Introduction:
Diagnosed in ’07. I am currently 33 years old and I live with my lovely wife, two beautiful daughters, and a son to be born in July. In addition to spending time with my family, I enjoy working out and playing basketball.
Current Colitis Symptoms:
I am currently going 2-3 times a day with mucus in the stool. There has been increased urgency and fatigue. Although these symptoms are pretty minimal I would like to squash this thing before it gains any momentum.
I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2007.
My first experience with UC was blood in the stool. After being diagnosed after my first colonoscopy, my doctor prescribed Lialda (Mesalamine) and it went into remission. Easy peasy….piece of cake!
Then it came back…after about 10-12 months and it came back a little stronger. In addition to blood on the toilet paper, there was mucus and diarrhea. I went back to the doctor and he settled things down with steroids (prednisone) and mesalamine suppositories. Remission for about 10-12 months.
Then it came back…a lot stronger. I was all out of moderate options at this point. My next step was Imuran (immune suppressant). Fortunately it did work…for a little while.
Then it came back….in the most viscous way. I was experiencing extreme urgency with an average of 15-25 bloody mucus movements a day, nausea, and fatigue. Not to mention the mental fatigue that comes with this lovely disease. It was pure hell. During this time I was being medicated with Imodium, Mesalimine, Imuran, Canasa Suppositories, and Remicade Infusions. All of this medication did nothing to help me recover. Finally on March of last year, the day before my daughter’s second birthday, I was admitted into the hospital. I was in the hospital for 6 nights/7 days and was put on IV steroids and antibiotics (flagyl). My doctor gave me a 50/50 chance of recovering and avoiding surgery because my colon was “completely shredded”. Fortunately, things settled down and I was able to avoid surgery.
When I got out of the hospital, while I was weening off of steroids, I started the SCD diet. I cannot say enough about Jordan and Steve at SCDLifestyle. They do an excellent job in their book of walking you through how to start the diet and how to properly advance into the different stages. I am a huge believer in this diet and I have never felt better than I have over the last 11 months.
However, over the last week and a half I have felt a chink in the SCD armor. After a year of near perfect intestinal health, I am now starting to have 2-3 movements a day with mucus. Some of these are coming with urgency. I have followed the diet religiously and have not introduced anything new. Furthermore, I have cut down on the grape juice, peanut butter, and coffee in hopes that things will get better.
My question goes out to anybody who has experienced a flare while having success on the SCD. Just curious what others have done and am open to any suggestions.
More veggies less fruit? Go back to the intro diet? Call my doctor for steroids?
I would just like to know if anybody has experienced a bump in the road like this and what they have done to overcome it.
Colitis Medications:
Lialda (mesalamine) worked well early on. Imuran worked for about a year. Remicade Infusions worked for about a day. At this point, the SCD has worked the best.
written by Jason
submitted in the Colitis Venting Area
I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2007.
