Diary of a Mad Colon—News = Stress = Flare

The news that plays 24/7 is bad for my colon. Seriously. There is never anything good to report these days. It’s non-stop catastrophes, intolerance and hate. I don’t remember being this affected by the news, but it never used to be on all the time. Plus, I had a life then, before I was sick. Now, watching television is one of the few highlights of my day. The problem is even with many channels to choose from, there isn’t anything worth watching so I usually end up on the news channels. Not anymore. I have decided that I have had enough. Every time I watch the news I end up angry and stressed out. And that isn’t good for my health because I end up with a colitis flare.

Stress is a funny thing because the right kind of stress can be good for you. Meeting a deadline is an example of good stress. I call it motivation. Being bombarded with negative news reports is the wrong kind of stress. It eats away at me and I want to lash out. I have reached the point where I don’t even care about what is happening anywhere. All the disasters, all the murders, all the politicians spewing crap—I am becoming hardened to everything and I’m not sure that is good. When they showed the Chilean miners being rescued, I didn’t give a crap. In fact, I was mad because they broke into my television show to announce the rescue. I didn’t care. I am so sick of it all that I have put armor on to protect me, but the armor also tunes out the rare good news.

Do I have to be unfeeling to protect my health? Probably not, but it’s better then having a flare. I still care about people close to me; I’m just tired of sympathizing with strangers beamed into my living room every day and night.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My Mad Colon

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Exercise is Good for the Soul and Colitis

Anyone who has ever suffered from chronic pain knows how hard it is to get up and do any type of exercise. Just getting out of bed can be Hell and the thought of going for a walk seems impossible. But it’s not. And I have discovered that doing some type of exercise actually helps the pain. Doctors used to tell patients suffering from arthritis to refrain from exercising because it could do further damage to their joints. Not any more. Now doctors encourage people with arthritis and other types of chronic pain to exercise to help strengthen joints and muscles. The pain can get worse without some exercise.

http://www.arthritis.org/exercise-intro.php

Now, when I say exercise, I’m not talking about high impact aerobics. Certain exercises could hurt joints and muscles. It’s best to check with a doctor or physical therapist to see what type of exercise works for you. All of the exercises I do I learned while in physical therapy and I know what might hurt me and what is good for my body. I walk and swim. I also have an elliptical machine because it gives me an impact-free workout, much easier on my joints than a treadmill. I really like it because it works out my whole body. I also do some stretching for my back, abdominal crunches to strengthen my back, lift hand weights for upper body strength and butt lifts for those buns of steel that I yearn to have, but have yet to achieve.

http://exercise.about.com/cs/exercisegear/a/treadelliptical.htm

There are some days when my energy level is so low that I can’t exercise or can only handle a light ten-minute workout. It’s important to listen to your body and learn what you can and can’t do. If exercise causes the pain to get worse, it’s best to stop.

Exercise is also good for colitis and maintaining colon health. It is a bit challenging for me though when I am in a flare because walking and moving certain parts of the body can make things move too fast through my digestive system. Not a good thing when out for a walk. This is a good time to listen to what the body is saying and alter the workout to do exercises that won’t irritate the flare. During a flare, I might exercise at home so I am close to a bathroom and I might skip the stomach crunches, especially if I am having severe stomach pain.

Exercise is the best thing you can do for your body and mental well-being. I enjoy walking early in the morning with my husband. It is our quiet, reflective time and also our time to converse about things we want to talk about without any interruptions. The mornings here are beautiful, the rising sun painting the mountains in pink and gold, illuminating between deep shadows and splashes of light. When exercising at home, I watch television, usually reruns of Charmed or Supernatural—not as breathtaking as the mountains, although the hot brothers in Supernatural come close, LOL—but watching television is a good way to pass the time on the elliptical.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My mad colon

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What is chronic pain like?

Chronic pain is like the endless sound of death metal music—super distorted guitars and a gun machine beat with no melody in sight. The singer grinds out what sounds like the Devil’s throaty pitch. The pain, the music, rattles my skull all day and all night. Or sometimes the pain sounds like a large rock being run over by a lawn mower, the blade grinding the stone in an ear-splitting roar. I cover my ears and it still doesn’t go away.

Chronic pain is like the stench of rotten meat or burnt flesh, stinging my nose, my eyes, and making me retch—over and over again. The awful smell follows me around every day.

Chronic pain is like the endless sight of a diseased foot with fungus or pus-filled sores. Or like a maggot-infested corpse. These repulsive visions remain in my head all the time even when I try to see something beautiful like a rose or a sunset.

Chronic pain tastes like this horrible-tasting antibiotic I had to take, which had a bitter, metallic aftertaste that made me wince and gag every time I had to swallow it. Or sometimes the pain tastes like sour milk. The horrible taste never leaves my mouth.

What is chronic pain like to you?

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My mad colon

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The Simple Things in Life

Living with chronic pain for about ten years has made me appreciate the simple things more. Just being able to get out of bed in the morning is cause for celebration. This probably sounds pathetic to healthy people and that’s okay. I never would have thought that the highlight of my day would be a morning walk. That morning walk is kind of cool though, sort of Zen-like with the way the sun rises over the mountains in a mix of dramatic shadows and red-gold light. I could use more moments like that to keep the stress away.

Life used to move fast for me with full time work and hanging at bars/clubs on the weekend, but now my favorite day is Sunday—movie day here at the house. Because of my illness, I can’t drink anymore and staying out all night makes me feel like crap. So, instead of going out drinking and listening to live bands (or being in the band because I used to play in a hard rock band), I look forward to movie day.

Other simple things I enjoy are gazing at sunrises, sunsets, moon and starlit skies from my yard. I also keep myself from going insane by writing (I am a published author) and reading anything from historical novels, fantasy or paranormal romances. This is much different from my old fast-paced life. And it doesn’t bother me that much either. In fact, I have grown used to this slower pace and I actually like it.

I think it’s better to surrender to the illness and roll with the changes it brings. It seems to work for me. Find that Zen-like place that makes you feel good.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My mad colon

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Chrohn’s or Colitis?

I have no idea what is going on with me. Supposedly I have left-sided ulcerative colitis, but I have been having right sided pain and a lot of stomach problems that don’t seem to belong to colitis. I was also really tired, a scary kind of tired different from my usual fatigue, where I thought something was really wrong.

I saw my doctor recently and told him how sick I have been, the right side pain, blah, blah, blah and asked him if this was normal for colitis. He didn’t think so, but thought I had a secondary infection. The antibiotic he gave me specifically treats stomach infections and when I looked it up later, I noticed it is used to treat people with Chrohn’s disease. Chrohn’s is kind of similar to Ulcerative Colitis except that it affects the small and large intestine and can affect the anywhere from the mouth to the rectum. I think it is worse than colitis because it can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract and it would explain why I have been so sick. The problem is it is really hard to tell the two apart and difficult to diagnose.

Here is a link to more info on Chrohn’s disease and the different types: http://ibdcrohns.about.com/od/cdbeyondbasics/a/crohnstypes.htm

This link also shows some of the differences in the two diseases:

http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/ulcerativecolitis/UC_whatis.html

So, do I have Chrohn’s disease? Who knows? My doctor didn’t say anything and maybe it doesn’t really matter as long as I respond to the treatments. It appears Chrohn’s and UC are treated basically the same anyway. If I get sick like that again than maybe it will be time for more tests, but I don’t really want more tests. I hate tests and not sure they really help anyway. I have a chronic disease. That I know. As long as I have my appetite back, my tummy isn’t hurting too bad and I am back to my normal pain and fatigue, I’m good.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My mad colon

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Sick of Being Sick

I feel like my life has been stolen from me. After dealing with one chronic illness for ten years and another one for three, I feel like I am going crazy. I can't get my life together because I always seem to be starting over. I'm sick so much that I can't keep a job and I feel like a loser. I have tried everything I can think of to stay healthy. I eat right to manage the colitis, I do my exercises to help with my chronic pain and I don't go out and party anymore, but I still can't stay healthy for very long. My doctors don't seem to know what to do with me other than to prescribe pills. I believe that the mind can heal the body, but positive thinking only goes so far. It's a temporary fix for me. And when I see other people with a chronic illness able to live an active life, I wonder what I am doing wrong.

I feel so exhausted trying to deal with being sick all the time. Try to imagine being sick with a flu-like bug every single day. That’s pretty close to what I have to deal with. It’s impossible to hold down a job and a battle to do regular, simple every day things like take a shower or grocery shopping. It involves a lot of willpower and drugs to be able to function at all. It’s real easy and tempting for me to fall into a black hole, but I am lucky to have a caring husband and family. And two dogs that need me to care for them. That’s a good motivator.

Sometimes I just want to scream. Will this ever end? Not likely. I try not to think of my future. If I do it just makes me scared and crazy. Wow, it turns out that ranting like this actually does help to brighten a dark mood. Cool.

Cheers and stay healthy!

Colitis Chick

My colon is really mad today

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Misunderstood

Sometimes it's hard to deal with an unseen disease. What I mean is that from the outside, I don't really look sick, I'm not in a wheel chair or I don't have a cast on any of my limbs. If one would look close enough, they would notice that I often look tired, but that is the only real indication that I am sick. While I may look healthy on the outside, I feel horrible on the inside. I don't think people understand when I make excuses to stay home and not participate because they don't know I am sick. And telling them I am sick is just as frustrating because I don't want to have to explain my illness. I'm not one to whine and complain to people, except to my husband or close family members. I don't think it's anyone's business. But then I feel like people think I'm weird. And then I believe that I am weird. Do I shy away from having to socialize because I am sick or is it because I hate to socialize? After a while, I don't know.

I wonder if other people with a chronic illness feel the same way—misunderstood.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My mad colon

Technorati Tags: ulcerative colitis,chronic diseases,coping with colitis

Playing Football with Colitis?

Can a person really play football when they have ulcerative colitis? I'm posing this question because I needed one of my doctors to fill out my jury duty excuse form and I was completely caught by surprise by something he said. Since I had an appointment already set up with my doctor that treats me for colitis, I had him fill out the form. He said that he didn't think that ulcerative colitis would be a good enough excuse to get me out of jury duty because there are guys that can play football with the disease. Wow, really? First of all, I would rather play football then go to jury duty. Who wouldn't? But I have to know if this is something that is common because I sure don't think I could play football with colitis, but then maybe I'm a lot sicker than most people get with this disease because I also have a secondary complication that may or may not be related to the colitis. I'm beginning to wonder if I am an oddball though. I have to wonder if these 'guys' are young because that would make sense. Someone in their twenty's would probably be in better overall health than someone in their forty's. It probably also depends on whether there is a secondary condition present like in my case.

I don't think my doctor was being sarcastic, but I don't know. He filled out the form for me. After I left the doctor's office, it had me wondering though if he thinks like my dad. My dad believes in 'walking it off' when you are sick or hurt. And then I felt like maybe I am being a baby as far as my illness goes. Maybe I should toughen it out. I think maybe I over think things too much and this probably doesn't help me stay healthy. I shouldn't care what other people think. Everyone is different when it comes to how they handle an illness. There are some people that are really sick and can still maintain an active lifestyle. I guess I'm not one of those people and maybe I just need to accept it. I have already tried to keep doing everything I used to do and when I do that I end up feeling sicker because I over did it. I think it's about knowing your body and knowing what you can and can't do. And not what other people think you should do. I just need to remember that.

If there is one perk from having a chronic illness, it’s being able to get out of jury duty. At least I hope so.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My mad colon

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Colitis is a Systemic Disease

Apparently, I am a medical anomaly. I have a case of ulcerative colitis, but of course, it can't be a normal case. My colitis affects other areas of my body: mainly my lower back joints. I also have chronic pain all over my body that may or may not have to do with colitis. Who knows? My doctors certainly don't know. From the beginning they were scratching their heads when I ended up in the emergency room with severe back and leg pain, symptoms that pointed to a herniated disc, but that made no sense because I had not been involved in any accidents or falls.

The back pain had been building for weeks and not responding to any anti-inflammatory meds and then I started to have an electric shock down my backside and leg that indicated sciatica. Then one day the pain got much worse and I couldn't lift my arms. My leg pain was so bad I wanted to chop my leg off. Not kidding. I had also been having pelvic pain on and off and flu-like symptoms, including a strange itchy rash on my back. Whatever kind of flare up I had it was really bad, bad enough to make me unable to walk or do anything for about six months. I couldn't feel most of my right leg—it either hurt like hell or it felt like my leg was asleep. When doctors finally got around to doing any blood tests whatever caused the flare was long gone except for a bladder infection. I was diagnosed with reactive arthritis or Reiter’s Syndrome even though I didn’t have some of the main symptoms for Reiter’s. It's obvious that there had to be something else present to cause such a flare—a virus maybe or colitis? This happened in 2000. I wasn't diagnosed with colitis until 2007, but I had been suffering from chronic pain, back pain (Sacroiliitis) and fatigue all those years. Doctors back then kept asking me if I had any diarrhea, but I hadn't. I did, however, complain of constipation.

I recently read something about colitis and how sometimes it presents as constipation. So have I had colitis all that time, but didn't have the 'normal' symptoms until much later? It's possible. My doctors now think there is a connection.

I also found out that colitis is a systemic disease and can affect areas outside the colon, including the mouth (ulcers), eye inflammations, Musculoskeletal complications like Seronegative arthritis which can affect one or two large joints or smaller joints like hands and feet, Ankylosing spondylitis—arthritis of the spine, Sacroiliitis—arthritis of the lower spine, Cutaneous (relating to the skin) inflammation of subcutaneous tissue involving lower extremities and Pyoderma Gangrenosum—painful skin lesion, Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, Autoimmune hemolytic anemia, Clubbing—deformity of ends of fingers and Inflammation of the bile ducts.

http://health.learninginfo.org/ulcerative-colitis.htm

Anyone else have any weird medical stories to share? There's so much that doctors still don't understand about the body and disease. The human body is truly mysterious.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My mad colon

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To Eat or Not to Eat

This is one of the most important decisions when dealing with ulcerative colitis because eating the wrong foods can really suck. Lately I was wondering if it was normal to feel as if I was trying to pass a boulder every time I had a bowel movement. It got to the point where I was afraid to eat. Then I had a big DUH moment doing a search on fiber and how it affects people with colitis. I learned that there are two kinds of fiber. Never knew that. Soluble fiber is good for colitis; insoluble fiber is very bad for people with colitis. All along I had been eating whole wheat because I thought it was good for me, but guess what? It's an insoluble fiber. No wonder I was having so many problems. Since making some adjustments to my diet, things have been better, but not ideal. I suppose having colitis means that things will never be ideal, but it's better than trying to pass a boulder. Believe me.

This site has a list of soluble fibers: http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/fiber1.asp

Having colitis means having to experiment and see which foods work and which foods cause pain, bloating, diarrhea and/or bleeding. Some of the most common offenders for colitis sufferers are dairy products, greasy foods, sugar, raw onions, raw vegetables and red meat. Those are the worst foods for me to eat.

I discovered that Ginger Ale is something I can't live without. It soothes my upset tummy and I drink it every day. White crackers are another food that I can eat and know that it won't make me sick. I call it my comfort food. Some of my favorite soluble fibers are any rice-based foods, bananas, avocados, flour tortillas, pasta and baked potatoes.

It might take some painful experimenting to find the foods that make having colitis a little bit easier to deal with, but it's worth the effort. Just watch out for that nasty insoluble fiber.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My mad colon

Dating, Sex and Colitis

Dating, sex and colitis—three words that you don't usually see together. There are ways, though, to make a date or a love session go smoothly. I like to think that anything is possible by following a few simple guidelines.

I consider myself lucky because when I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, I had been married for about ten years so we were well past the embarrassment stage. Everyone with colitis knows all about explosive diarrhea, and if they don't, they learn about it pretty quickly. It's one of the reasons why I don't leave my house during a flare. And if I were dating someone, I would probably stay away until I had it under control. I think it depends on where you are in the relationship. The first date is probably not the time to reveal a chronic illness and it would be wise to eat foods that don't have you running to the bathroom before that first date. If you are at that later stage where you can do things in front of each other without being embarrassed then it's probably okay to be around your mate during a flare.

I think it's much more embarrassing for a woman to be the one with colitis. I mean, men always make loud noises in the bathroom and it never seems to embarrass them, but women are not supposed to do anything that might make them less ladylike. As a woman with colitis this seems unfair to me, but sometimes it helps the embarrassing situation to laugh and maybe make a joke about it. If your date has a terrible sense of humor, you probably don't want to date her/him anyway. Some other things to do to try and mask the sound in the bathroom are to run water, cough or flush the toilet at the right time. Or pray that the bathroom fan is loud enough.

Now, sex could be a different matter because having embarrassing noises and/or other messy incidents might ruin the whole romantic love fest. How come they don't show real life things like this on the Lifetime channel movies? Romance is always so perfect on television and in the movies when in real life, it's anything but perfect. Personally, I wouldn't have sex when I am having a bad flare. First of all, I don't feel well at all when I'm in a flare and certainly don't feel sexy. Again, this depends on the stage of the relationship and whether your mate is squeamish. A couple of things to do to make it a pleasant experience are to avoid eating or drinking anything before the tryst and to put a towel down. This also might be the time for tender sex rather than the ride 'em hard kind of lovemaking. Just a thought. I think in these kinds of situations, humor is the best way to deal with it.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My Mad Colon

My Dogs and How They Helped Me

It's frightening to have something wrong with you and even more frightening when the doctors just shake their heads in frustration, having no clue what caused it. Imagine having such intense pain in your back and right leg that spreads fire-like through your entire body. I couldn't lift my arms above my shoulders and I needed help to walk. It's what I call The Big Flare Up.

I ended up in the emergency room and was given a shot of Demerol or something equally strong. Tests were done with no clear cause so I was sent home with pain pills. Once the shot wore off, I was still in pain, but it was mostly in my lower back and right leg. It was my leg that bothered me more. It was nerve pain, something I never experienced before and don't care to again. I couldn't feel my leg from my knee down, but what felt like sparks of pain would shoot up my leg to my back and I wanted to cut my leg off. No kidding there. It really hurt. I wanted to fall into a drug-induced coma, and sort of did for a couple of weeks, but I finally fought to pull myself out. Why? Because I was needed. My dogs needed me to care for them. My husband couldn't stay home with me. He had to go to work and make money so we didn't lose our house. So, it was just me and the dogs left at home. They depended on me so I would force myself to get up and feed them and let them outside. In a way, I needed them too.

Dogs have this Zen-like aura around them. They live in the moment and take joy in the simple pleasures in life. When I wanted to fall into the hole of despair because I was frustrated as hell that my body was betraying me, my dogs made me smile. They kept me company and made it easier to deal with all the stress.

Did you know that dogs could get colitis? When I was finally diagnosed with ulcerative colitis about 7 years after that first flare, I was a bit relieved because it explained what initially happened to me. The doctors missed it because I wasn't having the normal symptoms of colitis, but I will get to that in another post. Anyway, one of my dogs has colitis and besides being a really weird coincidence, it's kind of cool in a way. She is my inspiration for learning how to deal with a chronic disease. She never reveals that she is sick and takes pleasure in eating, belly rubs and relaxing outside in the sun. I know she has tummy aches and her joints hurt, but she doesn't wallow in self-pity like I, and most humans, tend to do.

This beautiful girl has colitis.

There is a reason that therapy dogs are used to help people in the hospital. They bring joy to the sick, spreading their calm demeanor around. Just petting my dogs makes me feel better. And last night when I was laying on my mat for my nightly treatment, one of my dogs came over and stretched out next to me to keep me company. As much as I love my husband and need his companionship, I can't picture him lying motionless beside me for thirty minutes on the bathroom floor with no sex involved. Nah. That's what dogs are for. Lying beside me, not the sex! LOL to you perverts out there.

I feel blessed to have a supportive husband and family, but my dogs get credit for pulling me out of a dark time and they continue to comfort me. That feeling of giving into depression still taunts me, more so since my diagnosis of colitis and having to deal with flares and unpleasant treatments along with everything else. All I have to do is pet my dogs or snuggle up against them and a sense of calm washes over me. I know that sounds corny, but it's true. Yeah, I can snuggle up against my hubby too, and I do, but I'm not sure he would allow me to pet him. Or would he? Hmm.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

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My dog keeps me company during treament

Coping with a Flare

My colon is really mad at me right now. It’s been almost a year since I had my last flare and now here I am dealing with it all over again.

So, how do I cope with diarrhea that doesn’t respond well to regular, over-the-counter drugs? Well, I learned quickly that eating equals diarrhea. Duh. There is one food that seems to be soothing on the tummy and doesn’t move through me too fast—bananas. Not sure why because I read somewhere that bananas are a laxative. Not in my case. And that’s the weird thing about colitis. Everyone responds differently to foods and medications. It’s all about trial and error. Ginger Ale is also soothing to my tummy and helps with gas and bloating. Wheat crackers and strangely, cream cheese, are also foods I can eat when I have a flare. Cheese products and dairy products in general make me feel bloated so I’m not sure why I can eat cream cheese. I do eat the low fat kind so maybe that’s why. And sadly, I have to cut out chocolate during a flare, but I don’t really want chocolate when I’m flaring because my tummy hurts so it’s not too hard. I will make up for it when I feel better. You will learn what you can and can’t eat when flaring and chances are you won’t feel like eating certain foods. That’s your body’s way of telling you which foods are bad for you.

What do I do if I have to travel somewhere? Eek! Having to travel during a flare just plain sucks and is the worst part of having this disease. When I am flaring I have to stay home. There is nothing more embarrassing than having to use a public bathroom when you have explosive diarrhea. But, if I have to go somewhere, I wouldn’t eat or drink much and I would take Pepto-Bismol or Imodium A-D--if I didn’t have a prescription for Lomotil. When I had my first flare and didn’t have a clue what was happening to my body, Pepto-Bismol helped with the cramping and diarrhea. My doctor told me to avoid medicines with magnesium in them like Mylanta. You should always check with your doctor though before taking anything.

Here’s an important reminder: when you have that urge to go, get to the bathroom. This should be common sense, right? Wrong. I don’t know how many times I thought I could keep writing or reading emails a bit longer and then I have to sprint to the bathroom. Not a pretty sight. Me running. I’ve been told by my husband not to run because apparently I run funny. And when I run to the bathroom my dogs think I am playing and run alongside me, barking and trying to cut me off. Very dangerous. And annoying.

Oh, and wear pants that are easy to undo like elastic banded sweat pants. That makes things much more easier during a flare.

The only good side to having a flare is that I will lose some weight, but everything else about it sucks. Now I have to go through six weeks of nightly enemas. Wee! I can’t think of when I had more fun. Oh yeah, last year at about this time. I try to make the best of it because what else am I going to do? I can’t change what is happening to me. And I suppose it could be a lot worse.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

My mad colon

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The Joys of Enemas

In my last post I mentioned that the only treatment that worked for my last flare was a Rowasa enema. When my doctor first brought this up to me, I refused the treatment, but later was mad at myself for not using that treatment sooner. I initially refused the treatment because I pictured this painful, messy process. I remember getting an enema once as a kid and it was anything but fun. Not that the new enema treatments are fun, but they are better than what I remember enduring.

True, it’s kind of a hassle because you have to block out thirty minutes of your time in the evening (the enema has to be done at bedtime so that enough time passes after the last meal) to do the procedure, but I found a way to make the time useful and strangely, relaxing. The treatment comes in this huge box so I couldn’t use the drive thru window at Walgreens, I had to go inside and have the pharmacist ask me if I needed him to explain anything to me in front of all the other people waiting. Of course, I quickly told him I would call if I had any questions and bolted out of there.

For six weeks, every night at bedtime, I had an appointment with a small bottle. That’s one thing I really liked—the treatments come in convenient little bottles that can be tossed in the trash when finished. No mess, well, not quite anyway. This is what I did. I brought in a mat that I use to lay by the pool and covered it with an old towel. I used a couple of other old towels to cushion between my legs (you have to lie on your side) and another one as a pillow. I was able to lie down in the master bathroom, and with the door open, I could watch the television in the master bedroom. I also brought in books to read. It was kind of cool. I had that private, quiet time to myself for thirty minutes. The insertion process doesn’t last thirty minutes, that took maybe a minute, but you are supposed to remain in a reclined position for thirty minutes.

It was pretty easy and I liked it so much better than the pills. The enema works best for people with colitis in the lower part of the colon, but it’s always better to check with your doctor as to what treatment works best.

Cheers and good health!

Colitis Chick

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Diary of a Mad Colon

Okay, so I haven't posted anything on here since February of 2008. Part of it is just not wanting to broadcast my illness and part of it is because I just want to forgot about have ulcerative colitis. But I can't forget about the disease because it won't go away. I thought I would have my one flare and it would be fine, but that's not the case. Since my first flare in 2007, I have had another bad flare in 2009 and now I am having another flare. The last one was really bad. I wasn't responding to the Ascol, in fact, the medicine made me much worse. It was the most horrible experience. I was afraid to to eat and leave my house for about two months. Finally, I stopped taking the Asacol and told my doctor it was making me worse. He had originally wanted to treat my flare with a Rowasa enema, but I refused. Stupid me. If I would have listened to my doctor, my flare would have cleared up quicker. The enema works better for me because my colitis is only in the lower part of my colon--lucky me. Having it only in the lower part of the colon is better, but it still has it's downside. In my case I have systemic colitis--meaning the disease extends to other areas outside my colon. My ulcerative colitis has also caused reactive arthritis in me. I suffer from chronic pain all over my body, but the most severe pain is my lower back joints. It's a party having to deal with abdominal pain, fatigue and pain all over the body.

I don't even know what is considered a normal 'bowel movement' anymore. Nothing is normal for me now. Since my last flare up I have suffered some extremely painful bowel movements. Yeah, I know this is gross and I expect, unless you have the same disease, you won't read this blog. Anyway, I get constipation so bad that it feels like I am trying to pass a boulder. I spend anywhere from 1-3 hours in the bathroom waiting it out. It's horrible and frightening. To try to improve things I eat Activia for breakfast, take 1 oz concentrated aloe vera juice in the morning before I eat and I drink an Ensure shake up to twice a day with 3 grams of fiber, antioxidants to improve the immune system and omega 3's. I know that in order to have a healthy colon, you are supposed to eat at least 25 grams of fiber per day, but fiber seems to make things worse for me and I don't even eat that much food in one day. I'm thinking I might need to increase my aloe vera dose to two times a day. If anyone has any helpful advice, I would love to hear it. Someone just mentioned that flax seed has fiber so I might start taking a small dose and gradually increase it and see what happens. I eat wheat crackers, bread, rice and pasta with salmon or chicken and steamed veggies. My only real vice that I know is bad for me is chocolate. I have cut back but I can't stop eating it. Chocolate cravings for me are like a cigarette smoker trying to quit smoking.

I guess that's enough for today. My vow is to add content to this blog at least once a week so anyone out there in cyberspace coming across my posts will be subjected to more gross outs from my experiences with a mad colon.

Cheers and good health!
Colitis Chick