Ulcerative Colitis Flare 6 months Postpartum

[starmoon167]

Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (pancolitis) 20 years ago and have generally stayed in remission, with small flares easily controlled by mesalazine.

I’m now 6 months postpartum after a pregnancy where everything was fine, but I’ve developed a really bad flare. Budesonide didn’t work, and I’m now on a high dose of prednisolone. After the first week there’s still been little improvement, so the high dose has been extended for another week before tapering.

Recovery feels very slow — still several bowel movements, pain and some bleeding, particularly in the evenings and overnight.
I’d really love to hear from anyone who’s been through a similar postpartum flare, especially positive recovery stories. How long did it take before you started to see a real improvement? 🙏 postpartum and the hormones are hard enough to deal with, this has been the final straw!

I was once prescribed a steroid called Clipper. It worked better than Pred as it's designed to work straight on the colon.

Thanks @JulietteNichols good to know, I will discuss with my consultant.

Hello OP! I have Crohn’s and had a similar terrible flare about 6 months post partum. I had a c section and always figured it was the flood of antibiotics that disrupted my gut biome. Also maybe all the coffee I drank with a newborn!

It took me about 10 weeks or so to get it under control. I cut out things I knew were absolute triggers (coffee, oats), pared my diet right down to boring, and eventually I got it under control. I do need to be more careful than I used to be but I’m happily unmedicated 5 years on.

So much more research needs to be done in this area!

Hi @Grizelofthechaletschool , pleased to hear you managed to get it under control eventually. I’ve been in flare for the past 6 weeks, 2 weeks on a high dose of oral steroids which I think might have just started to work.

There definitely needs to be more research on this. I’ve read some papers which suggest the UC flare affects 30% of women with the disease postpartum. The last thing we really need whilst recovering. But I think it’s unavoidable, with all the bodily changes!

Hopefully, I’m not separated from my baby. I think they want to admit me to hospital for more effective treatment. The thought of leaving my baby is really upsetting!