Colonoscopy result?

Hi...sucks you've been sick with a gastro invader (not called flu which is respiratory). I suggest you take probiotics to help rebalance the gut flora. Fibre supplements are also a good thing to use as a prebiotic and get invaders swept out.

Your pathology isnt unlike mine in the past. It doesn't mean your rectum is being eaten away....it means that chronic inflammation has restructured the cells. Normal in having UC.

You really need to be on the enemas treatment dosage for a much longer period of time and taper to a continual maintenance.
Eventually, the cells will start to restructure as constant inflammation ceases (but with constant med use).

What's the plan for you ?

q

The foods aren't making your flare worse....it's because you've been undertreated.
The commitment of your meds should help, but it takes time with the rectal route.
Others have been on holidays and brought the enemas. Maybe put out a post asking about that.

Do you have enough enemas till you see your doctor?

Try to eat as balanced as possible....including meat protein sources, eggs, fish, etc.
I've never cut out food, but there were foods I limited in the first few years of diagnosis based on gas discomfort.

q

Thanks for the support! I have been depressed again...my husband thought I cut down on my happy pills lol But I didn't...probably pooped them out!

Anyhow, the last 2 enema nights haven't been overly successful. They are not absorbed much. I still have that flu like feeling in my butt! Maybe the gastrointestinal bug I had slowed down any progress I made in the rectal area with the enemas. Would foam or suppositories be Better?

I'd try the 2-enemas daily for about 2-weeks before drawing any kind of conclusion on their effectiveness.

If you need faster relief then some form of steroids would be the only answer: be it oral prednisone, delayed-release budesonide oral tablets like Uceris/Entocort EC, or budesonide/hydrocortisone rectal foam, hydrocortisone enemas or suppositories.

Foam 5ASA/Mesalamine is not any faster working or effective than enemas are. Just different means of delivering the medication.

I'd wager there is a lot of health-anxiety going here, based on reading your posts. I do believe you are blaming a lot on the enemas that is in fact caused by the flare itself. At the top of this post, you say mild to moderate protosigmoiditis. Reading your posts it sounds more like a severe case, based on your struggles described (and on those alone I would say prednisone and a biologic).

The maximum mesalamine dosage I've been prescribed by my gasteroenteroligist was 12.8-grams a day. That's two of the 4.0-gram enemas, and 4.8-grams of oral Lialda pills. I had no side effects from the mesalamine at that dosage, and you cannot overdose at that dose either.

If you really need to kick start the healing before this trip, then steroids are the way to get there. Either oral prednisone or a safer budesonide (uceris or entocort EC). A bit much for a mild though...

There's a small chance that you have a sulfite allergy (less than 5%), mesalamine enemas do contain sulfite as a preservative. You can always skip the enemas for 48-hours and see if your symptoms get dramatically better to test it.

Glad you're feeling better! Sounds like a good plan to stay off of them for now.

You very well could have a sulfite allergy then. Note that the oral mesalamine pills do not contain any sulfites (unless you're talking sulfasalazine, which certainly does). The mesalamine enemas do have sulfite as a preservative.

Note that you can get a sulfite-free mesalamine enema, known as sfRowasa, which would be fine for those with sulfite allergies.

Can you drink a glass of wine without troubles, or does it bother you? I ask as wines are also high in sulfites.