I live with my boyfriend and 3 cats. Besides, UC, I have other autoimmune disorders including chronic fatigue which stops me from doing a lot of things. I do work part time as a housekeeper and seem to muddle through it. I like to knit in the evenings while watching tv and do the occasional flea market or craft show, but I've missed one or two because of being sick. When in the mood I do other crafts, such as jewelry making and macrame. I enjoy cooking healthy foods but have a sweet tooth! Looking up recipes is a hobby, too.

I started out with bloating in my 20's.  I used to be quite slender but have a huge appetite and loved beer so I thought that was why I was always bloated and gassy.  It got worse in my 30's.  I'd notice my bowel movements weren't the same after a night of beer drinking plus I'd have a lot of cramping in the morning.  It got worse the 1st time I quit smoking with mucousy stool.  At one time blood in my stool led to a misdiagnoses of hemorroids.  In my 40's pretty much the same but in my 50's I quit smoking again and was real bad so after 6 months of no changes, including picking up smoking again, I went to a gi doctor and was finally diagnosed with UC.  After trying a few meds to no avail I went on Remicade which healed me up after one infusion.  I went off that because of the expense.  Later I quit smoking again, 2 1/2 years ago and had a terrible flair and went on azathiaprine but was still on methotrexate.  I was terribly sick, like the flu for 3 weeks but the UC cleared up.  I had a mild flare a few months later and went back on azathiaprine.  I immediately got sick again.  It took 6 days to realize it was the azathiaprine so I'll never take that again.  I was on prednisone before my first bout of azathiaprine and besides gaining weight, it never helped.  I'll also never take that again.  I had a bad flare after Christmas and was put on Entort, which cleared me up the was put on Asacol to keep me in remission but within a few days I was suffering terrible gas, headaches, and got a bad infection in both eyes.  Currently I'm only on methotrexate, that's for psoriatic arthritis, too, but am in remission.  I try to follow the scd diet and eating right for you blood type diet and seem to be doing well with that.  Fortunately, I only weigh 24 lbs. more than I did in HS and can't eat as much as I used to even if I wanted to!  Oh, yeah, after I quit smoking for the last time, I discovered I was gluten intolerant.  I was prescribed Cimzia after my last flare and approved by my insurance company.  I took a loading dose 2 weeks ago on a Sat. and ended up in the hospital by Monday.  I was on the verge of passing out and having a panic attack.  My head was plugged up so they (me, too) thought it was a bad head cold.  I was back in the hospital Wed. morning after not being able to sleep and having terrible anxiety, I couldn't stay still and felt just really weird.  I finally realized it was the Cimzia!  They gave me Lorazepam for anxiety and it helped alot.  It's still not out of my system and it may take another 2 weeks.  I also drink a lot of herbal tea during the day to keep me calm.  My medicational list is really getting narrow.