Stomach flu triggering a flare?

Long time lurker here - glad this forum exists. I have been in varying stages of remission since 2/13 - what started as severe pancolitis is now limited to proctitis and for the most part everything stays under control. I had an appointment with my GI doc (who is great) last week for a check in - I had been experiencing a little bit of constipation and some bleeding, so he put me on hydrocortisone suppositories for 14 days. I took them for a few days and the bleeding was almost gone! Hooray! Until....

Thanksgiving night I was up all night with really bad stomach pain and heartburn, and by morning it had escalated into horrible diarrhea. I had a low grade fever, awful muscle aches, and chills. My friend who is a nurse said it was likely norovirus and to let it run its course. This lasted for the past few days and today is the first day I have been able to eat anything besides broth - I lost 8 pounds in 3 days. I seem like I am on the mend, but I have awful tenesmus today. I am terrified to be more than 5 feet from the bathroom, and then nothing happens. The last time I had it this bad was when I had my first flare, so of course I am worried that it's a sign of things to come. My doctor told me to start the hydrocortisone suppositories again and that should help, but what do you guys think? Hoping it's just residual irritation from the virus, but would appreciate any insight or suggestions.

I too came down with something horrible thanksgiving morning. I had a really bad cold with headache which soon turned into stomach bug and diarrhea. I was in bed from Thursday night basically until yesterday. I am starting to feel better now with my headache gone and sinuses clearing but I still have D.

I shook the hand of a coworker just before leaving work on Wednesday wishing him a Happy Thanksgiving. He had been out for 4 days with the same thing and just got back that Monday.

Hope you feel better.

I always prefer a mesalamine over a steroid just because steroids are bad. They are effective, though, and if you think you can get over this with a week of steroid enemas it might be worth it.

Be careful. I contracted food poisoning (cambylobactor) a few weeks ago and it sent my UC out of control. I was not completely in remission when I contracted the bug but it was controlled to some extend. I am now on a tapering does of steroids which I am finding difficult to come off and have awful cramps. It really messed me up basically.