First post and questions

Hi everyone,

I was first diagnosed with UC in 2010 and have been able to keep my flares in check since then, mostly. When I was first diagnosed it took me some time to finally admit that I needed to go to the emergency because of frequency and blood loos during BMs. After a scope it was confirmed that I had UC and I was prescribed 3 800mg pills of asacol once in the morning and once at dinner. After starting with the asacol it very quickly helped me get to remission within a week or two.

about a year later I had too much fried food at the fair that started another flare with high BM frequency and blood loss. I was given 40mg of pred with a taper schedule for about a month. The prednisone was like a bucket of water on a fire, totally helped immediately.

A year later flared again due to a dearth in the family and the related stress and the prednisone was able to do the exact same thing as before. Worked very well.

Recently, I flared again after eating way too many processed sliced meats. It was a very mild flare and I didn't really have any blood other than a few drops at the end of my bowel movements, which weren't really D but not as formed as when I was in complete remission. I let the flare get worse over the last few weeks but I haven't had nearly the amount of blood ( not even a quarter as bad as the other flares) in my BM, however I've had discomfort and frequent BM ( about 6 or 7 a day).

I went to see my GI and she said she wanted me to try the salofalk enemas for a month to see if that will help before going on prednisone again.

I've been using the enemas for a few days and they seems to help but I'm concerned about how long they will take to help, as the prednisone was helping get me back to "normal" almost immediately. I've been reading a lot about diet and I've been staying away from dairy and gluten, but I wanted to know about the relationship between flaring and meat. Should I be staying clear of it?

This flare has been weird in that it wasn't so bad at first but I'm not taking prednisone right off the bat like before so maybe my expectations are skewed.

I'm leaving for Europe in July for a month with my wife and want to be healthy and in full remission before we leave. My GI also gave me a prescription for prednisone just in case I flare while I'm on vacation.

I've definitely lost some weight and still have some discomfort on my left side, but I've had good success administering and keeping the enemas in overnight.

I've had some dizzy spells too but I'm guessing that's because I'm slightly dehydrated, also some discomfort around my groin area but I'm not sure if it's related to the flaring. I don't think I have a UTI but I'm going to go to my family doctor tomorrow to request urine and stool tests.

Really, this site has been a big help in my navigating this disease, and I'm looking for some guidance on what's happening to me based on some of the experiences of others.

Many thanks

Easter weekend meals were a bit heavy and may have caused some more discomfort and D, but I just administered another enema and am feeling better. Only issue is the D I experience in the morning, but that seems to be normal from what I've read.

I've been also reading about probiotics, and I'm a bit unclear about which ones I should get. I live in Canada and I'm not sure what is available, if a prescription is required, and where I can purchase them.

I'm going to focus on my diet this week with chicken, fish and rice to see how that affects me.

When should I gauge the effectiveness of the enemas? My GI said to give her office a call in about 2 weeks.

Prednisone is like a rocket ship, it's accelerates fast and is then stopped. The enemas work slower, taking 2-3 weeks but can be used long term as a maintenance treatment. Fast doesn't always produce the longest lasting results.

Flares just happen and we try to find causation when there's no actual correlation. Hind sight is always perfect 20/20 vision, if only i hadn't X then i wouldn't have flared. We're usually wrong in our assumption. Rather, inflammation builds very, very slowly over months until it reaches a tipping point and *wham* we suddenly experience a flare. So it wasn't the cookie I ate yesterday that caused that flare, rather a small amount of untreated inflammation that my maintenance treatment couldn't treat that built up over time.

I eat meat without issues. I try to eat healthy but do occasionally indulge in greasy foods and things outside the healthy sphere. Not everyone has food sensativities or flare based on what they eat and i am obe of them.

You sure it's not the banana in the shake? I have a jpouch and what will help me get a little formation and not just straight liquid output is a banana (I eat 3 a day).

I wanted to update and also ask a few questions.

My flare is still mild, from what I can tell. I've only passed a little blood once yesterday, but my BM are not improving in a completely linear way. Most times it's formed but when I flush it's like it dissolves when I flush. I haven't been eating any processed foods, dairy and limited gluten.

The salofalk enemas seems to be helping but I feel like absolute crap sometimes and sometimes I feel fine. Sometimes I feel like I'm having heart palpitations, sometimes nausea, sometimes feel weak.

I've lost about 15 lbs in just over 3 weeks and I feel a little bit weak, but I'm not really passing any blood.

Is this normal? Is been about 10 days on the enemas and I have a follow up with my GI on May 3.

I'm just generally not feeling like my normal upbeat self and I haven't really experienced this even when my flares were worse (passing significant blood) however each one of those times my GI gave me prednisone and I felt almost back to normal within 3 days.

Still doing the smoothies with bananas and blueberries for breakfast, I've been eating homemade chicken soup with carrots and potatoes, lightly seasoned halibut, smoked salmon, tuna, avocados and some crackers. Trying to keep my diet healthy and eating smaller meals more often.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to post another update and I have some more questions.

I had a follow up with my GI yesterday and she said it sounds like I'm getting very close to remisssion with my mild flare. I think she's right. I have 1 or 2 BM a day, kind of constipated now but not too bad, will no blood. Still feeling the occasional cramp here and there on my left side. But I'm sticking with the salofalk enemas every other night and my 3 800mg asacol with breakfast and dinner. So on my UC front, I'm feeling better for sure. She's going to do a colonoscopy on May 29 to check things out to be sure.

My only issue now is I feel like I'm getting carpal tunnel in my left hand and it's been getting a bit worse over the last week. I've also been feeling tingling behind my left knee and in my left foot, but not as often as the pain and tingling in my left hand. I do a lot of typing at work and it does feel like it's making things worse in my left hand. It's really only my ring finger and occasionally the middle and pinky finger. I've been doing some reading about the associations between UC and nerve and joint pain but I'm not sure what to make of this.

I've also been having chest pains but my doctor told me it's most likely costocondritis because my ecgs and bloodwork came back normal.

Should I keep an eye on it for a week and see if it's gets worse? Should I be seeing a neurologist?

I slept funny a few days ago and got a crazy knot in the right trap muscle on my back/neck. Lately it's like one thing after another.

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your replies ipoop. When the doctor checked my bloodwork for heart inflammation it came back negative and I've only used prednisone about 4 time over 7 years each time starting at 40mg and tapering for about a month or two. I didn't really feel I had any negative side effects on the pred other than some mild hand swelling at first which went away and a little weight gain but nothing crazy.

I'm feeling better overall. No blood and no diarrhea but I I did see just a tiny bit of blood in my BM this morning but none in the afternoon. I'm still feeling pretty good. I ended up picking up a pack of VSL3 probiotic at Costco last week and I feel they have been helping. I take it in the morning with my fruit smoothie and it seems to keep my stomach calm and keeps me more regular with more normal BMs.

the tingling and potential carpal in my left hand have subsided, especially my left hand and wrist after trying not to type for too long at work and give it a bit of a rest. But this is where I'm beginning to not understand.

I've basically stopped the salofalk enemas for about a week and haven't had any issues. Then tonight I figured I would use one to make sure I'm not slipping backwards. Within 10 minutes of administering the enema I started to feel the pain and tingling in my left leg again. My chest pains came back and I did not feel well.

My question is if I am taking asacol orally twice a day (3 pills in the morning and 3 at dinner) why are the enemas affecting me like this? I thought these issues may have been caused by the enemas but now I'm quite certain of it. Could it be that I'm ok with the oral asacol but not with the salofalk enemas?

I also noticed that my heart rate dropped after the enema to about 52 bpm.

Post Edited (Rtp85) : 5/10/2017 12:02:20 AM (GMT-6)