My name is Shawna, I am 31 years old.
I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis a year ago.
I started noticing I was having a problem with diarrhea a few times a day, after about a week of this I started seeing blood. About a month later I went to the doctor and was told to just take pepto bismol. I did that and nothing happened.
I went to another doctor and he said to take Immodium Ad, that didn’t work either. I went to a third doctor and she actually did a stool sample and saw that there was blood and told me to see a GI doctor. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy about two months after my first problems with diarrhea, by this time I was feeling really weak and I had lost 10 pounds. The colonoscopy showed ulcerative colitis. I was put on Lialda and went into remission. I have three children and I am now 5 months pregnant with number four. As soon as i got into my second trimester I started having a flare up. The doctors put me on a 40mg taper of Prenisone. As soon as i take the steroid i feel much better, but after about 7pm I start having to use the bathroom more and I am up about five times in the night with diarrhea. There is still blood even though I am taking Lialda and Prednisone…is this normal? It has been difficult to be a mother and be pregnant while going through a flare up. I have been flaring for about a month now.
Any advice would be great, since i am still pretty new to this disease.
I’m not sure if any foods I eat make it worse, but i feel like I have been eating pretty healthy (no soda/caffeine, no fast food, I don’t smoke or drink). I hope it goes into remission soon, I would really like to enjoy this pregnancy!
Submitted by “Shawna” in the Colitis Venting Area and this story is now entered in the 2011 IHAVEUC Writing Contest!
