At what point do you go to the Er?

You should go now.

People at the ER are going to refer you to your GI specialist if you come in complaining of uc symptoms of diarrhea, blood in poop, mucus and so forth (you end up wasting your time if you are going to the ER because of those things). If, however, you are severely dehydrated, anemic, or in severe pain due to your uc flareup then I'd go as those are things the ER can and will address as they are potentially life threatening (all of which might warrant hospitalization). It is a judgement call but one that can be costly depending on your health insurance.

I agree-they'll just give you pred/solumedral and rehydrate you till your GI tells them otherwise. Can you see if the GI's office can give you fluids and speed up the biologic? Our ER number is around 20-at that point the fatigue and potty time demand to be noticed.

Thanks guys! I'm gonna give it sometime, hopefully the pred kicks in soon. If symptoms get any worse I'll go check in. It's nice to be able to communicate with others that have uc. I don't know anyone in my life who has it, so trying to talk to others is difficult.

I think you should be on a higher pred dose to get things under control until you start the simponi. Generally, it seems pretty pointless to just be on 20 mg of pred. And I agree the ER will be pretty much useless, unless you're severely dehydrated or anemic. I honestly doubt you're dehydrated, if you drink a reasonable amount of water -- I never got dehydrated when I was having 20+ BM's a day.

After my son failed IV cyclosporine he was sent home by his gi,from hosp.
Son was crapping blood 35 or so times a day and sleeping by the toilet. Lost a lot of blood.
After begging got referred to gi at big city hosp,admitted for malnutrition and dehydration,bypased er.
Colon removed about 1.5 weeks later after TPN and he was strong enough to survive surgery.
My point is don't let yourself get too sick,especially if the meds are not working.
Old MIke

I'm sorry that you are flaring this bad. I understand the feeling. I just got out of a very bad 3 month long flare. Like you 10-15 bm daily, however I had lots of blood and cramping.

Like most have said, everyone is different. The key for an ER visit is if you feel dehydrated and anemic and you can't get that on your own at home. In the ER they will check your hemoglobin, CBC, dehydration and electrolyte levels. If needed, they will give you fluid, pain meds and possibly start you on a steroid IV. Unless you potassium is severely low or you need a blood transfusion they will admit you, otherwise they will release you.

Another option is to call your GI and get blood work done STAT order and see if you are in dire need for fluids, potassium, blood transfusion (doubt that) and a quick steroid IV to get things started.

I hope you feel better soon!

I never go to the ER. I went one time b/c I had the stomach bug on top of a flare. They gave me fluids, imodium and anti nausea meds. It costs me a fortune even w/ insurance. They were definitely not knowledgeable on UC and it was a little frustrating.

Sorry you are feeling bad.

I never get the ER haters. Maybe bad experiences for some people. For me, thank God I went because they admitted me and believe me it was the best thing I could have done for myself. I was severely anemic, severely dehydrated and my electrolytes were all over the map. I needed IV pred in me to do the trick. The oral wasn't working because I couldn't hold down anything anymore, even my meds.

To answer your question, prior to my hospitalization, I knew I was a train wreck waiting to happen, so I asked my GI how to determine whether or not I needed to go to the hospital should it come to that. His answer to me was if I could no longer eat or drink it was time to go. I was vomiting everything up, bile included. I'm not saying that is the only determining factor, but that was his answer to me.

I agree with some others that 20 mg of pred is a complete waste of time. It is not a high enough dosage to shut down your immune response. I have always started at 60 mg.

i am very thankful for the ER. i have been admitted every time for various things and it's always because i really need to be there. i really try to hold off unless the pain is very bad. i usually need iron, blood, antibiotics, or iv pred. there have been about a handful of times i have went where i thought it was a flare but it ended up being c diff or appendicitis. these can be very serious and time sensitive illnesses so treatment is crucial. always go if you think something is out of the ordinary for you.

I wouldn't go to the ER unless I was in miserable pain and felt like I couldn't make it through the day. I know they would just give me prednisone and I don't want that so I would fight as hard as possible to stay out of the ER. I second what others said, 20mg is not usually the starting dose of pred. Usually people start at 40mg or 60mg to get a flare up under control. I personally wouldn't go to the ER for 10 trips a day. I probably went 20x the other day with blood, fatigue and severe pain and I never considered the ER. That's just me though. I am very up and down. Some days I go 5x others 20x. If I went to the ER and it was just one bad day and I ended up on prednisone for MONTHS because of a bad day, I would be really angry.

That's the worst gary. Sorry :(