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Now displaying records 1
to 15 of 34.
Q
: 1
01/08/2013 |
Do you ever use Xifaxan for moderate to severe colitis before going on Remicade? If you do what is the dosage and success rate? Is there any reason not to try Xifaxan?
It depends on the diagnosis. There is very limited data in Crohn's colitis with unimpressive results. I am not aware of data in Ulcerative Colitis. The main time we use it is for Cdiff infection if it is found. To answer your direct question, in our practice, we don't use it as a step to treat IBD colitis (in the absence of Cdiff) before infliximab. If a colitis patient has disease that needs infliximab, then we proceed to this therapy
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Q
: 2
09/22/2012 |
My brother-in-law has ulcerative colitis. It was diagnosed last year and he has lost about 14kg body weight and since last week his bleeding is non-stop. How it can be cured?
The only permanent cure is to remove the colon with surgery. However, short of this, there are numerous medications that can be tried to keep symptoms under control.
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Q
: 3
06/10/2012 |
My 30 year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. She was put on Predisone then Remicaid infusions every eight weeks. No other medications were tried. Is this a normal course of treatment for UC? It seems Remicaid is typically used when other drugs fail. Are there circumstances when it is used first?
It all depends on how sick the patient is and what risk factors they have for having difficult to treat disease moving forward. There is a growing body of literature for using more aggressive medical approaches early in the disease in order to prevent complications before they occur, though this approach is not yet universally accepted.
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Q
: 4
05/01/2012 |
Are dairy products good for UC while in a flare?
If lactose intolerance is present, they will cause bloating, gas, diarrhea and possibly abdominal pain. However, they will not worsen or cause the colitis--just give similar symptoms which may confuse things.
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Q
: 5
04/16/2012 |
I am unable to travel to Maryland for my treatment. How can I find an expert like you in my area?
Try the www.ccfa.org website and investigate physicians though their 'find physicians' link.
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Q
: 6
02/06/2012 |
Are there certain foods that should or should not be eaten by people who have UC?
There are no guidelines or rules about what a patient can and cannot eat. We suggest an individual approach which involves avoiding foods which reliably cause an individual to have symptoms of diarrhea or pain. However, no foods are known to cause or worsen the colitis per se.
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Q
: 7
01/25/2012 |
I have UC but after two weeks of Canasa (1000 mg suppository at bedtime), I have no improvement with my tenesmus and rectal discomfort. For some patients, could stopping the Canasa and switching to Anucort only (i.e. once daily 25 mg Hydrocortisone acetate suppository) be a reasonable and acceptable next step?
Sometimes the Canasa can take longer to work than two weeks, though trying a steroid suppository is not unreasonable.
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Q
: 8
12/09/2011 |
Is taking Humira on a weekly basis advisable/safe if taking it once every two weeks doesn't seem to be controlling my UC?
There is a theoretical increase in risk of side effects from doubling the dose, though patients do not appear to have more frequent side effects.
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Q
: 9
10/18/2011 |
Can a diagnosis of UC in a five year old have Celiac disease as an underlying cause?
Celiac disease and UC are different diseases with different causes and locations (Celiac in the small intestine, UC in the large intestine). There are rare times when they both occur in the same patient, but the vast majority of UC cases do not occur with Celiac at the same time.
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Q
: 10
09/12/2011 |
Can the body build up an immunitity to Remicade treatment? It has worked well for me for about 7 years, but has seemed to stop helping.
In more than 1/3 of patients who initially become well on infliximab, the response diminishes over time due to increased clearance of the drug and/or development of antibodies which prevent it from working as well. Such patients often need to have their doses increased or be given the drug more often than every 8 weeks.
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Q
: 11
08/17/2011 |
Can an abrasion in the ileum cause UC?
By definition, UC is a disease limited to the colon or large intestine. Ileal involvement is generally suggestive of another diagnosis, such as Crohn's disease.
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Q
: 12
07/16/2011 |
I suffer from both ulcerative colitis and diabetes. Is there a diet plan I should follow that can help ease my symptoms? I am a vegetarian.
There is no specific UC dietary plan. In general, we tell patients to eat whatever they like unless it makes them feel worse. Sometimes high fiber diets will make some feel bloated and have abdominal pain, which can worsen in diabetics due to slow intestinal transit. As you are a vegetarian, a lower fiber diet may be difficult. I would suggest a food diary to see what foods are more likely to cause symptoms and consider eliminating those which are more bothersome.
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Q
: 13
06/23/2011 |
My mother had ulcerative colitis for many years and her colon was removed. Last December, a part of her small intestine was also removed and she has been suffering from short bowel syndrome. She is taking Lotomil 4 times a day, Glutapak which is a probiotic and Pedyalite, but she
continues to have severe diarrhea. What can we do?
There are several strategies which can help, including maximum dose Immodium and Lomotil, tincture of opium, octreotide injections and bile-salt binding agents. Also, dietary modifications with the help of a nutritionist can help determine whether there are foods which may be worsening symptoms (i.e. from lactose or fructose intolerance).
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Q
: 14
03/21/2011 |
I was diagnosed with left sided UC about 5 years ago and have been on Asacol since then. I have been fighting a host of other inflammatory issues such as iritis, psoriasis, and back pain. Are there medications that can treat multiple issues such as these?
Often conditions such as iritis are manifestations outside the colon that are related to the colitis. Likewise, the back pain may represent inflammatory conditions of the spine/pelvic joints that can also occur with colitis. The psoriasis may not be directly related to the UC, though patients with one autoimmune condition often have a second or third coexisting autoimmune condition such as psoriasis.
In general these symptoms will not be helped with mesalamine and require drugs such as prednisone, immunosuppressants or biologic therapy depending on the severity. I would suggest speaking with your gastroenterologist and possibly a dermatologist to determine what your next step should be.
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Q
: 15
02/23/2011 |
I was just reading about ischemic colitis. I practice high-endurance sports and I read that they can be the cause of ischemic colitis. Do you agree with that? I have been having colitis symptoms but they do not coincide with Crohn's or ulcerative colitis symptoms
The "runners" or "marathoner's" colitis is well described. Ischemic colitis results from brief periods of decreased flow to segments of the colon that naturally have a lower degree of redundancy of blood supply to the organ (so-called "watershed areas"). Normally this effects patients with drops in blood pressure from poor cardiac function, severe systemic illness or excessive blood pressure medication. However, in some people, the diversion of blood from the gut to skeletal muscle during prolonged exertion has similar effects, resulting in bloody diarrhea and cramping pain following.
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