Ulcerative Colitis Symptoms
Ulcerative colitis affects each individual uniquely. Some suffer only mild symptoms, but others have severe and disabling symptoms with frequent flare-ups. Usually, the symptoms tend to come and go, and there may be long periods without any symptoms at all. Usually, however, the symptoms reappear after an interval, which varies from days to months or even years. Although all the sufferers of ulcerative colitis may not have all the symptoms of the disease, the common and consistent ones are as follows:
01 Diarrhea (Diarrhoea):
The most common symptom of UC is diarrhea. When severe, it may require frequent visits to a toilet (in some cases up to 20 or more times a day). The disorder typically begins gradually, with crampy abdominal pain and diarrhea that is usually bloody.
02 Blood in the stools:
UC is characterized by the presence of blood in the stools. Blood is admixed with the stools and not in the form of blood clots. Passage of blood clots usually suggests some other diagnosis or condition. In addition to blood, stools may also contain mucus and pus.
03 Tenesmus:
Inflammation of the gut can affect the nerves in such a way as to make the patient feel that there is stool present ready to be evacuated when there actually is not. That results in the symptom known as tenesmus where there is a painful urge to defecate but nothing comes out.
04 Nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain or cramps:
Flare-ups of ulcerative colitis may be associated with nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. Abdominal pain may not be a consistent feature of UC. When pain is present it may indicate the presence of severe inflammation or the development of a complication such as an abscess or a perforation of the intestinal wall.
05 Fever, fatigue, loss of appetite are usual accompaniments with consequent weight loss. The patient may become weak and very sick.
06 Constipation:
At times, some UC patients experience constipation during periods of active disease.
07 Loss of water and nutrients:
With increased diarrhea, the person may lose invaluable water and nutrients from the body and may present with dry mouth, sunken eyes, a fast heartbeat, and pale skin.
A flare-up is a stage when the rectum and/or colon become inflamed. During a flare-up, people experience periods of increased symptoms of ulcerative colitis, such as bloody diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain or cramping, and an urgent need to go to the bathroom. Flare-ups can vary in duration and intensity.
Remission is the time between flare-ups of ulcerative colitis when people experience few, mild, or no symptoms of ulcerative colitis. Periods of remission vary in duration, anywhere from a matter of days to a number of years.
Extra-intestinal complications:
In some patients with Ulcerative colitis, the disease may spread its wing to encompass other organs of the body like joints, skin, eyes, etc. Hence patients may experience a wide variety of extra-intestinal (outside the digestive system) manifestations of the disease. However, it may be noted that not all who suffer from UC develop complications. No one knows for sure why problems occur outside the colon. Scientists think these complications may occur when the immune system triggers inflammation in other parts of the body. The common once are as follows:
01 Arthritis (joint swelling):
The most common amongst extra-intestinal complications is joint pain due to inflammation of the joints. Most suffer from either peripheral or spinal arthritis. Peripheral arthritis causes pain, swelling, and stiffness in one or more joints of the arms and legs, such as wrists, knees, and ankles. It may be migratory. If untreated, the pain lasts several days to weeks.
02 Skin complications:
People with ulcerative colitis may experience several types of skin lesions including skin rash. However, the two common ones are pyoderma gangrenosum and erythema nodosum.
* Pyoderma gangrenosum are small ulcers that begin as painful, pus-filled sores that unite into a non-bacterial sore within days. These are usually found on the exterior surfaces of the legs or the face.
* Erythema nodosum commonly appears as painful red nodules on the front of the legs below the knees, or on the arms. Women are more commonly affected than men.
03 Eye complications:
About 10% of people with ulcerative colitis develop eye problems. These include various types of eye inflammations (iritis, conjunctivitis, and episcleritis). The patient complains of sensitivity to light, blurred vision, pain, and redness of the eye. Symptoms may come on suddenly or slowly.
04 Liver diseases:
These include fatty liver, hepatitis, cirrhosis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis.
Symptoms of advanced liver disease include Jaundice, itching, a full feeling in the upper abdomen, puffiness or swelling, excessive sleepiness, etc.
a Fatty Liver is the result of a disturbance in liver metabolism that causes fat accumulation inside the liver.
b Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis The most common liver complication of IBD is Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). PSC is characterized by inflammation and scarring of the bile ducts. The bile ducts are the tubes that carry digestive juice called bile.
c Cholangiocarcinoma: Very rarely some patients of ulcerative colitis may develop cancer of the ducts carrying bile, an important digestive juice.
d Cirrhosis: Only 1-2% of patients develop cirrhosis of the liver.
e Chronic active hepatitis: Patients with ulcerative colitis may have concurrent hepatitis C infection.
Interestingly, homeopathy has very effective medicines for the management of various symptoms of ulcerative colitis as well as its complications.