Everyday Health: How to Tackle an Ulcerative Colitis Flare
Everyday Health recently interviewed gastroenterologist Gil Melmed, MD, director of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Research at Cedars-Sinai, about ways to manage ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease that causes stomach cramping, diarrhea and weight loss.
During a flare-up—when symptoms are severe and persistent—patients can experience a high fever, bloody bowel movements or a decrease in bowel movements along with severe stomach pain.
Melmed told Everyday Health that individuals with this chronic disease should get medical help if they think they’re having a flare.
“Any set of symptoms that’s getting progressively worse is an indication that you should check in with your healthcare team,” Melmed said. “And when you’re going through a flare, check in regularly with your doctor. Don’t try to manage it all on your own at home.”
Melmed told Everyday Health that, depending on the severity of the flare, the patient might visit their doctor every three months or more. He added that people with ulcerative colitis should know how the condition affects them.
“An individual’s disease tends to follow similar patterns, so your flare symptoms might be different from someone else with ulcerative colitis,” Melmed said. “It’s important to become aware of your own disease patterns and how symptoms manifest for you.”
Experts aren’t sure what causes ulcerative colitis flares, but possible triggers include lapses in treatment, stress, certain foods and even travel.
“You might be traveling with friends in an exotic place, and you eat something your system is not used to,” Melmed said. “Maybe everybody gets food poisoning or traveler’s diarrhea, and everyone recovers, but you go into a flare.”
Click here to read the complete article in Everyday Health.