Recently diagnosed with ulcerative colitis

Hi All,

My name is Casey and I am a 19 year old currently in my second year of University.

After 4 weeks of diarrhea with blood and lots of doctors appointments I ended up in the emergency ward at the hospital. I wasn't eating, throwing up, had severe stomach pains and generally felt very horrible.
The next morning I had a colonoscopy and was told I had ulcerative colitis in 2/3rds of my large intestine.

After 6 nights in hospital on a potassium drip and a heap of medication I was allowed to go home.
I am now taking 40mg of prednisolone once a day, 1000mg of salazopyrin 3 times a day and 50mg of purinenthol once a day.

I do feel better than when I was in hospital however I am really struggling to do anything. I am constantly tired or unable to concentrate on things and spend my days either in bed asleep or pottering around the house doing not much at all.

My bowel movements slowly got better and they were starting to look more
formed after about 7 weeks of diarrhea, the blood was also slowly starting to go away.
However I haven't done a number two for at least 1.5-2 days now and I'm worried that something might be wrong? My stomach is really hurting tonight and for the past 3 days I have felt like I am getting worse.

Should I be worried or is this normal??

I am getting fed up of feeling so horrid all the time, if I don't get better soon and am not able to do work I will fail my classes, will have to defer for a year and will have wasted lots of time, effort and money.

I am also scared at the thought of surgery, the doctors havent ruled it out yet and because lots of my intestines are affected I'm worried that if it does come to this I won't ever be able to go to the toilet normally again!
I just don't know what I can do to make myself any better

Hi Casey, welcome! Are you sure the docs called it UC? I believe UC is strictly in the colon as opposed to Chrons which can affect the entire digestive tract, mouth included. Whatever it is, you are obviously in great distress. Some people have severe diarrhea while others may have constipation. It's not normal either way, but unfortunately they are both common for IBD sufferers.

Hopefully, the pred will do it's thing and the other two meds will help you maintain. It shouldn't take long for the pred to make you feel better. Good luck Casey! Hope to see you around!

Hi Casey and welcome! I am glad you are starting to feel a bit better with your new treatment. As far as not having a BM in 2 days, I wouldn't worry too much unless you are in a great deal of pain, can't pass gas, and start to throw up. These are signs of an obstruction.

Give it another day or so. If you still don't have a BM, you may want to phone your GI. Again, I wouldn't panic, but it is better to be safe than sorry! Keep us posted!

Hi Casey and welcome, I'm glad you found your way here I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles, however In addition to what was said above, I did want to point you in the direction of our dedicated Ulcerative Colitis forum that you may want to read and ask questions in. You're of course welcome to ask questions in ANY forum here as well.

I hope things get better for you real soon. *hugs* to you.

Thanks heaps guys.
I got my sulfasalazine swapped as I started throwing up, and it seems to have helped a lot. I was also given ondansetron which seems to work when I need it.
The doctor is keeping a close eye on me as I have low blood pressure and a fast pulse. Still sleeping a lot but hopefully on the mend now!