Brookie, 29 years old & pregnant.
Meet Brookie G:
I’m a 29 year old caucasian female from Minnesota. I’m currently 20 weeks pregnant. I have had IBS symptoms since junior high and spent the majority of my high-school years in the bathroom. How cool was that! But, I managed to keep it a secret from most people. I was diagnosed with proctitis in 1999 and with full blown UC in 2002. I’ve had c-diff once before and a couple of hospital stays over the past 10 years and treated with Asacol on a daily basis since the diagnosis with bouts of prednisone on and off when flares popped up.
Colitis Symptoms:
urgency (even through the night), frequent BMs, and dying the toilet with bright red blood. C-diff ruled out. Weight loss of a few pounds
Pregnant with a Colitis Flare:
I had been in remission for about 4 years. I have been on daily Asacol for the past 10 years and have always eaten a lower carb diet as a life style (not too strict) so thought it was a great time to try to start to have a family. I could basically eat and drink what I wanted. I have eaten a lower carb/sugar diet to stay in a healthy weight range on my 5 foot frame and wasn’t really due to UC. Even though I take Asacol on a daily basis, I felt like UC was in my past. I rarely had symptoms. 20 days ago (around 18 weeks pregnant in my second tri-mester), I got the dreaded flar!. My GI Doc started me on 40 mg/day of prednisone for 20 days and just tapered down to 30/day. Symptoms are maintaining but not getting better. I lost a few pounds of the ten I gained during the 1st half of pregnancy. This is the first time in my life where the prednisone doesn’t seem to be working like a magic pill and I still dye the toilet with blood. I HATE the insomnia side effect! I have been on spurts of prednisone for 6 months at a time and know all to well the Moon Face. I started the SCD a couple of weeks ago after having a “Freak out” phase, started feeling better and then ate like crap for a few days. Thus, my gut didn’t like me going back to the sugary/carb stuff and now am starting the diet up again. It’s hard having the pregnancy cravings and eating on this diet! Anyone else on this diet while they were pregnant? Were you able to put on enough weight on? Were you on prednisone? Is your baby ok? I’m worried about anemia and pre-term delivery. Did you have a high-risk OB? My GI doctor said that is usually common for people to continue to have a flare up during the remainder of the pregnancy due to all of the changes stress on the body. I down a probiotic yogurt every morning too. Any feedback would be helpful.
Where I’d like to be in 1 year:
Symptom free, like I used to be (even if I have to continue on Asacol).
written by Brookie G
over 20 more stories about pregnancy and colitis – right here
I was diagnosed with full on ulcerative colitis in 2002. I have also been previously diagnosed with Clostridium difficile as well. I’m from Minnesota!!
