Ulcerative Colitis

Two and a half years ago I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.  It was a shock and I said at the time that I would write about it when I had gotten to grips with things and now seems like a good time.

It's not a pleasant topic but it's important to raise awareness of this illness.

After Isabella was born, I suffered with diarrhoea for weeks.  In the hospital they weren't concerned and my gynaecologist at my five week check up just told me to eat more bananas.  Because of their lack of concern, it took two months of rushing to the toilet all day and nagging from my husband before I finally went to see my GP.

Luckily, he took me seriously.  He immediately ran tests and set up various appointments.  We were in the middle of August by this point, which meant that many doctors were on holiday, but he went out of his way to make sure that I would be seen quickly by specialists.  I'm so grateful to that doctor and for the German health system.

After an endoscopy, a doctor at the hospital gave us the diagnosis.  I sat in his office with my husband by my side and two month old baby in the pram on the other side as he described this illness I'd never heard of before - ulcerative colitis.  An inflammatory bowel disease.

I'd suffered with my bowels for a while - it had been diagnosed as IBS while I was at university but medication had never helped.  We'd suspected a gluten allergy for a while and cutting it out helped.  It turns out, this is probably a related problem.

The doctor explained that there was no cure.  It is like Crohn's Disease but only affects the large intestine.  Basically, my large intestine becomes irritated at times causing pain, bleeding and diarrhoea.  There is treatment and I have to watch what I eat to a certain extent but otherwise, many people live normal lives with this disease.  I'd have to have regular check ups going forward but there was no reason to think I couldn't lead a normal life too.

The scariest part was the higher risk of colon cancer but the positive side of this is that, now we know that it's a risk and has to be checked regularly.

I remember driving up to stay with Nico's parents, from this appointment with Isabella in the back of the car, crying because we'd brought this baby into the world and both of us now had illnesses which gave her a higher risk of cancer if she inherited one of them, and worrying that we hadn't made a will if these illnesses took us early.

The doctor gave me a course of strong medication which cleared up the problem immediately.  It was such a huge relief.  Since then I have only had one outbreak which was treated with steroids.  The rest of the time, I've been on a weaker medication which (touch wood) is keeping things in check.  I have to have regular blood tests and hopefully will be able to come off this medication in a few years.

I also take algae and resin supplements daily and follow a gluten free diet and live a normal lifestyle.  Though I'm not very good at sticking with it, I do feel that following a Paleo diet helps too. We have even been able to have a second baby and despite my fears following his birth, symptoms have been kept at bay.

Since the diagnosis, I've read a lot about this illness and actually discovered that a few people I know suffer from it too.  It's just not something that is talked about.  Maybe if it were more well known, people would be diagnosed earlier.

If you're interested in finding out more you can read about it here.