Ulcerative Proctitis Flared Up the Exact Same Time Last Year

Meet Han:

Ulcerative Proctitis Symptoms: 

My Story:

Before last summer, I did not know what Ulcerative Colitis was. I did hear of Crones but still didn’t know much about it. Right after graduation and traveling for a friend’s wedding in June 2011, I started experiencing blood but no pain. I thought it was really strange. It was definitely a stressful time when it came to starting to look for jobs and getting situated living back at home.

In July, I finally went to the doctor and had my first colonoscopy which confirmed Proctitis. It was definitely very scary after reading many peoples’ stories of their experiences. It cleared up right away with Canasa but in September, it returned. I was now experiencing pain even on the top of my abdomen which I hadn’t had before. I went to the doctor and they prescribed me with Rowasa enemas. They didn’t think it could spread through the colon in just a matter of months so I thought maybe the pain in the upper abdomen was just diarrhea pains.The pain and blood finally subsided in November 2011 for a good 7 months. I felt like I was back to normal again which I was thankful for. When I feel like myself, I tend to forget that I have this condition and I go back to eating and drinking things that are probably not UC friendly(however I’m not a drinker/smoker) I went through a lot of major stresses during that time too which I was so grateful to not have any problems during.

However, in May of 2012, my lower left abdomen really started to gargle and I felt very gassy. There were a couple saturdays where I just had to lie in bed and sleep off and on because I felt so weak and to help the twinges of pain. It just didn’t feel right at all. I didn’t see any blood though. However 2 weeks ago, I finally saw blood. I went to another doctor to get a 2nd opinion and he scheduled another colonoscopy. I didn’t understand why he had to do that since I thought he could just increase my medication and give me something else. I’m so glad he did schedule one. This past week, my pain was really bad and I came home from teaching summer school everyday to take a nap. I went to the ER on Friday since it was so bad. The doctor didn’t give me anything other than for pain meds but scheduled the colonoscopy for today. I went into it hopeful that it was just the proctitis acting up but the doctor was shocked to find that it is through the entire colon. I’m wondering if it was like that in September thru November of last year too. My proctitis was the spot that actually looked good. I’m now on 30mg of prednisone and Lialda twice a day. I am so scared about the prednisone. Being on prednisone is probably one of my worst fears.

This is a little discouraging since I will be headed up to Alaska in a month to teach in a small village. I’m really hoping that I can get everything under control before then. There are not many doctors where I’ll be going. I will definitely be watching my diet more carefully. I love coffee and sweet tea a lot so it’ll be hard but I would rather not be sick.

Questions:
I flared exactly the same exact time last summer, has anyone experienced that? Like maybe heat tends to induce it at times?

Where I’d Like to be in 1 year:

written by Han

Han

I am just about 23 years old and diagnosed with Ulcerative Proctitis in July of 2011.