21 Things to do During a UC Flare-up

When living with certain medical conditions, a flare-up can happen at any given time for any reason. Once a flare-up is triggered, it can be extremely hard to manage. Not only can it be hard to manage, but it can be extremely painful as well. A bad flare will have you feeling defeated with no hope that it will get better. Thankfully, that doesn’t have to be the case at all. Yes, you may experience a bad ulcerative colitis flare-up but there are so many ways to manage it naturally and with resources that are accessible to you.

What Causes A Flare-up?

Say you are someone who is living with IBD, specifically Ulcerative Colitis. You are bound to experience a flare-up or five every now and then, but what causes a UC flare?

Well first let’s answer what ulcerative colitis is. Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease or an IBD that causes inflammation in your digestive tract.

Once inflammation starts to happen, ulcers can develop in your digestive tract as well. It affects the inner lining of your colon (large intestine) and your rectum.

So what causes inflammation or a flare-up with UC? Well, there are a few things that can cause a flare-up.

Your diet can be a reason for a flare-up. Eating dairy may cause inflammation as well as too much fiber and unhealthy or processed foods.

Stress can also cause inflammation to worsen or trigger it as well.

21 Tips You Need During A UC Flare Up

Drink lots of water throughout the day
Stay away from coffee
Skip the alcoholic beverage as well, too high in sugar
Try drinking bone broth
No nuts
No seeds
Lower your sugar intake
Go skinless with your fruits and vegetables
Dairy is not your friend, stay away if you can
Healthy fats are great! Incorporate them into your diet often
Be mindful of your fiber intake
Carbs are okay, just remember not to consume too much
Artificial flavors and chemicals are a no-go, remove them from your diet
Use less seasoning when cooking
Meditation works wonders
Sleep as much as you can
Supplements and vitamins help a lot, take them
Low-intensity exercising is the way to go
Yoga isn’t just for hippies, it helps with flare-ups
Talk to your doctor to help find a plan that works best for you
Give yourself grace and know that this flare-up will pass

How These Tips Actually Help

In the middle of a flare-up, know that these tips can help you in more ways than you think even if they don’t seem like it at the moment.

When living with ulcerative colitis, your symptoms don’t all happen at once. They instead build up over time. This means that you’ll most likely know when inflammation is starting to occur once you learn how your body reacts to a flare-up.

If you notice symptoms such as fever and fatigue, rectal bleeding, or the urge to poop suddenly but feel as though you can’t make it to the bathroom, then that’s when a flare-up is occurring.

Diarrhea with bloody stool, being unable to defecate (poop) even though the urge is there and strong, as well as rectal pain, are also all symptoms of inflammation occurring in your body.

These tips and tricks will help lower the chances of your symptoms worsening. For example, eating dairy may upset your stomach which will make the urge to poop twice as bad if you’re living with ulcerative colitis. This could lead to rectal pain, bloody stools, fatigue and more all because you indulged in some regular ice cream.

Mediating and taking naps when you can will help lower your stress levels if you feel them rising, which can lead to stress on your digestive tract.

Again, at the moment it may feel as though there’s nothing you can do when experiencing a flare-up but know that there are ways to prevent inflammation and terrible symptoms.

Though there is no true cause of why ulcerative colitis develops, there are ways to deal with it. Taking your power back from a disease like this will show that even when you feel that things are out of your control, you can control them.