After the 2008 diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis, I went on Asacol.  This worked for a number of years, however, minor flare-ups still occurred from time to time.  If a flare was bad enough, the doctor would permanently increase my Asacol dosage.  In hindsight, I see that this method was not an effective one, and I should’ve requested (or used a doctor that was willing) to try other treatment methods.  Oh yeah, my doctor was a big fan of putting me through additional sigmoidoscopies and colonoscopies.  These can run up quite a bill, and usually confirmed what was already known – that I have U.C. and was bleeding from the inside.

Eventually, after another increased dosage of Asacol, and ignoring my repeated requests for other treatment methods I finally found a new doctor that came highly recommended.  My days of solely relying on Asacol were over!  It was late 2012, I was flaring and my new doctor prescribed a decreased dosage of Lialda along with a two week pack of Canasa – a rectal suppository.  My flare-up died down, and I was a healthy 32 year old again.  To recap, between 2008 and 2013 I pretty much dealt with my U.C. by learning to live with it and taking increasing doses of Asacol.

What did I learn to live with?  Over that five year timeframe my new “normal” became:

–  Blood in stool on a regular basis (“Oh, that’s normal”)

–  Cramps in abdomen (“Cramps are higher up in my tummy today.  That’s a new “normal!”)

–  Pain in abdomen (“Whether its a dull or sharp pain in my lower abs, that’s life, Zac!”)

–  Tiredness (“I thought I slept well last night. I’ll go to sleep earlier tonight. Guess this is what getting older feels like.”)

I truly believed that this is what growing old was about.  I had heard from friends, family and colleagues that things begin to break down so to speak after you turn 30.  So this was that, right?  It seemed to be a good answer that allowed me to avoid not taking the matter seriously.