Left Sided Colitis: Progress After No Updates In Quite A While

Learn how to improve your spending habits, leverage debt, and invest in the future to help you gain financial freedom.

good-newsWell, it has been a while since I have updated my progress on my left sided colitis, but the good news is that there’s GOOD NEWS! 😉 I’ve gone through quite a few different treatments that were to no avail. In the long run, my doctor(s) found a solution for me.

As most who have Ulcerative Colitis (left sided colitis or left and right) know, everyone is different. Thus, things that work for certain people don’t and won’t work for others. I’ve listed some of the treatments that I was undergoing / medications that I was on.

As always, I hope everyone can find something that will work for them. Those who live with this disease know that it can be quite embarrassing at times. It almost goes without saying to my follow “UC-ers.”

I hope everyone with Ulcerative Colitis will get at least the same “relief” that I have. It’s not perfect, but you learn to live with it (i.e. plan, eat, etc. accordingly – as best as possible). 😉

Mesalamine / Asacol / Rowasa (Enema)

I was on Asacol (orally) for a bit and it seemed to help for a bit. After maybe 6 months, I think my body started to adapt and it started to become less and less effective. From there, we (my doctors and I) tried a different form.

Rowasa (Mesalamine Rectal Suspension Enema) which is basically Asacol, but in the form of an enema. The same thing sort of happened with the Rowasa. It worked for maybe a few weeks or months, but eventually, the enemy was back. Hehe…

Self-Administering Enemasexit-only-traffic-sign-k-1803

On a different note, self-administering an enema (such as Rowasa) is always interesting. Trust me, I’ve had to do it quite a bit. I usually do it in the shower, just in case there’s any leakage of some sort.

To self-administer, I basically put my ear to the ground, put my butt up in the air, then use one hand to find the “exit only” entrance, and the other hand to use the bottle.

Another thing I found helpful is to try to squeeze the enema bottle a bit before actually emptying it, in order to get as much air out of it as possible.

The reason I want to get as much air out of the enema bottle as possible is so that I’m able to put as much of the substance in as possible. Thus, making the enema as effective as possible with as little pain as possible. Good luck either way, some of us go through it all the time.

Budesonide

I have had 2 people close to me say that this has worked wonders for them. I think they only take one or two pills a day and that’s all they need. Budesonide didn’t quite work for me, but at least I gave it a try.

I think this was the one that gave me weird itchiness. I think I was only on this one for about 4-6 months because there wasn’t much improvement.

Nicotine Patchesrolffimages-alien-landscape

I also gave Nicotine patches a try under the suggestion of my doctor. I’m sure many of you have heard that smoking can often times put Ulcerative Colitis into remission. Trust me, I’ve thought about taking up smoking quite a few times, but never actually did.

For me, the Nicotine patches had at least one weird side-effect:

When I went to sleep during the period that I was trying Nicotine patches I was having some very vivid and weird dreams.

Other than the weird dreams, the Nicotine patches didn’t really help with my situation. I think I tried these for a few months.

It takes a while because you have to start with the lower dosage Nicotine patches, then kick it up over time. Then, you have to kick them down over time as well.

Humira (Adalimumab)

This was my first try with injections. It was weird when I had to do these because I started to think, “Wow! I must really have a problem.” Either way, there are a few things that come to mind when trying this stuff and injections.

Overall, I believe I tried Humira for maybe up to a year to no avail. Then my doctor and I started to go in a different direction.

Mind you, throughout all of the above, one still has to live life as best as possible. At this point, I was beginning to start thinking about getting surgery to have it all removed. It was definitely on my horizon. However, there were other implications that the surgery had as well.

Simponi (Golimumab)

This was another failed trial. Simponi didn’t really work at all either. It was for a much less time than I was Humira. I was on Simponi for maybe 4-5 months tops to no avail.

After Simponi, I felt like I was kind of getting to the end of the line when it comes to treatments or medications. From there, my doctor decided to get an opinion from another doctor. He referred me to a different doctor for a quick check-up to see if there was a different perspective.

The other doctor said to give Remicade and Methotrexate a try.

Remicade And (Sort Of) Methotrexate: “WORKED” (Works) FOR ME!

I ended up giving Remicade and Methotrexate a try. It’s pretty serious stuff, but like everything else, it was worth a try.

Relatively speaking, this combination is what has given me my life back. After a month or two, I noticed that the urgency to go to the bathroom decreased significantly! I can “hold it” for WAY longer than I could before.

For those that are living with this disease, you know what I mean. It’s hard to “hold it” for really any period of time.

When nature calls, it’s like a 9-1-1 call – a serious emergency.

I recently went in for my bi-annual colonoscopy and the doctor said everything was about 80-90% better!!! THAT’S SOOOOOO HUGE!!! I had left and right sided colitis, but it seems I’m back to left sided colitis.

Thoughts And Notes That May Helphelp

Life for me has been much better and I one of these or something helps everyone who is living with Ulcerative Colitis. I also hope that this information helps someone who’s reading it.

I’ve gone through quite a few different treatments and medications, as such, hopefully I’ve shed some light on them.

For me, I think the tenacity of my doctor was a key to getting to where I am now. I’ve had quite a few doctors that I went through this journey with. If you feel like the doctor is not trying enough or certain medications are seemingly taking too long, it may be time to move on.

My current doctor has definitely upgraded my quality of life. He is open to trying new things (if you are as well, that is – especially since it’s your body). Another thing that I was going to try if something didn’t work soon was Helminthic therapy. My doctor was willing to go along with it.

Either way, I wish you all the best!

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the section below.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


$ubscribe below to our educational updates and tips on Spending Habits, Investing, Leverage, and Wealth. It’s like getting free money in your email!


Recent Posts

Follow Us