In order for the doctor to know more about what is happening to you during the early stages of you being diagnosed with colitis, you will have to undergo some tests. Yet the probability of what you are about to endure with your first colitis attack will be much more intense and far less hospitable than anything your doctor or consultant requires to undertake.



At the doctor's surgery, you will be asked to provide samples of blood, urine and probably a stool. This will be used to analyse precisely what you have and how your system is adjusting and coping so far. They will probably want to have a look at your rectum and the lowest part of your bowel to confirm the inflammation. Quite simply, you should recognise and accept that being diagnosed with colitis really does make you leave your inhibitions at the proverbial door. You just have to recognise the fact that it is essential to gather as much information about your condition as possible and if you consider that if you had an eye problem the doctor would want to examine you eye, so in that respect it really is no difference. You should hold on to this attitude as it will be very beneficial to you throughout your colitis experience.

In all probability, you will be put on a course of medication. This normally falls into two types. The first is anti inflammatory medication which will assist in reducing the inflammation and once it is under control it will be used to try and prevent the infected part of the bowel becoming inflamed again. The second type is steroids. There is no getting round this, but to enable your body to fight colitis it needs a helping hand. And this will take the form of steriods.

No doubt you will have heard about steroids and the effects that they can have on the body and probably someone you know will say with alarm "you should not take these". If you have come across this or are very wary of taking such medication then perhaps this little piece of advice will create a realistic view of the matter for you. When you are in pain, real pain, when moving hurts, when walking hurts, when going to the toilet hurts, when literally doing nothing hurts you need help. And that means effective help. And that comes in the form of steroids. You will probably be given them in both tablet and foam form (especially if your colitis is restricted to the left hand side of the bowel). That is right, foam as well! It is imperative for your disease management that you take the anti inflammatory and steriod medications in the exact amounts that your doctor prescribed for you.

This idease can be quite vicious in its ferocity and it take a period of time for the medication to bring the attack back under control. Without it, the inflammation of the large bowel and all the symptoms related to that will go unchecked, bring even greater pain and discomfort to the sufferer. To really understand what it is like to endure a colitis attack and understand what is required to get through it and how to start living again, it is very beneficial to discover those who have the exact experience of what you now face.