Ulcerative colitis - anyone?

[4x15mph]

Young family member diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I understand it really isn’t treatable and is manageable in terms of pain potentially although flare ups and inflammation of the colon will be lifelong. This really sucks given it is painful for my son and has him really frustrated as a college kid

Please PM me if anyone lives with this or has advice. Sorry for he personal post but I know this is a great group and safe place to go to for help. Thank you

 

[Bruce]

I am sorry to hear this and hope that his symptoms will be minimal.

You mentioned that it is an inflammatory condition. Fish oil derived Omega-3 is known to have antinflammatory action. A few results from a Google search suggested there may be benefit in Omega-3 supplementation to ulcerative colitis patients.

Here is one article that I found https://www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/ulcerative-colitis

 

[zipper]

I know the benifits of colloidal silver for killing bacteria and reducing inflamation. There are a few articles online about colloidal silver and UC. Just putting info out there. I wish him well.

 

[Pbirbeck]

Totally manageable and should be under care of a gastroenterologist. Lots of great meds now.

 

[swatski]

I'm not a gastroenterologist. I will chime in with a couple of thoughts. I have some background in immunology and clinical molecular pathology.

Is there a reason to suspect a heritable/genetic component? As it was pointed up above, the management can be very successful these days, but knowing as much as possible about the etiology (causes) can be the key.
(I'm bringing this up here just for the forum discussion but would be happy to continue this conversation in a PM)

Historically, ulcerative colitis has been considered as one of the two major forms of inflammatory bowel disease, along with Crohn's. Consequently treatment strategies (again, historically speaking) been determined by this binary categorization. However, many new(er) studies indicate that ulcerative colitis may be better viewed as a "continuum" of disorders within inflammatory bowel disease, which also include Crohn's disease.

The newer guidelines will often take into the consideration not only a disease location but also (possibly) genetic determinants - as possible intrinsic aspects of a patient's disease. That, in turn, can be the key to understand what is the major driver to changes in disease behavior over time. Facilitating better management.

I am not an expert in this field by any means. However, it is also known that some of the genetic variants associated with subphenotypes of inflammatory bowel disease may also be viewed as cancer predisposition genes. Not necessarily ominous, but some type of monitoring may be indicated in specific instances.

Good luck finding great providers you can trust as they will guide you through any ancillary testing that may need to be done.

--

 

[4x15mph]

Thank you all and it was helpful to get some real life POV's. This is terrible and many of us have had life events which for us, this is it. Hate it

Kid is in top shape, college athlete, diet conscious, and focused on a being a doctor. Hmmm.....

Please let me know if you hear of any other ideas and input based on family, etc. We do not have predisposition to this or other cancer's up to this point.

 

[Sbrown]

My wife has it. She's been dealing with for ten years now. Figuring out diet and reducing triggers was a huge part of it for her. She had to eliminate all gluten from her diet for starters. A good gastrointestinal doctor and regular colonoscopies are also a big part of the solution

 

[haknslash]

I think one of my coworkers has this and another has Crohn's. Both of them had to change and alter their diets to prevent/control flare ups. I had diverticulitis 3 years ago and had to eventually have surgery because mine always stayed inflamed and I had to deal with pain that would never go away. They ended up removing a foot or so of my colon. Wasn't a happy time for me then. I blame it on all the stuff that is in our food today. Never even heard of the word diverticulitis a few years back but nowadays it seems at least someone knows of someone else who is or has recently dealt with it. Same for Crohn's and all these other gastro illnesses. Ever since I was diagnosed I've had to keep a regular visit and check-up with my gastroenterologist 2-3 times a year. Sometimes I will have pains again and if it persists then I go in for a CT scan but usually it's related to my scar tissue from the surgery. I've probably had 2 dozen CT scans in the last 3 years lol. As a result they will find hernias too. I've had one of those surgeries as well (inguinal hernia) and now they found another so I guess this will be round 3 under the knife for the 3rd year in a row lol. My stomach looks like Edward Scissorhands face

 

[4x15mph]

Update - son is on remicaid which is one of the Primary drugs. Back to somewhat regular life and slowly weening off the steroids. I hope or don’t hope this helps anyone. Terrible disease.