Archive for September, 2009

Just read this and thought that it is a useful piece of info to add to the overall awareness of diet and colitis.

A diet high in polyunsaturated fat may lead to IBD. This conclusion is based on food diaries from more that 200,000 people across Europe researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition have stated.

A high intake of lonileic acid, found in founds like “healthy margarine” may be a factor in a third of all colitis cases. This acid is also found in beef, pork and sunflower oil. The research also suggested that a diet rich in omega 3 fatty acid reduced the likelihood of developing UC by 77%.

There will always be those that claim “oh your bad diet is the cause”. Well, there are many people who have been diagnosed with colitis who had a very good diet and ensured it was balanced etc etc.

I would suggest carry on with a healthy diet and of course try and reduce bad fats and appreciate the benefit that “good” fats provide.

You need to be aware of what is good, not so good when it comes to trying to use diet in effective colitis management.

Click colitis diet for your answers

The time has arrived and I am now on Twitter. I will post comments on tweets that are relevant and try and build a following that are looking for tips and tricks about coping with colitis.

Go over now and take a look

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Michael

For the majority of colitis sufferers, once you have had an attack you should be able to attain the level of health that you had before it happened. Whilst remission brings with it relief from pronounced colitis symptoms, you must always be aware that the inflammation in your large bowel has not disappeared.

It is still there. Think about it as a volcano. It has erupted for the first time, pouring out lava and causing discomfort to those around (that’s you). The eruption has now subsided yet the volcano is still active. In remission, the blood, mucus and the abdominal pain and discomfort will have stopped. The open sore on the bowel lining caused by the inflammation will have closed and hence the weeping of mucus and blood stopped, but that does not mean you are now free to forget about it. It’s still there; in fact it will always be there yet for now it can be described as “sleeping” rather than in volcano terms, “dormant”.

You may ask “how can I prevent it from waking up whilst living my usual life again?” Unfortunately it is not as simple as advising you to do one thing and don’t do another. If there were definitive answers, all colitis sufferers would be following them and living perhaps a colitis free life. Until that occurs, you need to be aware of your overall health more now than before and consider whether by doing something it may have a detrimental effect on a possible relapse occurring.

The first tip to avoid colitis symptoms during a period of remission is to be careful in what your diet consists of. The vast majority of foods will have no detrimental effect, yet there is a chance that a few could bring on some symptoms such as diarrhoea. These symptoms should not last long, perhaps not even one day but you should not be unnecessarily provoking the inflammation present in your large colon.

The second tip is not to over stretch yourself both physically and mentally, especially during the period immediately after the attack period has subsided. It takes a significant period of time for the body to recover from a colitis attack and during this stage no excessive strain should be placed upon it that could trigger symptoms, which, if left unchecked, could develop into a full blown attack.

The third tip is to take life a little slower paced and develop methods where you can take a step back and re-energise yourself and reduce any levels of stress that might have been building. By effective colitis management techniques, you can ensure that it is you who are in control during a period of remission and to ensure that you do nothing to encourage the reappearance of the volcano and its problematic colitis symptoms.

Everyone who is diagnosed with colitis knows that the chances of a relapse happening sometime in the future are probably 100%.

And whilst it is a known, it is also an unknown known. (Sorry I am starting to sound like a politician. Enough of that.)

Can anyone with colitis write down in their diary when their next relapse will occur? If they could, they should sell the secret and retire to their very own tropical island.

Until such a day arrives, colitis sufferers have to continue to live their lives as normally as possible yet always at the back of their mind there is the thought that a relapse might appear from nowhere.

After my first attack, I went on to have four relapses. I could start to see a pattern emerge both in timing when they happened and some evidence based factors of why they happened.

I also saw a pattern of when I could be prone to a sudden appearance of symptoms which would last, thankfully, for only a couple of trips to the toilet. I understood why they happened and tried to avoid future circumstances that were similar.

Start to understand your colitis symptoms and their patterns by getting the answers

Here is some interesting news about the quandary of whether a colitis relapse is seasonal.

I read the following in a recent publication:

” I was diagnosed with UC four years ago and I have suffered flare ups at the same time of year for the past three years. It starts around mid January building up to April – May and reducing on its own. I’m on a low does of steriods and azathioprine and have deliberately not increased these to prove that my condition will get better on its own. Is this just coincidental?”

The answer given was…

” There has been quite a lot of research done to explore the posssibilty of seasonal variation of IBD. A number of early studies sufggested that UC might occur more frequently in the winter months and it was speculated that this might relate to the presence of certain winter viruses or lack of sunlight exposure. However, more recent studies have failed to show any clear seasonal variation at all and it is now fairly well accepted that on average IBD occurs equally all year round.”

So no earth shattering discovery there but you should always bear in mind that colitis can predictably flare up at certain times of the year. This may just be coincidental, but as there is no proven reason for the causes of a flare up, it is possible that it may be due to individual factors such as seasonal stresses or lifestyle factors.

It is so important for those diagnosed with colitis to be aware of and know the tell tail signs of a looming relapse…or is it just a short term appearance of colitis symptoms that go away as quickly as they appeared?

Your colitis relapse answers are here.

A few days back I was talking to someone who asked me some questions about my own experience of colitis as they suddenly had to cope with the appearence of blood in their stools.

First of all I told them not to panic, it does not necessarily mean they have colitis. It is most probably some form of ibs and I told them that they must go and visit their doctor. They did state that they had endured a period of quite intense stress due to the possibility of being made redundant.

The influence and physical consequences that stress can play on the body cannot be underestimated.

Why are colitis sufferer’s interested/aware of stress? Simply, the effects of stress can be seen in increased symptoms. Sometimes they only last a short period of time, even just part of a day or it can be the precurser to a full blown relapse.

Yet there are methods of dealing with the resultant stress that does appear. A little action to aleviate the build up of stress is much easier to make happen than be at the mercy of what colitis can throw at you.

One successful one is the step back from the rigours of the day and just unwind yourself physically and mentally. Now, I know everyone says that they are busy, but what is, say, five minutes during the day to ensure you step back and effectively “build” that defence against unwanted colitis symptoms.

And the secret to that is planning. And the secret to planning is keep it simple. And the secret to keeping it simple is to focus. Focus on your objective and the job will get done.

How about identifying a five minute period during the day (as that is when you will most likely be at your busiest and potentialy stressed) and designating it your “unwind time”

Now, one little incident will not blow your stress levels skyward but a cumulation of little events can build to a level of anxiety, frustration and ultimately unhealthy levels of stress. And we know what that can turn into.

So here is a simple process for you to create your own “5 Minute Time Out” where you should feel the level of stress reduce as you unwind. Even if you do not feel stressed, this action will benefit you by way of refreshing the mind and untangling the taughtness of the body’s muscles.

“5 Minute Time Out”

Get into a comfortable sitting position.
Slowly tense your whole body from feet to head.
Then begin to relax in a gradual manner.
As you do this, imagine the tension that is is flowing out of you being replaced with a soothing light. Make it a relaxing, soft colour: white, light blue, a warm gold.
As you are relaxing breath in through the nose slowly counting to 3.
Hold that breath and enjoy the soft coloured light that has filled your body and mind.
Slowly count to 5.
Slowly exhale.

Do this several times within your 5 minute period.

You will feel mentally and physically fresher. If you can do this say twice per day, maybe even three times. It is used to break the cycle of tension, concentration, everything that is involved in our daily lives.

It will give your body and mind time out to refresh, to heal and be a silent yet effective defence against the lurking danger of stress.

Try it out and see how the effects are on you. Make it part of your daily routine.

And make it part of your defence against the dangers of a colitis attack appearing from nowhere as a result of a build up of untamed stress.