Anyone who suffers from colitis symptoms should take a look at what is happening within the colitis community on Twitter.
It is great for up to date info and to communicate with fellow sufferers.
Go to Colitis Answers and start to read the tweets/info and perhaps you yourself can start twittering.
“A research article to be published on January 14, 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. A research team from Canada examined the records of their ulcerative colitis patients. Those with at least 5 years of follow up had their data collected and analyzed, looking for any demographic parameters such as age, gender, year of diagnosis, and others which might identify those at risk for a more severe disease course.
The variables that determined severity of disease included a younger age at diagnosis, as well as a more recent year of diagnosis. It was suggested that perhaps those with disease at a younger age had their symptoms revealed more quickly due to more severe underlying disease. The year of diagnosis may reflect this, or be an independent factor demonstrating that even with the more powerful agents recently developed we may not be treating ulcerative colitis as well as previously thought.
Overall, this data may help physicians identify those at higher risk of severe disease, and tailor their care towards more aggressive therapies immediately rather than slowly moving up the range of available therapies. It will also help newly diagnosed patients have some idea of what to expect from their disease in the years to come, and give some predictability to a condition notorious for its unpredictability.”
Some great research for getting a better grip about our understanding of colitis
Due to the nature of colitis symptoms, you may feel rather uneasy, even embarrassed about discussing them with your doctor but it is something that must be undertaken for the sake of your health. Your doctor requires being aware of what you are suffering from to make a concise diagnosis and prescribe a course of treatment. Knowing how to discuss your colitis with a doctor is important.
Let’s just get something straight right now. Symptoms such as abdominal pain, blood, diarrhoea and tiredness have appeared for a reason and are not likely to dissipate in the short term without medical help. If the symptoms are not cared for they can, in some instances, develop into a serious situation where admission to hospital will be required. It is therefore essential that an appointment with your doctor is made as soon as possible to seek a diagnosis and then start immediately on a course of medication.
It is important when with the doctor to disclose everything that has happened to you. It is unwise to withhold information on the basis that you will feel embarrassed talking about it. You should be reassured that the patient-doctor confidentiality will ensure that your doctor will not discuss your case with anyone else, unless with your consent. What you reveal will not be new to them as they will have treated other patients with colitis.
Once you have advised them of your symptoms the doctor will probably wish to undertake a physical examination. This is necessary to gain as much information as possible in order to diagnose then treat. You should advise as to the range of symptoms that you are experiencing, their strength, frequency and anything else about your health that has changed since the colitis symptoms began. This is important in order to assess the likely extent of the inflammation of the colon that is causing the symptoms. Only with a colonoscopy will the precise extent of the inflammation be known but until that happens you will be put on medication to try and start the process of bringing the symptoms under control.
Make sure that you understand what a diagnosis for colitis means, how it will impact on your daily life and the medication that is proposed to treat the symptoms. Ask about each of those medications and any side effects and if there are any alternative medications. With colitis, diet and lifestyle have to be taken into account and altered not only when suffering from symptoms but when also enjoying periods of remission.
It is an anxious time when colitis symptoms appear and whilst you may feel embarrassed talking about it, the doctor will have seen and heard it all before and will require as much detail from you in order to give a correct diagnosis and start the medication. Before even going to the doctor, it is beneficial to have some knowledge of what is happening to you and one of the best sources of this is to learn about colitis from someone who has experienced exactly what you are now enduring.