Little rant post - I was diagnosed with UC in 2021. I’ve been in remission for the last 2 years and I still look for blood every time I go. It’s a habit, even if I haven’t seen it in a long time.

So just our luck, my daughter is 7 weeks old and she’s been having mucus poop since about 3-4 weeks old. Exclusively breast fed. Mucus stools in infants can be a sign of cows milk/food protein allergy passed through breast milk. One of the hallmark symptoms though is the presence of blood. Well I just so happen to know a thing or two about blood in stool and what to look for and sure enough, I notice it in her diapers. Like mother like daughter, sigh. I’m going to miss dairy as it’s never been an issue for my GI system!

hi! i have mild moderate proctitis according to my most recent 2024 colonoscopy. my calprotectin has never been normal. i am on mesalazine (4g oral and 2g enema) which seemed to work well and got me all the way down to under 150 calprotectin in the beginning 2026. unfortunately i just got another stool test and i’ve jumped to 1500 calprotectin. strangely, i feel no changes physically and have in fact been much more careful with my food intake (semi low fodmap currently). my doc last recommended etrasimod to me last yr (i was on aza for a bit but i’m intolerant and had to stop). ive been on prednisolone twice and budesonide once since 2020 but not recently.

i am sure i’ll be put on a new med this time as mesalazine alone simply isnt working anymore. my concern is that i dont feel that bad at all, so escalating to immunosuppressants/iv meds seems a bit dramatic. i dont have any urgency, rarely get stomach aches and since making lifestyle changes this has improved even more. i have also seen that those taking etrasimod generally seem to have much worse symptoms than myself so i’m wondering if it’s too much of a step up?

if theres anyone who also has to escalate from mesalazine after a long time on it (since 2020) pls advise with what worked for u! i am also hesitant of etrasimod as it is newer than the other drugs. is it worth pushing for a more ‘typical’ iv med? note im intolerant to 6mcps

i’ve been on mesalazine for six yrs now so im just rlly scared to escalate. it feels like itll be the beginning of a slippery slope and ill just be hopping between meds and getting tons of side effects. ive been able to manage my ibd thus far and am scared of shaking up the balance i have right now :( any words of advice?

hi! i have mild moderate proctitis according to my most recent 2024 colonoscopy. my calprotectin has never been normal. i am on mesalazine (4g oral and 2g enema) which seemed to work well and got me all the way down to under 150 calprotectin in the beginning 2026. unfortunately i just got another stool test and i’ve jumped to 1500 calprotectin. strangely, i feel no changes physically and have in fact been much more careful with my food intake (semi low fodmap currently). my doc last recommended etrasimod to me last yr (i was on aza for a bit but i’m intolerant and had to stop). ive been on prednisolone twice and budesonide once since 2020 but not recently.

i am sure i’ll be put on a new med this time as mesalazine alone simply isnt working anymore. my concern is that i dont feel that bad at all, so escalating to immunosuppressants/iv meds seems a bit dramatic. i dont have any urgency, rarely get stomach aches and since making lifestyle changes this has improved even more. i have also seen that those taking etrasimod generally seem to have much worse symptoms than myself so i’m wondering if it’s too much of a step up?

if theres anyone who also has to escalate from mesalazine after a long time on it (since 2020) pls advise with what worked for u! i am also hesitant of etrasimod as it is newer than the other drugs. is it worth pushing for a more ‘typical’ iv med? note im intolerant to 6mcps

i’ve been on mesalazine for six yrs now so im just rlly scared to escalate. it feels like itll be the beginning of a slippery slope and ill just be hopping between meds and getting tons of side effects. ive been able to manage my ibd thus far and am scared of shaking up the balance i have right now :( any words of advice?

ps im uk based

Started mercaptopurine about a week ago its been at first but now i'm feeling extremely unwell after having my dose a few hours ago, i felt like i was gonna almost vomit that i went to the toilet! i was on azathioprine before and that had me vomiting for 3 days after being on it for about 3 weeks. Will it pass or should i stop taking it?

I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis about a month ago after a severe flare that landed me in the hospital for two weeks. I’m now on week 4 of a 7 week prednisone taper and taking mesalamine. Overall I’m much better than I was.

My main issue now is that every morning I have 3-4 bowel movements first thing, usually with cramping before each one. After that, I’m completely fine for the rest of the day and don’t usually go again.

Has anyone else experienced this while recovering? Is it normal, and did it eventually settle down as you healed?

I had my colonoscopy and a scope down the throat on the 20th and obviously had a sore throat from it and now my nose cant stop draining and I just feel like shit for the lack of better words. For the past two days The sore throat went away now its this running nose and sneezing i cant get rid of I work tomorrow and I used up my sick time/ PTO for the prep day and we run on a stupid point system (Healthcare related job) and tbh i do not want to get fired because apparently it just takes 8 to fire you (im at 8.50) Has this happened to any of yall before im taking day time cold medicine and no dice ​

Anyone else diagnosed with pulmonary autoimmune while also having UC? I have had cough for three months no infection no runny nose no congestion just shortness of breathe and coughing. Went to doctor today and said nothing in x-rays no virus or bacteria that probably inflammation of lungs and she prescribed prednisone amd inhaler for inflammation. She said she will refer me to a pulmonary doctor. I have no pain just from from caughing and constant cough. Just seeing if anyone else has had lung autoimmune disease added to their other autoimmune disease.

Thank you!

Hi everyone looking for anyone else who has had a similar experience.

I am recent diagnosed with UC (April) and had an i day hospital stay in May where I was given 60mg IV prednisolone for 5 days. They then gave me azathioprine and infliximab and discharged me on 30mg oral prednisolone. I was told to taper by 5mg over 6 weeks to 0mg. While I was taking the prednisolone I felt fine no terrible side effects no weight gain or bloating and my UC symptoms had completely stopped. About 2 weeks after finishing my course of prednisolone I started getting strange nausea out of nowhere I put it down to stomach irritation from all the meds. However it continued and progressed to other symptoms like dizziness, fast heart rate, sweating, chills, weakness fatigue, feelings of low blood sugar, feelings of panic/anxiety/impeding doom, trembling hands and no appetite. These episodes would come intermittently and I noticed they often happened after eating a meal. But they would ease off. One day it got very bad and didn't ease off and I was waking in the night in a panic feeling terrible. I phoned my GP and he said it could be steroid withdrawl so he put me back on 20mg prednisolone and all the symptoms stopped and I felt back to normal. However I was to taper again and when I tapered to 15mg after about 3 days I started getting the same symptoms again. I got an appointment with GP and while in her office zi was having an episode, sweating high heart rate trembling and high blood pressure. She send me to the hospital where they did ECG (no abnormalities found) they did blood labs and found no abnormalities. While I was there they said my bloods had gone missing so they took more and added thyroid and random cortisol However I was discharged before those results came back and my GP doesnt have them yet. They told me to take 20mg per day with no taper until I can be seen by my gastro team and endocrinology. Back on the 20mg I haven't had any episodes but I have been left feeling awful like a hangover with the shakes, mild nausea and muscle weakness/pins and needles in feet/heavy feeling in body and unstable on my feet.

I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience after using prednisolone. I cant help but think something else is going on but very frustrating when the labs dont match!

Also to add when I first started feeling the nausea I called my IBD team as I thought it was azathioprine and they told me to stop taking it which I did but have heard nothing from them since. My UC symptoms remain stable through the whole episode but worried being off my azathioprine will compromise my UC.

So about 1.5 years ago I was diagnosed with UC. I decided it was time to go to the doctor because I constantly was having loose stool/diarrhea and it was happening multiple times a day. When I was first diagnosed they gave me messaline and I was on that for about a year and it honestly did nothing. I had more success with metamucil. About three months ago after my second colonoscopy my doctor decided it was time to switch to Tremfya. Overall I feel like it has been game changing in only two doses (my third IV treatment is this week) where I am only using the restroom once, stools are more solid but still not NORMAL and haven't really had any pains. however when I read the posts here it seems like everyone's symptoms are way way worse than I ever was even on meds. Am I just lucky or is loose stool/going 3-4 times a day (without many instances of pain) normal of UC and the more 'intense' symptoms are less common?

Looking for folks who might have had a similar situation. I was in total, microscopic remission on Inflectra for well over 5 years. I started Wegovy in February of this year and only had mild side effects, specifically constipation. After moving up to the higher dose I realized I was flaring and not bleeding from hemorrhoids. I stopped the shot 3 weeks ago. I had a sigmoidoscopy this morning and they found severe left-sided colitis. I was told the Inflectra failed and I’m being switched to Entyvio.

I’m curious if this is just coincidental timing or if the wegovy could have played a part in my flare up. Thoughts welcome!

I have what my doctor's believe to be UC, they don't want to diagnose me immediately because it is a lifelong, life changing and potentially debilitating disease (What they have said to me) I have been on Mesalazine for 18 months, two oral granule packets and one suppository a day.

Due to a mess up at my GP, I have been without my oral granules for a week, (8 days exactly), and whilst there has been some changes to my bowel movements it was mainly fine until today really (some flare up issues started yesterday with loose stool) of where i have had to go multiple times a day, with loose stool and blood, barely able to walk the block before needing to go. Luckily my medication is back today so the first day I have been able to have a full dose.

Is there any timeline of when I am meant to feel better? I am meant to be going to my brother's stag do tomorrow evening until Sunday, will I be well enough to travel tomorrow and Friday?
At what point do I need to call the hospital/gastroencology helpline with my symptoms? Do I call immediately when showing a flare up like this or do I wait to see if it settles now with my medication?

Whilst I have had bouts of constipation during my medication (once) this is the first time since when they started testing and treating me in 2024 did I start having symptoms like these so I am a bit worried about some things:
Short term- missing my brothers stag do
Long term- Damage to my intestines and body, potentially needing surgery or a stoma.

I probably should research this condition but as I have said my doctor has not officially diagnosed me so I have not actually received any treatment or anything like my brother did when he got diagnosed with Crohn's.

I’m a woman with ulcerative colitis, and even when I’m in remission, I still feel like I get physically tired much faster than other people. For example, if I go out with friends or family, my energy runs out way before everyone else’s. I also feel like my mood shifts more quickly than theirs.

Before I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, I wasn’t like this at all.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it caused by the disease itself, the medications, or something else? I’d really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences.

I have recently been diagnosed with UC, but only my descending colon is inflamed, while everything else is fine, and my symptoms appear to be relatively minimal. Mainly bleeding, feeling sort of clogged, and occasionally feeling like I have to take a bowel movement without actually needing to. Thankfully I have no pain, fatigue, or anything similar. I was just prescribed Prednisone and Mesalamine. I was just hoping for any sort of advice for the future.

Hello again colitis community! I made a post some months back asking about duel therapy regarding Rinvoq and Infliximab, I just wanted to give an update on my situation in case anyone is in a similar place, I know I had a hard time finding info on this but I believe it may be a good last resort option for many people who haven’t found remission yet.

I’ve been taking 1000mg of Infliximab and 45mg of Rinvoq. After a few months the treatment has put me into remission and I’ve been stable on 30mg Rinvoq with 1000mg of Infliximab monthly. While on this treatment I’ve also been taking sulfameth/trimeth antibiotic to help protect me from pneumonia, which I haven’t gotten thankfully! I also haven’t had any real side effects while on this treatment but I’ve been told I am at pretty extreme risk of infections.

After confirming with my doctor from colonoscopy biopsies that I am in full remission we have decided to try and switch me to a different duel therapy with Tremfya and infliximab, my doctor spoke directly with Johnson and Johnson representatives and other gastroenterologists and they also agreed that it would be a safer option long term. I will update how that goes in a few months and if anyone has been on this combination let me know! I believe duel therapy is going to become much more popular as more research emerges as it’s still a better option than surgery I believe. On a last note, in Canada I can only have one drug paid for so my doctor has had to speak to the manufacturers directly to have the second medication fully covered which I am grateful for but may be an obstacle depending where you live.

I was diagnosed with mild UC today. Prescribed mesalamine orally and suppository. I want to treat as holistically as possible while also being realistic. Any tips? Hope? Anything?

After a 16 days of never-ending calls and messages to my GI, insurance, and local infusion center, I finally scheduled my first loading dose infusion for this Sunday. Hoping to be back here in a few months posting about how Skyrizi gave me my life back. 🙏

At the very least self-injecting at home every 8 weeks (after three loading dose infusions) will be much more convenient than going to the infusion center every 4 weeks for Entyvio infusions, so I’ll enjoy that aspect of it for as long as I’m on this one!

Curious, if you’re in remission on Skyrizi, how long did it take to feel results? My GI told me it can be slow to feel the effects, but I’ve also seen some posts like “I felt better that same day!”

Getting my first Trempfya injection tomorrow. I was on remicaide and then inflectra for 10 years. I was in full remission two years ago when I had a colonoscopy and then it stopped working and doc thinks I just built up antibodies I’ve been in a flair since February of this year. Also I’ve been taking prednisone since April (40mg then 30mg) right now on 20mg just because I don’t wanna up my dose Hoping to hear some positives about this drug! The struggle has been real and I just want to feel good again.

Hey all-

Sorry this is going to be a fairly long post, and sorry if it is confusing, but bear with me! Looking for some advice/anecdotes/opinions as no one in my family or friends has this and I am just quite confused and frustrated.

So. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Proctitis with a Cecal Patch back in Nov of 2025 after going into the doctor because of prolonged rectal bleeding. I had been bleeding since like June of 2025, but had really no pain at all, just blood and highly frequent bms. After my testings and diagnosis, I was put on 2 pills/day Mesalamine and off I went.

FF to now- since the end of April, I have been having symptoms such as squeezing cramps in all quadrants of my abdomen, and burning feeling. It started with a semi painful 4 day stretch at the end of April, but then came and went through May and was more annoying than painful. No weird bms or blood have occured. In June, I started to make sure I was tracking how I was feeling every single day, as I knew I had a doctor check in coming up, and I was starting to experience symptoms more consistently every day. I was having burning in multiple quadrants of my abdomen off and on throughout the day, and then I would have intermittent squeezing cramps. I have had very poor appetite, and have been consistently constipated pretty much the entire month of June, and up to now still.

When I went to my check up, I was trying to describe these symptoms to my GI doctor and I was having the hardest time trying to explain to her how I was feeling, because it isn't necessarily painful , and I don't want to overstate and have things I don't need done. It is more annoying feeling than anything and it is fairly constant, but it doesn't like hurt?? So IDK if I am just used to it and that is why I don't think it is painful, but to me pain feels like too strong of a word?

Since my appointment, I did a fecal and blood test and my inflammation numbers were all basically normal- that is a big reason why I am so confused. When I was first diagnosed, I do not remember feeling this type of burning or cramping at all and my markers were so much significantly higher and "abnormal". I only have just started feeling the cramping and burning at the end of April, and these recent test results don't seem to align with my symptoms I have been experiencing. Since my doctor visit, I have been put on 4 pills/daily of Mesalamine with follow up in approx a month (I am ~5 weeks post this appointment rn, next one coming up the second week of August). My symptoms are still the same, I don't really feel like I have gotten better on this new dosage yet, (frequent constipation, low appetite, burning, intermittent cramping - but mostly burning). It seems the most common area of burning is the lower right quadrant of my abdomen, with the occasional upper abdomen across my belly. I am so confused by these symptoms, and with all my researching I don't see constipation really being a UC thing at all, or burning come up in that area of the abdomen that much. It is my right side that is having the most discomfort, with the left basically having not much issue.

So, TLDR: my questions I guess are-

Do any of you experience burning concentrated to the lower right of the abdomen?

When your medication was changed, how long did you have to be taking to notice any symptom improvement?

How do you describe your symptoms to your GI doc and not get too bogged down with trying to be 100% accurate/exact on how you feel? I get anxious saying it "hurts" when it doesn't necessarily feel painful, just constant and dull ache most of the time, but not debilitating. I just don't feel I have the proper language to describe these feelings and it is making communication feel really difficult and it is making me really frustrated.

Have you ever been feeling like total buns but your tests have been not indicative to your symptoms at all?

Thank you for reading and advice!

I (27F) have been diagnosed with UC for about two years now. I only recently have gotten on Skyrizi and experienced periods of remission. I’m very lucky that my flares are not awful, just lots of GI symptoms. I find myself wondering when I’m having these symptoms if it’s from something else, like a normal stomach ache or upset stomach for a few days. I am just not sure when I should call my GI doc and consider it a flare.

I am wondering if other people have signs that they are in a flare and not suffering from something else?

Thank you for any input!

howdy. i just got into a relationship with someone, and it truly is going so well. hes very supportive, not judgmental, and just overall a good support system. we knew each other in the throws of my illness, when it was really bad and now im diagnosed and on infliximab (he goes with me to my infusions because he was curious as to what i have to go through. truly what a babe) and he doesnt show any signs of going away just because i am sick, but i think that is still a real fear. i do trust him 100%. my past relationship i was cheated on, and it was in the worst part of my flare so i think im carrying over a little trauma and lived experience. im just scared of my sickness driving him away, or him getting disgusted about it or thinking im gross because of it. his dad is a doctor, and he grew up hearing a lot about the medical industry so he is used to topics like this. but i still have such a big fear of it. he reassures me all the time that it doesnt burden him or make him uncomfortable because i have to do what i have to do. where do we draw the boundary on what is "TMI"? he knows i have the potential to crap myself at any given moment, and he knows all about it and asks questions and researches it. I feel like i found a gem. I guess there is just something that seems too good to be true, but i know that he cares deeply and the intimacy and connection is easy to come to.

Have any of you smoked weed, or been smoking weed, through this UC path? I was a huge stoner before, but I haven’t smoked in months and just ordered delivery of a vape pen to see if it’ll help me feel better. Anyone have experience with weed and UC? Thanks 😊

I have an GI appointment coming up at the end of the month and had to do my routine blood and stool test work. To my surprise everything came back in the green, I’ve been on mesalamine and suppositories since I was diagnosed. I feel like my meds are working but only for the surface level symptoms. Yes it stops the blood and mucus and yes it lowers to amount of times I go a day. But I still get the inflammation and pain in my hands and feet. I still get acid reflux and I still get cramping.

When I was first diagnosed and put on mesalamine it wasn’t working but my GI said “let’s try it for 3 more months” and my levels did improve. So I’m worried that now 6 months later if I mention wanting to switch when my levels have only been getting better I won’t be heard properly. Has anyone else had this experience and if you have what did you say to advocate the difference between being able to tolerate the symptoms and actually wanting them
gone.

As the title states I was wondering if any of you here had an Ankylosing spondylitis diagnosis before being diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis and did it make your diagnosis process harder ?

I’m at a point where I feel very unwell but also close to giving up on trying to get help as my pain is being brushed off as lower back pain or musculoskeletal due to me having muscle knotting near my scoliosis curve (which is always there one side due to how my body adapted to the curve)

I’ve written and explained clearly all my symptoms but just not being heard due to fact that it’s easier to blame all my pain on an already diagnosed condition.

What more can I do ?

I've been struggling with my flares and just noticed I'm probably eating too close to bed time (usually 1h or less). How long should I wait?

I saw online between 2 and 3h (3 being the best) but won't I get hungry again by then?

I got diagnosed with mild to moderate pancolitis about 10 days ago.

Symptoms are mild, and there’s no blood.

I’ve been using mesalamine for the last 10 days and though it hasn’t seem to make much progress, I think it has started to, kind of.

My GI is pushing me to start using tofacitinib along with mesalamine going forward. And I am worried about the long list of side effects that it has.

Should I take a second opinion? Or is it standard process?