Flare up

Hi, I've been diagnosed with colitis since 2002. Ive has flare ups but not a major one until 7 months ago. From January to May I was on steroids and pentaza. I'm now taking Azathioprine (one tablet every other day) as well as pentaza. I still don't feel 100%, as sometimes my stools are still watery with slight blood loss. I just feel I'm not progressing and it gets me depressed. I know things take time but it's just disheartening.

[CormorantWatcher]

Brummie, you have to stick with it. I was diagnosed in 2003 and managed UC with a cocktail of drugs for 4 years. With each flare up, the dose went up - I was on enough steroids to feed a rhinoceros and tried azathioprine (allergic reaction) and others. Ultimately, the flare ups became more frequent and more violent. I had surgery in 2008.

However, I've known people who manage it with drugs for years, occassional flares being the difficult bit. Some go rapidly downhill (when I was in hospital, there was a guy who had done my 5 year process in 6 weeks).

As I know face a minor recurrence in a part of my original bowel below the surgical site, it's slightly depressing to think that without this annoying disease I could have done more and do more, but that also makes me want to try harder to get back to where I was.

This year I cracked a 140km (88miles) cycling race, I want to get back to running (done a marathon before diagnosis, half marathon since surgery, but nothing much for the slat couple of years), but it's slow progress...

Stick with it, hang tough and stay as fit as you can.

[Hidden in reply to CormorantWatcher]

Thank you for your reply, knowing peiple are going through the same thing helps. Yes it is a slow process, I guess I'm slightly impatient and being a worrier doesn't help. But I am trying to think positive!

[elwins]

I have colitis and I control mine by what I eat, certain foods cause mine to flare up mainly wheat. It is a case of trialing different foods to see what agrees with you and what does not.

[Hidden in reply to elwins]

I'm trying a low fibre diet at the moment and that's working well, so I'm going to slowly introduce fibre again soon.

[Lcatwell]

That us how I feel I was on Cimzia but had reactions to it. Then found out my colonoscopy showed acute colitis in which the Cimzia was doing nothing for my chron'so after 5 months of treatment. Off treatment from February to June and now on HumIra and it feels like it is taking forever for it to really take affect. My arthritis so worse an I am so much pain with my joints and so fatigued. Does anyone else show fatigue from humira.

[Hidden in reply to Lcatwell]

I haven't tried humira but I know it's frustrating when things don't work out straight away. Hope your arthritis pain gets better.

[Hidden]

Thanks, I'll try the silica, I didn't realise that would help, I haven't done much research into that.