New here... unfortunately!!

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Chloe36 New Member Date Joined Oct 2007 Total Posts : 11	Posted 10/3/2007 5:22 PM (GMT -6)
	Hey there... my name is Heidi and I live in MA. I just turned 36... and although I haven't been diagnosed (again), I'm about 80% I have UC. A little history for ya... When I was 12yrs old I was diagnosed with UC (after almost a YEAR of Dr's trying to figure it out), I had a barium(sp) enema and it was then that I was diagnosed. I was on some kind of steriod for about a year. I've been "okay" since then (over 23yrs!) but have always had a "sensitive stomach" and have never liked spicy foods. I've eaten enough to become pretty overweight actually! SOOOOO... fast forward... Since the very beginning of Sept ('07) I've been sick sick sick. At first I thought it was some kind of a virus since it would come and go. Every 2-3 days I'd be EXAUSTED... and stuck on the toilet. As time passed... I began to realize that this maybe WASN'T a virus since my hubby nor my kids have gotten it... and I've been getting worse and not better. It's at the point now that I don't eat much of anything... I had some white bread and a couple spoonfulls of cottage cheese today... and I drank 2 bottles of Ensure. (The only PLUS to this whole thing is that I'm losing some weight...) I saw my regular Dr about a week and a half ago and she took bloodwork... my liver function is "off", so they'll do that again. Everything else with the blood looked good. At her request I brought her (several) stool samples but those wont be back for another week. She wants to rule out parasites etc. I found a Gastro office and called them MYSELF today and the "soonest" they can get me in is DECEMBER 3rd?!?! I don't think I'll make it until then, so hopefully, my regular Dr has a little pull and can make an appt happen sooner than that. I'm NOT looking forward to the inevetible colonoscopy... yuck. I don't mind the procedure itself since I'll be 1/2 way out of it, but I really don't think I'll be able to drink that "stuff" the night before. Is it still as horrible as I remember??? So LIVING with this hasn't been fun... I'm a WIFE, I'm a MOM of a 4yr old and a 3yr old AAANNNNDD I operate a home child care to three additional children M-F!! It's not easy to do that and run to the toilet 10+ times/work day!! My hands are RAW from washing them so much. So... that's my story... so far. -Heidi Back to Top

stm177 Regular Member Date Joined Jul 2007 Total Posts : 90	Posted 10/3/2007 5:35 PM (GMT -6)
	Welcome! I'm surprised it will take so long to get a colonoscopy. I live in a rural area, and only waited 3 weeks. I'd encourage you to eat some mild fish, and some boiled greens like spinach. They won't make things worse, like say fatty pork ribs or a pot roast can. Actually, maybe you can detail exactly what you eat every day. Changing my diet helped with my symptoms, although I still need to use Rowasa enemas if I'm flaring. My proctitis is very mild in comparison to many people's problems. Proctitis - diagnosed April 2007 (symptoms starting in October 2006) Flares treated with Rowasa enemas Mild food diet (chicken, rice, collard greens, no sugar, no corn, no beef/pork, etc) Back to Top

tjf Veteran Member Date Joined Dec 2005 Total Posts : 3238	Posted 10/3/2007 6:12 PM (GMT -6)
	Hey and Welcome! There is a ton of information here so if you have time you may want to peruse the posts. I definitely think it would be worth it to see if your primary can get your GI appt. bumped up. That is a long time to suffer. Foodwise....diet doesn't affect my UC. However when I am flaring I eat lots of bland food. Applesauce, baked potatos, hummos and pita is my fav. I drink Carnation Instant Breakfasts w/ lactaid milk to get extra calories. I have a 2 year so I can't imagine being in the potty all day and taking care of lots of kids! Tabitha (Tab) 100mg Azathioprine, 2 Fibercon, Colazal-6 a day, Acidopholis Pearls, Prilosec OTC http://www.healingwell.com/donate Co-Moderator UC Forum Back to Top

Chloe36 New Member Date Joined Oct 2007 Total Posts : 11	Posted 10/3/2007 6:42 PM (GMT -6)
	Well... since SUNDAY I've eaten close to nothing. It's just not WORTH IT when it seems to FLY through me in just a couple hours & gives me cramps & pain while doing so. I've eaten some goldfish crackers... I had some bread last night... I bought some Ensure at the store last night and drank a couple of those today. I'm going to make some jello... sigh... I'm not on the potty QUITE as much since I'm not eating too much... which I know won't WORK for the long run. But for now... I really don't know what else to do!!! -Heidi Back to Top

kim123 Veteran Member Date Joined Jul 2006 Total Posts : 1201	Posted 10/3/2007 6:47 PM (GMT -6)
	Heidi, welcome! Sorry you are not well. Everyone is different, and responds differently to different things. However, I was putting myself in your shoes while I was reading about your diet, and what you are eating would have definitely sent me to the loo all day, especially the bread...(yeast). My suggestion, eliminate all grains, including corn, processed foods, and sugar (refined and artificial sugar). Instead, eat all veggies, berries, meats/poultry/fish, plain yogurt, nuts-NO peanuts, (whatever you can tolerate)to your heart's content, and see if you don't notice an improvement in your symptoms, maybe even within a week. Your symptoms may have a fungal etiology. Were you ever on antibiotics or birth control pills? -or ever live/work in a moldy,mildewy environment? After I figured out the cause of my UC symptoms (fungus/yeast), I got well again. Hopefully the tests will tell you something, but they won't tell you if you have a fungal problem. That is something you have to experiment with, following an antifungal program for awhile. Take care. Keep in touch. Kim Back to Top

tjf Veteran Member Date Joined Dec 2005 Total Posts : 3238	Posted 10/3/2007 6:53 PM (GMT -6)
	When can you get to see your primary again? Tabitha (Tab) 100mg Azathioprine, 2 Fibercon, Colazal-6 a day, Acidopholis Pearls, Prilosec OTC http://www.healingwell.com/donate Co-Moderator UC Forum Back to Top

Chloe36 New Member Date Joined Oct 2007 Total Posts : 11	Posted 10/4/2007 7:02 AM (GMT -6)
	I'm seeing my primary again on Tuesday... she has to RE-test my blood since my liver function was "off" and has to do a pap. I also have a call into her... she needs to tell me what the HECK I'm supposed to do until I see a GI doc?!?! Hopefully she'll be able to get me in to see one sooner than Dec 3! Back to Top

birdiem Regular Member Date Joined Aug 2007 Total Posts : 326	Posted 10/4/2007 8:07 AM (GMT -6)
	Hi Chloe, sorry to hear that you are having problems. Welcome to the forum, I hope you find help here. katie 23 diagnosed with cecal volvulus, 2006; two colon resections in the same year diagnosed with colitis 2007 malrotated colon no cecal valve, removed during surgery gastritis VSL #3 Amitriptyline to slow gastric emptying Forvia compazine Back to Top

MitzMN Veteran Member Date Joined Feb 2007 Total Posts : 648	Posted 10/4/2007 8:23 AM (GMT -6)
	You might broach the subject of the dreaded pred with your GP. You need to get this under control if you're a mom and others are relying on you -- and you need to get it under control for you, of course. When I was diagnosed, I was so ill, mostly because no one knew what was going on and my GP didn't prescribe pred. I just got sicker and sicker, couldn't work, couldn't function, and ended up in the emergency room from dehydration. A script for pred was definitely in order; I should have insisted. Certainly you can't continue on without relief until your colonoscopy. By the time I had my colonoscopy, I had spent the previous day in the emergency room getting three bags of fluids, and all I remember from the colonoscopy is screaming STOP as soon as she started because I was so inflammed. The GI gave me more drugs after the scream and I don't remember anything else of the colonoscopy. Oh, and she also gave me a script for pred. It was too little too late. I should have been on it weeks before. Hang in there. Mitz Sporadic proctitis since about 1985. Mother had UC, then J-pouch surgery 1983. DX'd with clostridium difficile in 2000. Prednisone, two courses of Flagyl, then Vancomycin finally got rid of it. Symptomatic with UC after that. Colonoscopy in 2001 dx'd left-sided UC. Was pretty darn ill at that time. Treated with prednisone, Rowasa, Asacol. Asacol not working so switched to Imuran. Three small flares since in 2002, 2005, and 2007. Gall bladder attack 6/13; ultrasound showed stones; surgery before end of 2007. 100 mg Azathioprine and 225 mg Effexor XR (for chronic, longstanding depression) daily. Back to Top

princesa Veteran Member Date Joined Aug 2007 Total Posts : 2204	Posted 10/4/2007 9:07 AM (GMT -6)
	kim123 said... My suggestion, eliminate all grains, including corn, processed foods, and sugar (refined and artificial sugar). Instead, eat all veggies, berries, meats/poultry/fish, plain yogurt, nuts-NO peanuts, (whatever you can tolerate)to your heart's content, and see if you don't notice an improvement in your symptoms, maybe even within a week. I second Kim's suggestions. In my experience, my "comfort foods" were the very things that were making me even sicker. Through trial and error and much research - Breaking the Vicious Cycle, Listen to Your Gut, The New Eating Right for a Bad Gut - I've discovered the foods that help me most with a flare are tender white meat of chicken and turkey and mild white fish, baked or grilled, soft-cooked English peas, green beans, winter squash, baked apples or pears and very ripe bananas. Nut butters, avacado and healthy oils - Udo's, flax, olive - will help keep your calories up. You may also want to look into Absorb Plus, an enteral nutrition shake developed for IBDers. Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis spring 1999 C-scope confirmed UC diagnosis 9/18/2007 No explanation for right side pain and thickening of bowel wall Maintenance dose sulfasalazine, back on a pred taper for first flare in years Probiotics, l-glutamine and fish oil caps. George's aloe vera juice and Mucosaheal. Back to Top

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