You will enter a period when the pain and discomfort remains the same, where your condition is not deteriorating any more but is not getting any better. This does not mean to say that the medication that you have been prescribed is not working and is not garnering strength to reduce the colitis symptoms that you are suffering from. Quite the opposite in fact.



It just takes time to bring the strength of this disease under control. This period is the toughest time. You are tired physically due to less sleep and the effects of this disease on your body, tired because of having to go to the toilet so often, tired because you are not eating normally and mentally tired ensuring you keep going.

This can be a period when you may start to lose your fight, lose your strong will to see an end to the relapse. It can also be the moment that you just crave a reminder that the world outside your suffering exists. Going outside will require effort, movement and strength. None of these your body has or needs right now. You think about eating something you shouldn't and in quantities that you know will have serious repercussions. Keep a firm grip against such temptations as they will only bring self induced pain and trouble. You have to stay focused as there will be lots of time in the near future when you can revert to a normal diet and not put yourself at risk.

Unfortunatley, the problem of dealing with hunger is almost constant. Whilst you are feeling very poor with the pain and the tiredness you may still have some form of appetite, maybe not on the scale as before, but oh for some food. Don't be surprised if you start to imagine a plate of your favourite food just waiting to be eaten as the pangs of hunger become ever stronger. Now you may have thought about the question "why don't you just go and have something to eat?" It is not that eating stops entirely, it is just the awkward matter of what goes in must come out. And in the process of the waste reaching the inflamed part of the bowel and then being passed out, pain and discomfort have to be endured. Therefore, the actual amount and what you eat changes significantly during an attack.

It is vitally important not to give into temptation during this period. Whilst you do require taking on some nutrition during a colitis attack, too great a quantity or eating food that will only exacerbate the symptoms will if anything be a retrograde step and will only deliver yet more uncomfortable or extremely painful consequences. It is essential to understand what is a sensible eating plan during a colitis relapse and the how to achieve the required nutrients without the worst of the possible resultant symptoms.