Reply to Happy Living

Hi! Rather than hijack Jessxxx's post, I'll reply here to the questions you asked me RE left-sided UC. (1) Remission means no blood, no mucus passed with bms, and no urgency. (2) My Rx is 3 x 3 Colazal caps daily; gastro says I can vary down to 7 caps daily if I feel super-secure. Right now I'm taking 8 daily, resulting in 1 bm daily. (3) Yes, I'm careful about diet. I avoid caffeine, heavy roughage, citrus, & salt, heavy spicing, fats, seeds, carbonated drinks, and junk foods. I use lactose-free milk, no-salt added cottage cheese, and mainly gruyere, emmenthaler, appenzell, parmeggiano, & grana padano cheeses. (4) Did my doctor ever put me on other meds? Yes! I needed steroids early-on for severe inflammation, then failed to achieve lengthy remission with Sulfasalazine, Asacol, Rowasa, & Dipentum. Doctor enrolled me in a drug trial for Colazal, which became my break-through med by 2003. When Apriso came to market several years after that, doctor had me try it, but I immediately had negative respiratory effects from that formula and resumed Colazal. I have found it essential to keep well-hydrated with plain water and to resist over-indulging in rich desserts & dark chocolate, items that would tempt me the most. I also take a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement with gastro's approval. / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)

You're welcome! I find that boiled rice or potato (baked, boiled, even FFed in healthy oil) are good for firming bms, and can help reduce to 1 daily. I pay some attention to medical stats RE digestive issues, but try not to obsess on topics like daily bms or scope scheduling. A person who feels and functions well can be "normal" with a bm every other day, for example. The gastro may insist on scoping more often than we need-- because they do encounter complications in their patient loads, and therefore worry about missing some tissue abnormality at an early stage. That leaves us with the burden of when or how often to fit in prep/scope so that it doesn't cause us a physical setback. As a senior I've found my recent gyns (female) to empathize more on the GI scope issues because Propofol is used in our urban endoscopy centers for C-scope sedation, and they recognize it as "strong" for us older bodies. My last C-scope dates to 2019, and I managed to avoid scheduling another due to lengthy pandemic physician shuffles, but gastro has been pushing me lately about further delay, and I still think "UGH!" *** You had asked what I think about your situation. It didn't surprise me that your remission got shaken somewhat by a month of traveling. Lengthy transportation + changes in food & water can disturb even healthy persons' guts! Hopefully you'll get back on track soon. / Old Hat (40+ years with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)

Glad that you updated us, Happy Living. At times we can back off 3 x 3 Colazal daily, with caution. In my experience 7 caps daily does not suffice indefinitely; I have to take 8 for at least a couple months to restabilize. You could try taking 3 x 3 again for at least a couple weeks to see if you get rid of the uneasy feeling-- that may indicate you need to stick with the higher dose or risk a flare-up of UC inflammation. I agree with you that UC doesn't let us forget (entirely) about it! Take care. / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)