that will teach me to speak too soon :(

So I spoke too soon...and I'm all over the place again...no bowel control, though I have to say, it's not as bad as it was last year. So what the heck do I do now. The preds aren't working and I'm at a lose. I'm going ot taper the preds out over the next 4 weeks and to see exactly how bad this is ... if anyone has got any better ideas, please let me know.

And I've found another thing to try...heck...why not...so now I'm on a daily dose of cabbage or cabbage juice ... yep, I was suprised at the one too. Google it's benefits if you don't believe. One week into it, so who knows...I'll give it a few months and see if there are any benefits and let you know.

Is it really working?

It's just about the end of summer and the kids will be going back to school soon...yeah says I!!! Its actually easier to go to work somedays than have to listen to kids fight and bicker some days....kids can be very frustrating some times.

Anyway, I'm down to 15mgs of Pred and its going well this time. I haven't been this low without loads of mucus and blood sightings in 2 years!!!

All I'm doing different this time is trying not to stress out along with taking magnesium, zinc, Vit B and a good probiotic. Is that my cure...who knows.

The SCD diet left me feeling really low, but in 10 weeks I've bounced back to a high that a haven't seen in years...and no it's not been caused by the pred.

I don't know if eating less refined sugar and fat is also helping as all the doctors say that food isn't the cause. My jury is still out on that as I really think it's a combination of what is happening in my mind and what I'm putting into my body.

Lets see what happens in the next few weeks .... please keep the blood and mucus away .... please let my body heal after a nightmare 18 months ......

Maybe it's working this time

So as I said last time, I'm back on the pred, but the difference is that this time it might actually be working as I'm able to drop 5mg each week and so far it's a hell of a lot better than last time where I still had blood and mucus to deal with every now and again.

What's different this time....easy, I'm not stressed at all. I'm enjoying summer and chilling out...I don't have to go anywhere I don't want to go and this year I have my first ever sun tan in 14 years!! I don't sunbathe in Australia as we just get burnt to pieces and last year I couldn't get my head around the fact that the UV index was only at 7....in Oz it can get to 15!!

So this summer I've read loads of books, went sight seeing and swimming, but all in all I'm much less stressed...maybe that is the key...who knows...time will tell. It's a bugger that there is only 4 weeks left before the kids go back to school....but heck this summer has been fun so far.

That doesn't stop the odd panic about loos, but no accidents so far...I even managed to hang on for over 1 hr...though it was really only a pee I needed but with our disease, well you just never knwo what is going to happen when you relax on a toilet. Why did I hang on 1 hr..well, we were at a finishing stage of the Tour de France, and when those guys fly past and only see them for 30secs would you have risked a bathroom stop? No way, I'd rather have an accident :D and was it worth it or what!!!

SCD Diet stopped

Let's just say that the SCD Diet didn't work for me, and instead I developed a further allergy....that's they way it goes...can't say I'll miss it...I did have a go and maybe I'll return to a variation at a later date...but for now I am yet again back on Pred...OMG...will it ever stop :(

SCD Diet - Days 29 - 3x

Day 29 - Mon
Well, today I started with an illegal muffin with 2 eggs on top....mmm...it was lovely. I'm struggling with continuing the SCD diet as I didn't see any positive change. Maybe I've just given up too soon. Maybe I need to put more into it, but the food is so bland and boring. I telephoned a local Naturopath but wasn't able to get an appointment with her this week as she's going to her practice in Geneva and then I'm away next week, so I'll call again when I get back to set up an initial appointment with her and see how it goes.

For dinner I was good and everything was legal, but unfortunately I couldn't resist lemon cake with strawberry icing :( ... and I believe that was my downfall this evening I think. :(


Meds - 3 x Salofalk (1g granules), pred enema
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), cod liver oil capsule (525mg)
Weight - 62.1 kgs(136.9lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - Not much passed except for the remains of the enema.
2. 11am - Normal with M & B mixed in and
3. 7pm - Urgency - D, lots of it
4. 8pm - Urgency D

Day 30 - Tue
I had another muffin today with poached eggs for breakfast. Apart from the muffin, that was it as far as illegals went. The rest of the day I was good.


Meds - 3 x Salofalk (1g granules),, pred enema
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), cod liver oil capsule (525mg)
Weight - 62.0 kgs(136.4lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - Small BM, a bit of D & M..too hard to tell if there was any B.
   
2. 8am - A larger movement with a bit of M
3. 2pm - A bit of M
   
4. 9pm - Small BM's with a bit of M
5. 10pm - Small BM's with a bit of M

Day 31 - Wed
Today was a felt a bit weird in the stomach / intestine area. Not crampy and definitely not like the painful ones last week....just weird if you know what I mean. I'm in a funny mood to, so the 2 could be connected. Today I also started a tablet probiotic, so we'll see how that goes.


Meds - 4 x Salazoprin
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), cod liver oil capsule (525mg), 2 probiotics(2x5 million)
Weight - 62.0 kgs(136.4lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - little to nothing & M with a few specks of B
   
2. 2pm - Slight urgency. M & B mixed in
3. 9pm - M and a bit of B only
4. 10pm - M only
   

Day 32 - Thur
The usual illegal of a muffin was eaten for breakfast along with a banana. Lunch was another muffin, some cheddar cheese and I shelled a few peanuts for a snack. I don't seem to have that weird feeling in my stomach today. Maybe the probiotic tablets did something although I was under the impression that it took at least 14 days for any benefit to be noticed. Maybe today is just a good day. Actually it was, I got my hair cut and coloured and really like it. Normally it takes until I wash it myself and the colour is a week old, before I like it ... I'm kind off fussy that way ☺


Meds - 3 x Salofalk (1g granules)
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), cod liver oil capsule (525mg)
Weight - 62.0 kgs(136.4lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - Little to nothing & M with a few specks of B
2. 2pm - Little to nothing & M
3. 9pm - M and a bit of B only
4. 10pm - M only

Unfortunately I went on holiday and the SCD Diet was forgotten to my down fall....I'm back to scratch now and have to start with Day 1 of the SCD diet....I WILL try again

SCD Diet - Days 26 - 28

Day 26 - Fri
I'm wondering if I should have peeled my apple before I ate it this morning as I had real pains this afternoon...not enough to make you cry, but enough to make you sit there and hold on until the cramp passed. This week with so many BM's, I'm beginning to doubt the SCD diet...but I know that it takes time and I'm not even at the end of week 4 yet.

I want, I need, I should, I fear......

I just want to get better though, but I need to see some real signs of improvement and not just fleeting moments where I get my hopes up, only to have them dashed the next day.
I need to have a birthday where I'm not bleeding. The last 3 have been horrible.
I should be grateful though as I'm leading a relatively normal life and can out and about, but the fear is returning that I'm going back to my 30 secs notice.
I fear getting worse.

Meds - 4 x Salazopyrin, Pred Enema
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet), Cod Liver Oil (525mg one tablet)
Weight - 61.7 kgs(135.7lb s)

BM's

1. 7am - Only the remains of the enema with a bit of M. Could not see any B.
2. 7.30am - Small movement, og normal consistency, a little bit of M, could see no B
3. 2.00pm - Not much passed, but a normal consistency, a far bit of M & B
4. 3.00pm - Only Ms with a little bit of B
   
5. 10.50pm - Normal consistency, not sure if there is any M or B
   

Day 27 - Sat
I totally blew off the SCD Diet today after a horrible Friday and the feeling that the almond flour was doing me more damage than good. The stomach pains subsided finally in the afternoon and I went made toast with bread for lunch followed by pretzel sticks as a snack and my dinner also comprised of avocado on toast with garlic chicken.


Meds - 3 x Salofalk (1g granules)
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet)
Weight - 61.7 kgs(135.7lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - Not much passed except for the remains of the enema.
2. 10pm - Normal with a bit of M and possibly a bit of B.
   

Day 28 - Sun
Still not back on the SCD Diet. Instead I had cornflakes for breakfast, followed at lunch with a toasted cheese and ham sandwich, followed by a Tim Tam biscuit and then an ice-cream when we went out, but for dinner I returned to the SCD Diet. Now I have to decide if I should continue with this diet or not as it seems to be causing me gut pain and I'm not seeing any improvement at all. I would have assumed that after 4 weeks, the BM's would have at least drop slightly, but instead I'm going more. This again could be because I'm off prednisolne, but surely I should have seen some improvement since to begin with this was only a mild flare-up. I feel that I have gotten worse in the last few weeks. Tomorrow is a new day, so I'll see how I feel in the morning and I'll decide then if I should continue with the SCD Diet or not.


Meds - 3 x Salofalk (1g granules)
Vitamins - Magnesium with Folic acid and Vit D (combo 1 tablet)
Weight - 61.7 kgs(135.7lb s)

BMs

1. 7am - Not much passed except for the remains of the enema.
2. 6pm - Slight urgency, but otherwise small movement with a bit of M, could not detect B
   
3. 8pm - Urgency with little passed. A bit of M noted.
   
4. 10.30pm - Slight urgency, normal BM, then D. This was immediately after I had finished a cup of tea.
   

What exactly is a flare-up?

flare-up (flârp)

n.

1. A sudden outbreak of flame or light: a flare-up of the embers.

2. An outburst or eruption: a flare-up of anger.

3. A recurrence or an intensification: a flare-up of rheumatism.

I've been thinking about this for a while now about what exactly a flare-up is. I wonder if the powers that be will ever include a definition of flare-up for Ulcerative Colitis suffers...mmm probably not.

Generally my flare-ups begin gradually. First I notice a few drops of blood on the tissue roll, possible it might feel itchy, but then within a week or two I get the urgency to go. For the past 3 months or so I've been getting mild stomach cramps in the lower abdomen, and visible blood and mucus in the stool. I haven't been able to get totally out of this flare-up since I dropped to 30mgs of Predisolne the first...way way back at the beginning of March. Is this normal...does anyone else suffer the same way as me....never been able to get out of a flare-up without the aid of steroids?

So I figured if steroids (or surgery) is my only way out, then I at least have to try something..hence why I started the SCD Diet. I'm just over 3 weeks into it and it's bloody hard to stick to. I haven't noticed any benefit yet, but then again, it's not a quick fix. I do wonder though how long it will take for me to see a change for the positive and a decrease in the mucus and urgency to go.

I'm trying to be realistic though...I'm coming of Predisolne even though there is mucus and blood present still. I can't live on those bloody awful little tablets for ever ... god knows what damage they have done already to my bones. As soon as I get home next year, I'm going to have to ask for a bone density test. I honestly couldn't face doing one here..it's all too hard living with this disease in a non English speaking country and that would lead me to stress. Actually, I've possible got a handle on my stress recently...I'm trying not to let things build up on me to the point where I explode.

So, back to flares...I read today that flared trouser (pants) will be back in fashion again for the 2010 Fall...OMG...I didn't wear them as a child in the 70's and I'm definitely not going to be wearing them this Autumn :)

And in case you're interested they are also saying that Metallic Dresses, Velvet Dresses, Capes and Ponchos and the Head To Toe Black Look will also be in this Autumn. At least I'll be happy to do black :)