No news

OK, so last week I went to my GP because my consultant said I need some blood test to check whether it is still OK for me to keep taking mesalazine (I'm on the 18th day of 2g of Mesalazine) and I should have the blood test some time next week.

He said to continue to take it (2g) as indicated by the consultant until I see him again, in about 6 months time.

Things seem to be improving slightly compared to last week. I do feel generally better (although I picked up a very nasty sore throat), I don't recall being tired this week, didn't have that strange feeling at the back of my legs or eyes. My stools are largely OK too, even thought occasionally I can still see the mucus, especially after eating dairy products. Now, about this, I have to say that I eat small amount of parmesan on a regular basis, and that is OK, but when I top it up with extra cheese like mozzarella on the pizza or halloumi cheese, then rest assure that the day after I'll see some mucus. Luckily I haven't seen any blood.

Tomorrow it's my last day of VSL#3: I decided to stop because I have no idea whether it's doing anything positive or not: as said before, maybe it helps, but I have no definitive proof, and to be honest it's costing me quite a lot of money. I was thinking, as before, to replace that with yoghurt but since dairy stuff doesn't seem to agree with me I'm a bit worried.

There is only one thing that is bothering me: occasionally I feel a lightly uncomfortable feeling in my lower back, both sides and sometimes one: now, I doubt it's the colitis because I remember really well the feeling (dull pain on both sides) whereas this feels different, it's not dull, it occurs every now and then. I guess I will know more after the blood test, hopefully it's nothing.

I'm still staying away from really fatty food, cakes and biscuits, but I started to miss them. This weekend I'm going to a wedding, which means eating stuff that I probably haven't eaten for a long time: it will be a good test. I don't think I'll feel brave enough to drink any alcohol though, still too early for that.

Not much change

Today was my 9th day of reduced dose (2g) of mesalazine. Things seem a little better. I don't feel as bad as in my last post although I still have some mild symptoms (maybe it's just because I had a really busy weekend and no time to think about it, hard to say). The uncomfortable feeling at the back of my eyes seems to have subsided and my bones, muscles and joints feel better, but not as good as when I was on 4g a day. I also don't feel as tired, but the stools are still not great, in the sense that they are a little loose and there is some mucus here and there. I'll stick to my plan, see the GP on friday and then will take it from there.

I'm still on VSL#3 by the way, but I still don't know whether it has a good effect on the colitis or not.

Forgot to mention that I'll apparently have to have some blood test to check if kidneys and liver are OK due to the mesalazine therapy.

Setback

So, on Thursday 9th July I saw the gastroenterologist for a check up.

He was happy that I was feeling better and he said that it would be good to try to reduce the dosage of pentasa, from 4g a day to 2 and see what happens. He also performed a sigmoidoscopy (it was one of the most uncomfortable things ever I have to say, but hey) and he said that my colon looks better and that I will get the results in about a week time.

I told him I was taking VSL#3 and he had no objections to it, but when he asked me whether it was helping, I told him that I have absolutely no evidence of that.

So, today is my second day at half dose of mesalazine, and guess what? I've begun to feel bad again. My legs feel again warm and really tired and heavy, (very bad sign as this is exactly how I've been feeling during the flare-up) but most worryingly, the mucus is back (and quite a bit) . My stools are also a bit loose and very very sticky. So, it looks like my remission didn't last that long after all!

I've decided that tomorrow I'll book an appointment with the GP and I'll give this half dose a try anyway for about a week - which is probably the time it will take me to see my GP - and take it from there, rather than starting to take 4g again straightaway (just in case). It's funny how long it takes you to go into remission and how quickly you destroy all the progress you've made. Incredible.

Also, the consultant said (again) that I may need to consider enema - I know I mentioned this before - as this is the best way to deal with UC: so I'll mention this to the GP and see what he thinks. The consultant also said that it might be a good idea to check my liver and kidney functions as I've been taking the maximum dose of mesalazine for about 12 weeks.

So, back to square one then. Great.