Medications for ulcerative colitis | Ostomy Association of Boston

Abdominal pain is a discomfort not everyone can handle gracefully, especially if it is chronic and frequent. Ulcerative colitis, a gastrointestinal disorder that is part of the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), is one of the many digestive problems that could cause strong and persistent abdominal cramps, chronic diarrhea, and bloody stools. Let us discover if there are medications for ulcerative colitis and if they are there to cure it or to just relieve its symptoms.

What is ulcerative colitis?

This disease is a permanent inflammatory bowel disease that cause ulcers to the colon, a part of your large intestine. These sores can cause chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bleeding, making it a life-threatening health condition. It is important then for a person with this symptoms to seek medical attention to get the disorder addressed and diagnosed as soon as possible.

What causes ulcerative colitis?

It is still debatable as to what causes a person to develop ulcerative colitis. Many doctors mentioned diet and stress as the primary causes of this gastrointestinal problem, but recent research showed that these two are just aggravating factors and not the cause at all. What doctors and researchers are looking at as the primary cause is treating this disease as a autoimmune disorder. It is theorized that the body immune bodies, in their quest to kill or eradicate a virus or bacteria in the body, short circuit and begin to fight the tissues of the large intestine, causing these ulcers. Another theory is that ulcerative colitis is a hereditary disorder that is passed on from generations to generations. However, there are still some who find this questionable because a number of correctly diagnosed patients with ulcerative colitis do not have any relative with the same diagnosis.

Symptoms of ulcerative colitis

Various signs and symptoms can be seen and felt that would signal ulcerative colitis.

Diarrhea, sometimes with fresh blood or pus
Moderate to severe abdominal pain or cramps
Fecal urgency (inability to control defecation)
Fatigue
Irritability
Fever
Weight loss and growth stagnation for kids

The symptoms may differ depending on the severity and location of the ulcers and how long the patient has had these disease.

Types of ulcerative colitis

The type would depend on what part of the colon is affected with the ulcerations.

Ulcerative proctitis. The ulcers are located very near to the anus or the rectum. This is the mildest form of ulcerative colitis since the only complaint patients have with this condition is that they have blood in their stools.

Proctosigmoiditis. The ulcers affect the rectum and the sigmoid colon.

Left-sided colitis. The ulcers move far up from the rectum, sigmoid colon, to the descending colon.

Pancolitis. The ulcers affect the entire large intestine.

Acute severe ulcerative colitis. This is quite like pancolitis, only that the symptoms appear suddenly and severely all at once.

How to diagnose ulcerative colitis

If you have experienced most of the symptoms mentioned earlier, it is best to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Because the symptoms may also indicate other medical disorders, doctors will perform different tests to confirm and correctly diagnose ulcerative colitis. Standard exams would include blood tests, stool samples, and x-rays. But the diagnostic procedures that can really detect ulcerative colitis and its type is colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy. These two types of endoscopies uses a tube with a scope at the end which is inserted in your anus to visualize your colon. They can also take tissue samples using the same instrument to do a biopsy and to know the severity of your condition.

Treatment and medications for ulcerative colitis

Unfortunately, ulcerative colitis does not have a cure as of this moment. However, there are different medications for ulcerative colitis that can help the patient manage and control the symptoms to keep them comfortable.

Aminosalicylates

5-ASAs help patients reduce inflammation. Once the inflammation subsides, the ulcers will have time to heal. Doctors can prescribe these drugs for a short-term use, especially if the symptoms are mild. But for episodes where severe inflammation may recur and may be aggravated, long-term or permanent use of 5-ASAs are necessary.

Corticosteroids

Also known to battle inflammation, corticosteroids fight with 5-ASAs to calm down flare-ups so other symptoms may be prevented. The only difference they have with 5-ASAs is that they cannot be used for long periods, because they may cause other medical conditions as side effects, like cataracts, osteopenia or osteoporosis, severe acne, weight gain, and insomnia.

Immunosuppressants

Because ulcerative colitis is found out to be caused by an immune system malfunction, medications to suppress your body’s immunity may be given to stop your body from fighting your own and causing more lesions to your colon. However, these medications may also make you susceptible to infections because you lost the ability to protect your body from the outside germs, so it is important to stay vigilant for signs of new infection so that you would not be blind-sided.

Biologics

Infliximab (Remicade), adalimumab (Humira) and golimumab (Simponi) are biologics that have TNF inhibitor (tumor necrosis factor) that affects the proteins in the immune bodies to help them stop destroying the tissues in your colon.

Symptomatic drugs

Some doctors may also use medications for ulcerative colitis just to address the different symptoms that the patient may be experiencing. For diarrhea, the doctor can prescribe loperamide, and acetaminophen or paracetamol for fevers, among other things. However, you must let your doctor prescribe these medications for you, so that no further complications may happen.

When medications for ulcerative colitis fail

Surgery

As a last resort, when medications for ulcerative colitis have all been exhausted, doctors may recommend surgically removing your entire colon so that all the ulcers and symptoms may go away and stop them from affecting your overall health. That would mean that you would have to have an ostomy, where an opening on a side of your abdomen in made to facilitate elimination of body wastes. There is another way called ileal pouch anal anastomosis, where your surgeon would attach your ileus or the end of your small intestine to your anus so that you can defecate normally.

Cancer surveillance

Sometimes, what you thought was ulcerative colitis may be leading to cancer. Patients with this condition has a higher risk of developing cancer, so strict monitoring and observation of the development of the disease as well as management of its symptoms should be prioritized. Scheduled colonoscopy every 1 to 2 years may be recommended.