Symptoms during thrust | Symptoms of ulcerative colitis

Symptoms during thrust

Ulcerative colitis is one of the relapsing diseases. This means that symptoms are not permanent, but always occur “in relapses”. There are phases in which the patient is completely free of symptoms, but relapses do occur again and again.

A distinction is made between mild, moderate and severe relapses in ulcerative colitis. In a mild flare, the general condition of the patient is not impaired and there is no fever and the bloody-mucilaginous diarrhoea occurs “only” up to 5 times a day. In the medium relapse there may be a slight fever, diarrhoea occurs up to 8 times a day and is accompanied by cramping (abdominal) pains. The severe episode is characterised by a badly bloody defecation, which occurs more than 8 times a day, a high fever above 38°C, an accelerated heart rate (tachycardia), a stomach painful under pressure and a severely restricted general condition.

Symptoms in children

The peak of ulcerative colitis is between the ages of 15 and 40, so it is not uncommon for children to be affected by this disease. In children it is particularly serious in that the classically occurring severe, frequent diarrhoea can lead to weight loss and a lack of supply and, in children, also to a growth retardation. It is therefore particularly important for young patients to try to eat a balanced, high-calorie diet, especially between the individual attacks.

How can the symptoms be relieved?

Physical rest, relaxation and the avoidance of stress is of great importance in acute phases. In order to alleviate the symptoms of the disease, to keep episodes as short as possible and especially to minimise serious damage to the intestinal mucosa and thus to reduce the risk of intestinal cancer, treatment should always be carried out as quickly and correctly as possible during an acute flare of ulcerative colitis. For this purpose, anti-inflammatory drugs are used which, depending on the initial situation and the affected region, can be administered orally or locally with the aid of foam, enema or in suppository form.

If necessary, the therapy may have to be extended to include cortisone or the use of immunosuppressants. Whether the use of antibiotics and/or probiotics, i.e. microorganisms that support the intestinal flora and function, is helpful in shortening acute phases of illness or preventing further ones. The intake of linseed soaked in water is said to help with diarrhoea by binding the water in the intestine and giving the intestinal mucosa a protective film.

Moderate endurance training should also reduce the inflammatory activity. In traditional Chinese medicine, in aryuveda, which originated in India, or through special massage techniques, for example, there are approaches to improve colitis symptoms. Techniques for stress regulation such as meditation, autogenic training and yoga should also be helpful. In addition, special diets should also lead to an improvement.