There are many different symptoms that are associated with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and some of them are more publicly talked about than others.  Fortunately, I frankly don’t care one bit anymore about how crude the topic of stool mucus might or might not be.  One thing is for certain, I definitely remember many periods of time where there was an increased amount of mucus either attached or floating in the toilet bowl during bowel movements and it really freaked me out.  Those were the days before diagnosis, and now, I realize that it is often part of IBS and IBD.

Why is there Mucus in the Stool?

The reason for stools to be often covered or surrounded by mucus is because the intestines and mostly the colon is inflamed.  The inflammation causes tears within the inner lining of the colon and with all these reactions taking place, it can turn into a high amount of mucus forming.  Mucus is always inside of the colon and the rest of the intestines to some degree, but when the immune system is in a very active state, it can lead to an even higher production of this.  Lots of mucus within the stools should not be considered normal, and is often signs of pain and disruption within the gastro-intestinal tract.

If you are currently suffering and feeling abdominal pains, and especially if you are noticing lots of mucus in your stools.  You should probably head to a gastroenterologist doctor and find out if something more is happening to your body.

Bacteria within the colon consumes mucus on a regular basis, but by seeing mucus mixed in with stools and in the toilet floating means that something else is going on.  Don’t be afraid, seek medical attention quickly to resolve your problem.

I wanted to write a post about how things are changing for me right now in terms of bowel movements and toilet use.  It is not the most beautiful of ulcerative colitis topics, but important none the less.  What is happening feels to be part of the healing process.

As I’ve reported earlier, I am coming out of a flare up, and currently in the final stages of tapering off prednisone steroids.  I’m now down to 2.5 mg per day of prednisone which is going to be my final dose before stopping completely.  I started at a peak of 15 mg per day back the first week of January and every week or two dropped the daily dose by 2.5mg.

Lately, my poops have been very hard when using the bathroom which is great, but I’ve noticed more mucus around the stools sometimes compared to prior weeks when the stools were less formed/hard.  Why this happens is still a mystery to me, but I’ve read that the colon produces mucus to act as  a protective layer for the inner colon walls.  In a few places I’ve read that this production of mucus might actually increase when the colon is fighting off things.

So my overall question is, how many other people see increases in the amount of mucus around their formed/hard stools when you are coming out of an ulcerative colitis flare?  And, do other people find it a bit strange to be seeing mucus when the bleeding is almost completely gone or gone and you are starting to gain weight and feel normal after a flare up?

In Summary, I am not concerned with the mucus, I can remember seeing it a while ago when I was coming out of another flare, but up until now I’ve never really tried to investigate how it is with others, and if this is “normal”.  Thx

I wanted to share a story about what is happening to me right now with regards to tapering off the prednisone steroids, and the strange acne side effects that are coming along with it.  I have ulcerative colitis, and several weeks ago a pretty nasty flare up developed which caused my UC symptoms to get pretty bad.  So, I was prescribed prednisone and shortly afterwards, I began taking 15 mg of prednisone per day.  That is a pretty minimal amount compared to the high doses I’ve taken several times before.

Not initially, but after beginning the tapering of the steroids, I started to notice the acne and the strange pimples on my scalp.  This was actually very similar to the first few times I began tapering off these anti-inflammatory drugs.  Just where my hairline begins on my head, there are in many places small hard pimples.  It is so weird.  And then just last week, I noticed the same acne like pimple on the outside of my right foot.  The ones on my feet look to be filled with a white puss.  They don’t hurt at all, but they are identical to the bumps that started a year or so ago before I developed some bad psoriasis on both my hands and feet.  I am worried that the psoriasis is going to begin any day now as well.

Here are two pictures of what the foot pimples look like right now.  The red area around them is where I popped a few, and the white puss came oozing out.

the pimples or maybe psoriasis on my right foot

close up of foot pimples and white puss underneath

If anyone else who has started tapering off of prednisone and also has developed some puss filled acne like pimples on your feet or scalp, please make a comment below.  This stuff is very weird, and although it doesn’t hurt and I’ve been through it before, it is still odd and I can’t wait for it to go away on its own.  What is bothering me the most is the itchy feeling that comes from the pimples that are on my head under my hairline.  They are a real drag to deal with.  So, if you have dealt or are dealing with this right now, I totally understand what you’re going through.

Common Side Effects from UC (Ulcerative Colitis)

There is a large group of very common side effects that a large percentage of UC patients experience.  These main side effects are found whether you are just mild with your UC or severe with colitis symptoms.

• Anemia due to excessive blood loss
• Tired or sleepy much of the day
• Irritable sometimes as a side effect from prednisone steroids
• Dehydrated which is often from numerous bowel movements
• Diarrhea
• High white blood cells counts from blood tests
• Taking time off work due to your medical condition (many ulcerative colitis patients are not able to work regular hours or would be very in-efficient due to the need to find bathrooms so often)

Some of the less common side effects from ulcerative colitis symptoms are:

• Headaches from certain medications
• Joint pains form an overly active immune system that makes things seem like arthritis everywhere
• Weight loss due to bad absorption within the colon walls
• Insomnia or not being able to sleep because of prednisone steroids.  These medications can often hurt your ability to sleep through the night without waking up.
• Depression is sometimes associated with ulcerative colitis symptoms and prolonged active disease.  When people are not able to
• Moon face from prednisone that helps to treat inflammation.  The body can swell up to much bigger than it usually is, and this can often happen in the face.  Moon face is very embarrassing and affects about 10-25% of the people who take prednisone steroids.  The good news is that it also goes away once you stop taking the medications.
• Running to bathrooms comes along with the disease, and is something that you become more and more used to as time goes on.

The side effects from ulcerative colitis can be severe and most definitely can change your physical and social life and way of living, but often they are just temporary and go away once the disease goes back into remission.  The doctors and physicians who treat many patients with UC usually are very aware of the medical side effects and can help out quite a bit with recovery.  What is different for each person are the mental side effects that ulcerative colitis brings along.  Everyone deals with depression differently and it is one of those side effects that you should talk to a medical professional about if you suffer from UC related depression.  Depression is serious and it can and will get better if you seek help for it.  Also, your ulcerative colitis symptoms should ease up when the depression goes away.  For the most part, side effects from ulcerative colitis go away once you reach remission.  You can go to another website to learn more about ulcerative colitis symptoms to find out what might be possible.

When Should You Call Your Doctor?

For ulcerative colitis patients, there is no magical sign as to when you should call your doctor or schedule an office visit to talk about your ulcerative colitis symptoms.   The general rule of thumb is to setup a doctor visit when you are not feeling great, and the best thing would be to meet your doctor before you are in a full UC flare up.

The main trouble that many people with ulcerative colitis have is they wait too long before they make the doctors appointment.  In order not to be part of this group who waits for full blown colitis symptoms to be happening before doing anything proactive, we need to understand how the brain functions when symptoms come back.

For most patients, going to the doctor is not the most fun part of the day.  There are the usual drawbacks of missing work for a doctor’s appointment, or simply the high costs of health care.  Sometimes people can’t make it to the doctor because they are worried that their health insurance is not going to cover those costs, especially when someone’s insurance changes unexpectedly.  Another major reason why people avoid meeting with your GI doctor is because you are scared that you might be talking about colon surgery if things do not improve.

Whatever the case may be, it is in everyone’s best interest to visit the doctor when you are noticing signs of active colitis returning to your daily life.  When symptoms go too long without getting better, they can easily lead to someone ending up in the hospital with major weight loss and dehydration and other major medical problems too.

Coming to terms with the reality of ulcerative colitis and the fact that symptoms often return for people after being in remission for so many years is just part of the disease.  There is absolutely no shame at all in going to the doctor’s office when you are feeling different and you think it might be UC related.  There is nothing wrong with calling up your nurse and asking questions about symptoms and bleeding that is occurring on a regular basis.  Talking to your doctor about your ulcerative colitis symptoms is something that you have the right to do whenever you want to.  If you for any reason do not like your doctor, you should consider changing to another gastro doctor that you like better.  There are many of them all over the world, and most definitely one of them will want to work with you.

How Does the Colon Recover From Inflammation?

• Does the colon simply need to be at rest with minimal work required to heal itself from ulcers?
• Can medicine that acts as an anti-inflammatory like steroids heal the colon?
• Can herbs that are known to heal you work to reduce the swelling and pain of the colon?
• Can immune suppresant medicines heal the colon
• Why can you be bleeding one day and not the next in your colon?

Inflammation of the Colon From Ulcerative Colitis

When you are in the middle of an ulcerative colitis flare, it might seem impossible that someday your colon is going to start working once again.  That is exactly how most people feel when they are seeing so much blood fly out of them when using the bathroom.  You very well may start to think that your colon is completely broken and will never start working.  The reality that many UC patients can tell you is that the colon is a very resilient organ in our bodies.  It can many times suffer years of abuse, and still figure out how to start working properly once again.  It is one of those miracles of life actually.  The colon is similar to the biggest highway you have ever been on.  There is food and liquids flowing down it all the time, its like a river that just keeps on flowing no matter what time of year.  Often, there are difficult things passing through, sometimes enough “bad” stuff to make the colon malfunction, or actually tear apart and start to bleed.  Once, the situation is resolved, the goal of the colon is to start healing and working properly again, and it surely can do just that.

Sometimes, the healing process can take a very long time.  This depends on how inflamed the colon was to begin with.  Also, you should not be alarmed when small levels of symptoms start to come back.  This is normal, and it will happen often.

Can Someone With Ulcerative Colitis Also Get Arthritis?

It is a 100% yes that someone who has ulcerative colitis can also have arthritis.  You may also just experience symptoms of arthritis along with your UC.  It is not really known why there is an increasing amount of people who have been diagnosed with UC who also come down with sporadic or chronic arthritis symptoms also.  Some doctors feel it is all related to the immune systems and in particular the autoimmune reactions that are taking place.  Other people feel it might be more related to other outside medical issues.  There are others who feel it could still be a complete coincidence.

Symptoms of Arthritis:

• Painful aches in joints
• Difficulty finding comfortable positions when trying to sleep at night
• Pain in the limbs such as the elbows or finger joints
• Lower back pain that is very painful
• Often the pain is worse in the morning hours after waking up and gets better by mid morning
• Difficulty moving freely, range  of motion can be decreased

How to Deal with Colitis and Arthritis:

If you are finding yourself having these two nasty sets of symptoms, rest assured that you are not alone.  There is an ever growing amount of people who are also dealing with colitis and arthritis and for sure it is a struggle.  But, it can be dealt with.  What you should definitely do is speak with your physician.  If you have UC, you probably are dealing with some sort of gastro doctor already.  This doctor is likely not trained in arthritis, so you should ask to speak with a physician who can assist you with those questions.  A common procedure is for these doctors to prescribe some type of anti-inflammatory medication such as prednisone to help with the arthritis.  Be sure to consult with your GI doctor as well before taking any medications, especially if you are also taking GI related ones at the same time.  If you want to try some completely alternative treatment, you can look into treating both arthritis and the ulcerative colitis symptoms with diet.  There is a diet called the specific carbohydrate diet which has helped many people with ulcerative colitis and may prove helpful for your arthritis as well.

How great would it be for your “never ending” disease to suddenly go away on its own?

I think that would be the ultimate treat.  To wake up one day and to see your disease is no longer there at all.  And to wake up the next day and to realize it still is gone, in the clear, no more running to the bathroom when nature calls.  This is most definitely everyone’s dream come true if you also have ulcerative colitis.  This is actually more than a dream, this would be the best dream by FAR.

There are some stories out there about people who have had their ulcerative colitis go away or go into remission on its own without the help of any changes or medications or surgeries.  The reality is that these situations are very rare and not something that the average colitis patient should expect or be waiting to happen.

The majority of people who suffer from ulcerative colitis have symptoms which come and go at no particular times.  Some people are able to judge when they might be getting ready to go into a flare up, but others are just simply not able to see any reasoning for changes that come up.

The only known cure that is accepted by much of the medical community is through surgery or removal of the colon.  As scary as this might sound, there are thousands of young and old colitis patients who have gone through with this surgery and led a perfectly normal life.  There have been so many advances with the world of medicine in the past few decades that people who have this surgery are even able to leave the hospital with a week sometimes.  That is truly incredible.

One of the issues that I have run into very recently with my ulcerative colitis concerns dehydrating my body.  This is something that might seem obvious when you are in a very severe flare, but it is also quite possible to have when you are in the middle of a very mild one too.

How I Became So De-Hydrated:

My personal situation was involving a weekend that was meant to be alot of fun.  I was getting ready to run in a half marathon with a good friend, and my actual intention was to run only half of it and walk the rest.  When the race began, I was feeling pretty good, and eventually I was halfway through.  I do remember sipping a very little amount of water a few times during the race, but nothing of any real large amount.  I wanted to make sure I did not get any cramps during the race and I thought I was fully hydrated.  At the end of the thirteen miles, I was surprised at how much I was sweating through both of my shirts.  Because I suffer from ulcerative colitis, I do not drink energy drinks or things like gatorade.  My colon is not able to tolerate the sweet complex sugars that are found in those types of drinks.  Also, I have had several flare ups that were minor but due to sweet food that my ulcerative colitis can’t handle.  Anyways, I started drinking a decent amount of water afterwards, and I thought nothing of it.

It wasn’t until a full day of being out on the town after the race, and then not getting proper sleep that I was finding myself compeltely wiped out just 36 hours after crossing the finish line.  I really had not recovered at all from the race and my dehydration levels were so severe that it was causing me to feel faint.

After making the realization of what was happening, I immediately began hydrating myself and things started to improve quite a bit.  Something so simple as drinking fluids when you spend alot of energy is such a simple idea.  But for some reason I totally forgot about it.  With any form of ulcerative colitis symptoms, it is equally important to make sure to remain hydrated as well.  Getting caught without proper hydration is not something you want to happen.  It can land you in the hospital or an ambulance which is what happened to me.

Common Deyhydration Problems with Colitis:

The more common problem that people with UC have is due to massive bathroom visits and diarrhea.  I dealt with this for many years and it is something that nearly everyone goes through at some point with the disease.  Many of us deal with diarrhea and dehydration on a chronic basis unfortunately.  Again, the key here is to remain drinking fluids to help relieve the effects that low water levels can have on all parts of the body.  It is hard to do when you know you will be running to the bathroom moments later, but it is still very important.

Have you ever met someone who is dealing with UC symptoms but has no idea they have UC?

Here are two big symptoms that many people deal with for way too long before getting diagnosed with UC:

1. Pain in stomach
2. Blood in poop

Both pretty bad nasty symptoms, and definitely both symptoms are ones that should not be dealth with and added to one’s lifestyle without telling your doctor.

If you are dealing with both of these symptoms, please go and speak with your doctor.  Whenever there is blood coming out of your poop, that is simply not normal.  And if it is happening for a long period of time, it should be dealth with rather quickly.  Gastroenterologist doctors are specially trained to help people who are dealing with symptoms like this.

Stomach pains are something that everyone in the world deals with at some time or another.  BUT, that doesn’t mean that those types of pains are no big deal.  If you are dealing with those type of pains, and also have blood in your poop/stool, please make an appointment with your doctor ASAP.

Here are some very common symptoms/questions that Ulcerative Colitis Sufferes Have Reported to us this Week:

1. Get Very Hungry when taking prednisone
2. I bleed
3. I keep finding blood in my poop
4. I want to quit the SCD diet but I’m not sure
5. I’m getting joint pain from my colitis
6. I need to take more antibiotics with my colitis
7. my acne is getting much worse on colitis medications
8. my first remicade infusion was a good experience

Here is a response to the 8 items above

1. Getting hungry is very common for people who are taking prednisone
2. Bleeding unfortunately is part of the disease when it is in a flare
3. As well, finding blood in the poops can also happen often during a uc flare
4. The SCD diet is not easy to follow, but to get the best results, one must stay on it 100%
5. Joint pain is also a common symptoms that UC people report, related to the autoimmune system
6. Antibiotics and taking them with UC should be a definite discussion with your doctor
7. The good news about acne, is its usually happening when someone is taking steroids for UC, it will go away
8. That’s right, remicade infusions are not too bad after all, takes some time, but nothing crazy

Many patients feel that their ulcerative colitis is worse in the early morning hours compared to other times of the day.  This is totally normal for some people(but not for everyone).

There are many conflicting ideas as to why this is taking place.  Some ideas have to do with sleep, and the idea that when people are sleeping, their bowels are working usually less, and that can lead people to have a buildup of needed work once they wake up in the morning.  There are many stories of UC patients who need to run to the bathroom first thing in the morning to take a large and lengthy in terms of time crap EVERYDAY.  Sometimes this bowel movement can last over an hour if you can believe that.  And often, the quantity of poop that comes out at this first thing in the morning bowel movement is the largest amount for the whole day.  Don’t be alarmed if this is you, this is totally normal.

But, lets think also for people who have the worst pains in the morning.  This is also very common.  There are also too many conflicting views in the medical world to make a 100% for sure theory or reason for this.  It is simply a fact of life for many IBD patients, not just UC patients that the morning hours can be the hardest times to cope with the disease.  The good news is that for this group of the UC population, most of them say that the pains get better as the days move on compared to the mornings.  So in some sense, the symptoms are always getting better each day compared to when these patients wake up.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, don’t freak out if this is you, having the worst pains in the morning.  Tell your doctor, and realize that you are not alone.

The very early days of learning about what ulcerative colitis actually was, I can remember hearing the words autoimmune and wondering what the heck does that mean.  Previously, I had always thought that any sentence with the words immune within, was a super positive thing.  But, as it turns out autoimmune diseases can be quite painful, unexplainable, ever changing, and, something that has the potential to consume your life.

As a simplified definition, an auto-immune disease is one where the immune system of the body does not know how to turn itself off, and instead it begins to attack normal parts of the body.  That is pretty much what is happening with the inner walls of the colon with ulcerative colitis patients.  There are ulcerations being created within the colon’s inner walls.  This is what is being “cut up”.  And this is why there is bleeding, the colon walls are not supposed to be cut up and bleeding obviously.

Back to UC, there are several different theories on what is the actual cause of the symptoms for the typical UC patient, so that debate could literally go on forever.  Here is a great resource to look at with some ideas on ulcerative colitis as an inflammatory bowel disease or IBD.

Since it is coming up on two years now for me of having the disease, it is now starting to get a tiny tiny bit hard to remember the feelings of thinking my colitis would never get better.  But I know they were running through my mind 24 hours per day when I was in a bad UC flare.  It is probably normal for some family members as well as the actual patient to start thinking this is maybe going to be the way life is, bad symptoms forever, forever, and ever.

Even for new patients who have dealing with symptoms for just a few months, it is very easy to start thinking this way.  To feel there is no hope and that the ulcerative colitis will never end.   But colitis can end and remission is a definite possibility for so many people.  How can it be?  How can people claim to have finally gotten rid of most or all of their UC symptoms, when they saw absolutely no signs of it letting up for so long?  Well, the mystery of colitis is not completely solved.  There is no genie who can come out and tell anybody exactly how their UC will be for their lifetime.  But, based on experience, even when its totally impossible to see the light at the end of the tunnel, UC can get under control for anybody.  It is the nature of the autoimmune disease itself.  The human body is a very complex system, and even though we(meaning the scientific community) is getting very very smart, it is also not 100% there 100% of the time when it comes to needing answers.  There is no 100% answer as to why symptoms and remission can come and go, but there is always hope that ulcerative colitis will go away as fast or as slow as it came.

Do you have Arthritis now?? Did you just get diagnosed or recently with ulcerative colitis too?  If you are saying heck yeah, well you and I got the same thing going.

The big question so many people are asking is, What caused me to start getting arthritis in the first place?

And the answer that quite a few doctors are giving their UC patients is, “it could very well be a manifestation of the UC itself”  To me it just seems strange that the ulcerative colitis which most doctors would say is going on in your colon, could also be partly responsible for joint pains and chronic arthritis in places like your shoulders, lower back, and elbows… doesn’t that seem a bit far fetched?
In all honesty, I am starting to buy the idea the doctors are telling me.  In the past few months, I have talked with quite a few other UC patients who are saying pretty much the same story as me.  Some come and go arthritis that at times can be really painful and debilitating, and of course dealing with UC as well.  Many mention that the arthritis type pains get worse as UC symptoms flare, and others are not able to correlate the changes in the come and go arthritis.

So, if you are dealing with some arthritis and you also have colitis, you are definitely not the only one.  There is a whole gang load of us doing the same.