Ulcerative Colitis

<p>Any college students here have it? If so, how have you been doing with it while in college?</p>

<p>I have had it since i was about 12, so i have my routine is pretty down pact. all through my life i would just tell my teachers and show doctor reports to prove it. also i make sure to have my pills with me at all times. Now i only have a flare up about once ever 6 months so hopefully i’ll stay in remission</p>

<p>I’ve had it since I was 14 or 15 (I’m now 20) and I too go through flare ups about every 6 months now. Luckily after my junior year of high school I never really had problems with it during class. I’ve just transferred to a university and it’s been really stressful, which worries me that I might see a flare up soon though. Sorry for all the randomness haha just like hearing about other people in the same situation.</p>

<p>Check out the website: IBD U (<a href=“http://www.ibdu.org)…it%5B/url%5D”>www.ibdu.org)…it</a> has lots of good info on transitioning to college with inflammatory bowel disease (uc or Crohn’s)
Good luck</p>

<p>^^ thanks!!</p>

<p>I developed something similar while I was in college, and it took several years to work out what or how to keep it under control-- so it was a nightmare. The number one thing, I think, is to always make sure you have access to your medical documentation and get it registered with the disabilities office asap in case you have a flare up at an academically inopportune time-- teachers do not understand that it’s not like when you have a cold and you can just show up to class anyhow. I needed the disabilities office to back me up at times.</p>

<p>I think I’m going to go to disabilities on Monday. I never really thought about that because yes professors can be a pain sometimes.</p>

<p>I’m resurrecting this old thread because my S a senior in HS and was just diagnosed, yesterday, so I am trying to get as much information as possible. I just saved the website link above to favorites. If you have any advice for a newly diagnosed kid just starting on meds and starting college in the fall please share. I wish there was a guidebook for this. Is there? We just got the meds and the diagnosis.</p>

<p>Disibility office can help ya. They can give your son a paper to give to the profs so that they are aware of the condition. IF he has issues with it and has to miss class and is given a hard time about it disability will back him up (been through this senerio before).</p>

<p>I did not have this condition, however, i did have a dying gallbladder among other things. It would get so bad i had to have security help me across campus. Likewise, i was excused from a madatory fieldtrip because i was so sick.</p>

<p>It is doable, i assure you. Another good idea is for him to learn where the health clinic is on campus (if there is one), in case of emergencys.</p>

<p>I have had UC since I was 5. I spent 2 months in the hospital while they played Dr. House trying to figure out what was wrong.
I then spent 2 weeks in the hospital in 4th grade because of a serious flare up. I’ve had smaller flare ups, but nothing major now for almost 10 years, which is extremely lucky. My doctor is the former president of University Hospitals in Cleveland, so i’ve had good care. He has started to slowly take me off my medicine, which consisted of 6mp and Asacol. </p>

<p>Luckily I have not had to deal with it in college, and until now I really didn’t even think about it being a problem. I just kind of blew over the disabilities section of the class syllabus, but next time should probably pay more attention.</p>

<p>Thank you for the suggestions, I’m compiling a list. If you have any other thoughts please share them!</p>

<p>spectrum2 - Sorry to hear about your son’s diagnosis. My son (also a high school senior) was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when he was 11. I just wanted to tell you about a great website for parents of kids with IBD. It has truly been a lifesaver for me, and the parents have kids of all different ages and have been through it all. It’s ([DragonPack.Com®</a> IBD Parents Support Message Board](<a href=“http://www.dragonpack.com/ibdsupport/parents/]DragonPack.Com®”>http://www.dragonpack.com/ibdsupport/parents/)). There is also a facebook page (Dragonpack.com IBD Parents Support) </p>

<p>Please feel free to ask me any questions about IBD, medication, etc… Although I cannot answer any specific “sending kid to college” questions, I have been dealing with this disease since 2006 and my son has been on LOTS of different medications. He is in remission now and has been for a couple of years.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you and your son.</p>

<p>Thank you for all of your thoughts. So today is grocery shopping day and normally my S would take sandwiches usually some variation of turkey for lunch. Since he’s been sick he’s mostly been taking soups, an apple, crackers, gummy candies and gatorades. Do you have any favorite lunch type foods that work without refrigeration or a microwave. The soups are being taken in an insulated bottle and that seems to work. Thanks!</p>

<p>Turcky samwhichs on corn tortillas, apples with peanut butter, and a veggie of sorts is one.</p>

<p>There isn’t really much unrefrigerated/no microwave outside of samwhiches, soups, wraps, tacos, fruits, veggies. You could however, have him take something that needed to stay cold and have a frozen water bottle in there with it, by the time lunch rolls around it should still be cold.</p>

<p>Icedragon: back in the good old days, one month ago, that is exactly what he did. He kept drinks in the freezer and used them to keep the turkey sandwiches cold. These were usually boars head sandwich meat, with mayo on the bread. Now when he thinks about that it isn’t appealing so we are avoiding it. Lots of fear about rocking the boat and taking steps backwards these days. We actually hadn’t even considered problems with the bread, it is meat and the seasoning in it and the mayo that made both of us not too sure if it would be tolerated. The last thing he wants to do is have something set him off in the middle of the day at school.</p>

<p>Hi spectrum,</p>

<p>I was also diagnosed but with Crohn’s Disease in feb. of my senior year. I’m now a freshman and live at school which is only about twenty minutes from home. I actually too haven’t been feeling well lately if he likes bananas i find those easy to eat even when I’m not feeling my best. I don’t have many other specific foods TO eat but rather to avoid</p>

<p>trust me i understand more than you think. Back when i was originally diagnosed with celiac and before i got my gallbladder removed, i barely ate anything. Maybe an apple or a bannana here or there. Sometimes Rice with some home made chicken stock. Boiled chicken was another thing that set well with me.</p>

<p>Likewise, i think it would be better for him to figure out what he wants to eat and then find some way to bring it.</p>

<p>He is still in highschool, yes? Well, he could possibly get permission to get accesse to a microwave in a teachers lounge, if the situation was explained (and i believe the 504 plan covers such issues as well).</p>

<p>Its like playing russian roulette, you don’t know whats gonna hit you.</p>

<p>Regarding food - one thing you might want to have him do is keep a food diary as there are probably certain foods that don’t agree with him. This was very helpful to us. We found that my son can’t tolerate any kind of corn - whether it be just corn, popcorn, or even processed as in corn tortillas. Also, before he was in remission he had trouble with chocolate and dairy products. But there is no “one size fits all” with these diseases. </p>

<p>And, yes, when he is doing badly - rice, white bread, chicken.</p>

<p>Icedragon: I love the Russian roulette analogy because that is how it feels right now. Also since I’m the main person shopping and cooking I feel like I’m holding the gun…You mentioned apples and peanut butter. Peanut butter seems to be one of the few foods he’s eating that isn’t white. He also likes apples. I’ll suggest putting them together! I think you are right, it probably wouldn’t take too much to get him access to the microwave, but since lunch is a social time if we can get by without setting him apart he would probably prefer that, but if we find ourselves short on options and him shedding pounds we may consider it. </p>

<p>This is a question I asked on the other thread in the parents forum that I have been corresponding in, when you make a food mistake how badly do you pay. It sounds like my S is feeling ready to venture beyond the very few food items he has been tolerating but since he is just now improving we are wondering how far a mistake is likely to set him back. Does a food mistake cause a little discomfort or a full blown episode?</p>

<p>danio87: I hope you are feeling better soon. It sounds like my son is on the same schedule as you. He got sick Feb of his senior year. Bananas are one of my S’s go to foods as well these days.</p>

<p>Its a good combo and puts some protien in your system at the same time. :)</p>

<p>Another thing that helped me when i went through my madness with celiac (where gluten can kill your digestive tract litereally) and gallbladder issues, was, oddly enough, prunes. However, i didn’t try them until i was doing a little better.</p>

<p>What about rice cakes and hummus?</p>