My most recent ulcerative colitis flare-up was at age 28, which so happens to be 2.5 weeks ago at the time of this post. A number of contributing factors led to the flare-up, where I have had absolutely ZERO symptoms over the last 2 years under the medication, Lialda.
My wife switched jobs at the beginning of the year, and thus my primary insurance went from 2 primaries to just my own from my own job. We had been using both for all my medications, but this time around it was all on mine. Since my deductible had not been met at the beginning of the year, my payment due for my Lialda was a whopping $130 or so. Normally it is $25. After long discussions with my pharmacy, and with my insurance company, I indeed had to pay the $130.
These discussions took place over a two week period, in which I was taking no medication at all. Factor in some work-related stress, and my ulcerative colitis was a ticking bomb. I saw blood in my stool, and that quickly turned into diarrhea and more blood over the next couple days. Surprisingly, I was not cramping, but I did have nausea set in.
I quickly went to my gastroenterologist and he wanted to make sure I didn't have a virus or infection, which I didn't. He upped my Lialda from 2 a day to 3 a day, and put me on 20mg of prednisone. I am to be on this dose of meds for 6 weeks, and then I will head back to my doc's office to check up, and schedule my annual colonoscopy.
I took a week off from work to rest and get better. The only problem this time around, was that I have a 17 month old daughter, and a wife with extreme morning sickness. I still had to do as much as I could to keep our household running. Such is the life of marriage and parenthood! My rest was not the best it could be, but I tried my hardest to make sure and give my body time to heal.
The blood went away after about 3 days on the meds, and my bowel movements returned to normal after about a week. I occasionalyl see blood here and there, but everything else has pretty much returned to normal.
I am much better at recognizing and repsonding to my ulcerative colitis flare-ups the older I get. Taking care of myself and my body is top priority. I will continue this blog from this point on with updates and everything related to my ulcerative colitis. THanks for reading, and I hope you keep comnig back!
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Very interesting to hear about your UC experiences. I recently got diagnosed with it, i'm 27 years old and trying everything to manage it. It has never even gotten close to what you have gotten, actually the doctors told me I had a mild form of UC. I only saw blood in my stools with diarrhea and no abdominal pains or throwing up or cramps. I'll definitely keep following you along in your blogs to see how your doing because i really feel it can help me understand more about it myself. Thanks again for your posts. Have a good one