Flare up with 10 weeks pregnancy

hi all,

i was diagnosed with pan ulcerative colitis in July last year. Symptoms were sudden and after 15 days of medication which included a mix of antibiotics, mesalamine and corticosteroids tablets, i was admitted to hospital where i was put on intravenous steroids to stop bleeding.

After a long course of corticosteroids (prednisolone tablets) which lasted till Nov 2015, i finally managed to get off them (still continued mesalamine) and stay symptoms free up until now.

Start of this year, in Jan, i had first bloody stool which coincided with confirmation that i was pregnant.

That was one-off and for the next 30 odd days i stayed relatively symptoms free.

However 4 days ago, i started with mild abdominal pain which got worse with frequent urge to go to loo. Since then i have had stools with fresh blood in them on and off for the past four days.

I saw the consultant and he straight away put me on prednisolone 40 mg while continuing with 1.2 mesalamine (3 times a day).

This was four days ago, but has not had much effect.

I consulted my consultant again and he reckons if it gets any worse in the next few days, i should get admitted and start intravenous steroids. This is something i am not very keen on given i am in my early days of pregnancy and do not want to cause (any more) harm to the baby.

On the other hand, i do not want to delay this due to fears of repeating the past years long treatment.

Would those who have had similar experience suggest a course of action and/or share their experiences?

How long did your flare-ups last? Also is it common to get flare-ups back so quickly (i have only been off steroids for 2-3 months)?

appreciate any feedback, replies.

thanks in advance.

I think that at this point, you need to make sure to get the flare under control for your baby's sake. Congrats on the pregnancy, BTW! You may want to ask to see a high-risk OB, or ask your gastro doc to consult with one to make sure the UC treatment he's proposing is safe.

As for your question about how long flare-ups last, that's a pretty individualistic thing. As for whether or not it's common to get flare-ups that quickly, I'd say no, not if your maintenance meds are working. In your case, it seems that your flare up could be because of the pregnancy (it's common to flare when pregnant because of all the hormone fluctuations), so it's hard to know if the maintenance meds would have worked if you'd not gotten pregnant. To be clear, I'm not "blaming" you for getting pregnant, just trying to answer your questions!

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Symptomatic remission as of 5/2009;mild flare 5/2014, quickly resolved
Colonoscopy in 10/2011 showed no inflammation
Symptoms began in 11/2008, 4 weeks after birth of first child; diagnosed with pancolitis 1/2009.
Second child born 3/2013; no post-partum flare up.
Meds: Apriso (4 0.375 g pills daily), probiotic. Used mesalamine enemas, but seem to now be intolerant.