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Colitis -- Hormonal Changes?

Sarawr

Hi All,

I'm new to the community (diagnosed last year with UC) and am having my first return of symptoms after getting on medication. I'm just wondering if this all is normal or I should be pushing for a change in meds.

I was diagnosed after giving birth to my son triggered a flare. At that time, it was 15+ urgent movements a day, pain, all that fun stuff. After two months it went away without medication, then when it returned with mucus and a bit of blood was when I had my colonoscopy and started on Mezavant, which brought me back to normal quickly.

Now, the symptoms have returned, but bowel movements are not bad. I live a normal life, not like what was happening in my first flare. It's just a lot of mucus/pus and blood. My GI prescribed oral Salofalk as well but I don't see a change with that.

So my two questions are:
1) are these symptoms 'normal' for UC, or should I be pushing for a different medication? Is it dangerous to let the symptoms continue?
and
2) Has anyone experienced a change in their IBD because of hormonal changes? I ask because my UC surfaced in pregnancy and flared after giving birth, then symptoms returned after my first post-partum period.

Thanks for reading!

thedancingcrohnie Moderator & Contributor
1) I am not a doctor but from my personal experience I think it is normal for symptoms to eb and flow however, minimal symptoms. Once things start to increase in severity, even slightly, I always let me doctor know. If I start to flare and things get bad, I always ask to change meds.

2) Hormones play a huge role in our digestive systems, so I learned from my Naturopathic Medical Doc. I would always complain for years to my GI that when I had my period, my Crohn's would act up and he would always look at me and say that my ovaries have nothing to do with my intestines. But they do! Our bodies are connected and function as a whole so one thing does effect another. It is totally possible your hormones had a play into why you started flaring again.

I hope this helps some?

Big hugs to you,
Elizabeth (team member)
1. Sarawr Member
  Thank you so much!
2. thedancingcrohnie Moderator & Contributor
  You are so welcome. I hope you are feeling better. Hugs, Elizabeth (team member)
Eshani Agrawal Moderator & Contributor
Hi ! I am wondering if it would be useful to push some blood tests to see where your inflammation levels are at. I am not a doctor, but my doctor has recommended testing ESR and CRP through blood and calproctectin through stool to see how my inflammation markers are. If they're creeping up, that might mean you and your doctor want to discuss other meds. If not, maybe this is just a normal stomach upset moment. I will say, when I go into a flare, I usually start with bleeding and then things get worse, so to me (again, not as a doctor), this is sounding like it. could be another flare. Let us know how things are going! -Eshani (IBD Team Member)
Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford Moderator & Contributor
"Normal" is a very fluid concept when it comes to IBD. We might all have a slightly different baseline for normal. You said that Mezavant bought you back to normal quickly, so you know that even with IBD, you can experience THAT level of normal. B