What are UC remissions?

I know, strange question. But here is my point: UC is very damaging, and the colon does not heal itself. So, when people talk about UC remissions, I assume they mean the disease is not active and the medicine is helping to make their lives better. But is that really a remission, or is it just that the meds are keeping a lid on the effects of the disease, and supressing the effects of the damaged colon? My UC spread from my rectum throughout the entire colon in less than three months after diagnosis. There wasn't any non ulcerated tissue that could be attacked by UC in the colon or rectum, yet I could not come off Prednisone. Despite not having a fever after my hospitalization, I never considered myself in remission because I was experiencing other symptoms. Yet, some people would not even consider talking about surgery as an option because I wasn't sick enough. One year later the fever returned and I was not improving in the hospital, so I had the surgery.

So my question is, if the entire colon and rectum are involved, does the patient ever really recover well enough to have a full life without surgery? From my perspective, I can't see how. From what I read, people who have UC and are "in remission" don't have the entire colon affected. Funny though, I never had discussions about the possibility of surgery until I was no longer able to reduce the amount of Prednisone I was taking (got down to 20mg every other day). My doctor had hoped I could leave a full life once I got down to a small dosage (5mg a day or less). But looking back, given the amount of damage in my colon and rectum, this goal was a fairy tale. I'm curious to hear others thoughts and see if they agree. Surgery was best for me and I don't regret it. But the whole process of figuring out when to have it seems more of an art form than a science. Be happy. Life is too short to not be.

Hobbes

What's your basis for saying that the colon doesn't heal itself? That's not true at all.

You're not going to grow back missing chunks of your gut, but the lining of your gut can certainly heal.

I think most treatments for UC treat only the symptoms of the disease. Like prednisone for inflamation. Remicade seems to help the disease process instead of targeting the symptoms. I have had periods in the past where prednisone put me back to "normal" and Remicade did that for a while also. So, I think you can periodically be free of symptoms. Unfortunately, these treatments seem to all lose effectiveness over time.

Sorry, but really depends on how you define "heal". Bleeding can stop and inflammation can decrease, so in that sense yes. But, this can happen because it "healed" with scar tissue. Scar tissue will not function like a normal colon, and it seems to me the more scar tissue you have the less likely your colon will function like it used to.

I was simply wondering how likely it is that someone whose rectum and colon are complete with ulcerative colitis from end to end, can ever regain a normal/full life without surgery. With all the scarring, it doesn't seem likely. Yet during this time, no doctor I had brought that up.

One thing that is much different now (and a huge factor), is that back in 1986-7 I was sick with UC, the only drugs available were Prednisone and Azulfadine. No Pentasa, Remicade, or anything else.

I could easily be misinformed though- I haven't had the need to learn anything in over 25 years since I had surgery because I thought I was cured from UC- until this year when I became diagnosed with Crohn's.

Hobbes

muppet said:

What's your basis for saying that the colon doesn't heal itself? That's not true at all.

You're not going to grow back missing chunks of your gut, but the lining of your gut can certainly heal.

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