- Location
- united kingdom, wirral
Hello all.
My name is Pete and I've just joined the forum looking for some advice.
I have had ulcerative colitis(proctitis) for about 12 years now. I have had various treatments for my many flare ups over the years, including steroids oral and enema backed up with mesalazine(asacol or mezavant). I had a good period of remission for over 2 years, but this ended when I started a stressful new job in 2010. The result of stress and daft working hours gave me my worst ever flare up when I was rushing to the loo more than 24 times a day. My previous meds had no effect on this flare up, and my consultant eventually put me on azathioprine and 4 x 1200mg mezavant tabs per day. This quickly brought the flare back under control, in conjunction with me resigning from my job and taking early retirement. I have now been taking azathioprine and 2 x 1200mg mezavant for just over 2 years and the coltis is now completely under control thankfully.
I have my blood checked every 3 months and things seem fine but the one downside is that I am constantly picking up cold infections, with each one separated by only a couple of days. I am now on my 6 th cold since Xmas and its only may. I have talked to varips medical people and browsed the web, and have been told to avoid immune system boosters such as echinacea which seem to help. Has anyone out there experienced this problem and has found a solution to picking up infections so easily?
Any advice would be gratefully accepted!
Pete
My name is Pete and I've just joined the forum looking for some advice.
I have had ulcerative colitis(proctitis) for about 12 years now. I have had various treatments for my many flare ups over the years, including steroids oral and enema backed up with mesalazine(asacol or mezavant). I had a good period of remission for over 2 years, but this ended when I started a stressful new job in 2010. The result of stress and daft working hours gave me my worst ever flare up when I was rushing to the loo more than 24 times a day. My previous meds had no effect on this flare up, and my consultant eventually put me on azathioprine and 4 x 1200mg mezavant tabs per day. This quickly brought the flare back under control, in conjunction with me resigning from my job and taking early retirement. I have now been taking azathioprine and 2 x 1200mg mezavant for just over 2 years and the coltis is now completely under control thankfully.
I have my blood checked every 3 months and things seem fine but the one downside is that I am constantly picking up cold infections, with each one separated by only a couple of days. I am now on my 6 th cold since Xmas and its only may. I have talked to varips medical people and browsed the web, and have been told to avoid immune system boosters such as echinacea which seem to help. Has anyone out there experienced this problem and has found a solution to picking up infections so easily?
Any advice would be gratefully accepted!
Pete