frequent bm's. By December I had blood and mucous in the stool.  Thankfully I didn't have diarrhea but was having 7 to 8 bms a day. January 2nd I got in for a flexible sigmoidoscopy and was told I had IBD which meant either UC or Crohn’s. They put me on 2 grams of sulfasalazine /day. When I had a consult with the GI he said the biopsies were negative for Crohns and that I had UC. The medicine seems to be working and the blood stopped after a few days. The GI has scheduled me for a colonoscopy at the end of February to see the extent of the UC. I might add that I have been healthy up to this point in my life although I started taking Prilosec for GERD three years ago. I've been reading this NG for a couple days and I am overwhelmed by the things people are enduring especially with the Crohn’s. Can anybody tell me what is in store for me? Can I keep this in remission are will it continue to flare up? Any natural remedies that work?

Answer:
I have Crohn's so I'll let the others inform you more on UC. I just wanted to welcome you. This is a good group and you will get a lot of answers to the many questions you now have. You can start learning about the disease by going to www.ccfa.org. As a newcomer I can tell you all the things I wish I'd done when I first had UC. First of all, if your course is typical, flares will come and go.  Do *not* get overconfident when you are going through a good period without a flare up.  By this, I mean diet and generally taking good care of yourself are important.  So don't go, oh, this thing has gone away, I think I'll eat an entire chocolate cake and down this six pack.  That's a sure way to promote a new flare up. A good thing is to keep a simple day-to-day diary of how you're feeling, what meds you're taking and what food you've eaten.  Sometimes you can draw correlations as to how your meds may be affecting you, or if certain foods may aggravate you. The medications can become less effective as time goes on, often the ASA (like Asacol, Pentasa or Salofalk) drugs will cease to be effective after a time and you may be forced to switch to more powerful alternatives, like 6MP (a non-steroidal immunosuppressant) or Prednisone (a steroid).  Listen to your doctor’s advice on your meds but be sure to also listen to and read other sources of information.  Be interested in your condition and always question what you're taking and how you're proceeding in handling it. Alternative medicine may not be your bag but there's a few things you might want to take an interest in.  The first thing is your diet.  On a simple level, when you're in a flare up, avoid raw foods (fruits and vegetables) or you will aggravate the flare and make it worse.  It seems good to eat them but you can't, basically.  Cook your vegetables so they're soft, and most fruits should be avoided although you may be able to tolerate some.  When not in a flare, you can eat those things no problem, but still take notice as to how they affect you.  Many people with UC swear off sweets, especially refined sugar. Obviously normal things that aggravate everybody's bowels like coffee, tea, and spicy foods are to be avoided. (Doctors will often suggest avoiding these things and sweets as well).  Some take it further and also avoid starchy foods during a flare, sticking to meats and cooked vegetables.  There is much debate as to whether this is useful, but I find it to be so (very much).  Other than that, try to nourish yourself properly. Supplement if you are unsure  You can get many *unbiased* opinions as to how to do that on this forum Exercise is also very useful.  I try to exercise 3-4 times a week, doing cardio and some weights.  Some recent studies have correlated pulmonary dysfunction with UC, so I try to keep my lungs in good shape.  It's important to keep stress levels down, so learning deep breathing is useful. A good deep breathing exercise is to breath in while counting to 5 seconds, hold the breath for 20 seconds, and slowly exhale for 10 seconds.  This makes the stress melt away. I do yoga, but that may not be your thing. It's important to get out of a flare once you're in one.  They tend to get worse if left alone and can get very bad, the worst case being toxic mega-colon which is life threatening.  The medications are your first line of defense, upping the dosages of your 5-ASA drugs, or if necessary, going on Prednisone, which is a bit of a last resort. Small doses of steroids get you out of flares at first, but that drug becomes less effective the more you use it, so you have to take more.  It's possible you won't have to take them, and if you do, it might not be for awhile. Your second line of defense is switching your diet to easily digestible foods and managing your stress levels (and getting lots of sleep). So to conclude my top advice points would be: 1) Don't get overconfident when you're not flaring and do anything rash. 2) Keep a diary. 3) Listen to your doctor but learn about and manage your own condition. 4) Watch your diet; avoid sugar, caffeine and spicy foods. 5) Learn to manage your stress levels. 6) Stay out of deep flares by medications and diet/stress management/sleep. Basically it all depends on your body, etc. Everyone is different. Good luck to you. Welcome to the group. You will get a lot of support, a lot of laughs, and learn a tremendous amount here. IBD is a very individual disease(s) in that what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for the next person. Steve gave you great advice, and I would add to that - very important to have a good relationship with your GI. Communication between you and trust on your part, knowledge on his/her part are essential. Skip - your story sounds very much like mine. I started getting symptoms of UC when I was around 46 too. That was about 5-6 years ago. Don't worry though, there are many things you can do to reverse the problems. Today I am almost 90% free of symptoms - no blood or mucus and I only go once a day - not bad since my symptoms were very much at the level that you are describing. Of course there are many drugs that can help contain your symptoms and even reverse them to a great extent. I have found that there are alternatives that help as well. One thing you should know is that there are many people in this ng that have tried many things and not everything works the same for everybody. Personally I like to use a combination of modern medical treatments but also believe in natural remedies which include diet, nutritional supplements, different forms of energy balancing and proper exercise. There's a lot to say on each of those topics and I have to get some dinner right now so I will post more later. Feel free to email me direct if you wish. I'd add 3 things: - dairy products can be worth avoiding too, along with sugar, caffeine, etc - though I do think not being overconfident is very important even once a flare is over, and still being very careful about your lifestyle habits (this won't hurt anyway ;o), you have to know some people have only one flare in their life and never ear of ibd again (be it Crohn’s or UC). You won't find those people on this ng, but I think it's good to know it happens and you might be one of those. Knowing this helps me keep a positive attitude towards my disease. - I found out having some kind of psychotherapy really helps. You have to understand your stress patterns. What is stressful for your and how can your turn your point of view differently (or even change your habits) to avoid overwhelming stress. IBD can be tough sometimes but it can also be a good master in life. A good diet, regular exercise, understanding an managing stress, are not things most people tend to do when they are not forced to. But you can take advantage on your disease and learn all this from it.