I was diagnosed last year so I am fairly new to all this and to be honest not been provided with much information. I had a miscarriage last month and have been in a flare up since (I think). I was just wondering if a flare up can affect the rest of the body as I seem to have had allsorts going on and don’t know if it is the uc or other things. For example I’ve had really bad pains in my legs, exhausted, itchy eyes, headaches, really bad insomnia and anxiety (but not sure if that’s due to miscarriage), abdominal pains and the past few days a tight feeling in chest/ throat like I need to cough and I’m being strangled. I’ve been at the hospital it go that bad and they have done bloods, a chest x ray and ecg - everything came back normal so it got me thinking could it all be related to my uc. Any help or advice would be very much appreciated as driving myself nuts!
Hi Suzanne - somsorry to hear about your miscarriage.
The short answer is yes, UC can definitely cause much of what you say, 100% on itchy eyes, insomnia, and anxiety. UC is an inflammatory disease so it tends to cause things like psoriasis on the skin (especially dry hands) and itchy eyes.
Anxiety for me has been caused more by complications with IBS as well as UC. Have you been told if you have both?
I have taken zopiclone intermittently to help solve the insomnia. It is addictive so most Drs to not like to prescribe it for too long.
Are you taking prednisone to reduce the flare? That should help but can drive the insomnia and anxiety.
Hope things improve x
Thanks sbgoodguy! Yes I’m taking prednisone at the moment aswell as the masalazine but not letting up yet. I’m due to see my consultant on 12th October so hoping he will shed some light on it all. It’s good to know that some of my symptoms are pretty normal for uc, I think the worry over it all is making my anxiety worse and in turn the insomnia - especially the latest chest/throat stuff. So fed up of it all, it’s quite lonely not having anyone who understands so thank you for your reply
What medication, if any have you been prescribed to treat your UC?
I find that some prescribed drugs cause many side effects which affect other parts of the body! Best to discuss that with your consultant! Sorrry you having a bad time! The symptoms you describe are related to UC and the medication , sadly!
No worries Suzanne. I am also on Mesalazine, Pentasa.
When my anxiety got really bad, the Dr gave me an anti-depressant which did help. It was a short term solution to help the body to stop the cycle. Anxiety also increases the flare and the flare makes anxiety worse.
Am always here for a chat if you fancy it. My twitter feed is @clockend1ing if you follow me and DM me I can share more advice.
Regards
Scott
Thanks Scott you’ve been a great help! The dr gave me citalopram but it caused panic attacks. Viscious circle lol x
I suffer from pain in my lower back and it radiates all down my legs to my feet ever since I have been diagnosed with UC it is very painful and even tho my uc is under control I still have a lot of pain I tried a lot of meds anti psychotic anti depressant you name it the were all horrible things for me and didn't work I have had none scans MRIs crash ultrasound and no visible cause of pain other than the diagnosis of fibromyalgia I really think the pain is connected somehow there are different types of arthritis that can develop with ulcerative colitis such as enteropathic arthritis and 17% of uc sufferers develop sacroilliitis excuse the spelling. I am taking medical canabis oil now it helps a little bit there is a lot of experimentation to find out what works for you I also went vegan for 6 months then slowly reintroduced different foods to find out what triggers pain or flareups for me that helped me discover a lot maybe you should try something along the lines of a diet to see what foods are good or bad for your digestive system . Dairy is a big one it isn't good at all.