Understanding Ulcerative Colitis
Ulcerative colitis (UC) may affect as many as 907,000 people in the U.S. and that may help you feel that you’re not alone in your fight. And a better understanding of UC could help you and your doctor decide if a change of direction might be right for you.
Your Life With UC
Living with UC can be challenging, but remember—there are people out there who can help you get through this. Finding the right treatment plan, multidisciplinary care team, and emotional support can help you approach life with UC with increased confidence.
Symptoms Of UC
UC is a chronic inflammatory condition with relapsing and remitting disease course. Symptoms of UC can vary, depending on the level of inflammation and where in the large intestine it occurs. The most common symptoms of UC are blood in the stool and diarrhea. Other symptoms may include an urgent need to have a bowel movement, feeling tired, weight loss, and abdominal pain.
MODERATE TO SEVERE† SYMPTOMS OF UC MAY INCLUDE
- Increased stool frequency above normal (4 or more stools per day)
- Rectal bleeding: commonly defined as frequent
- Other symptoms may include diarrhea, abdominal pain, bowel urgency, and feeling tired
Symptoms alone may not be enough to determine your level of disease activity. You and your doctor may decide to run tests to determine the severity of your UC as you work together to lower disease activity or achieve remission.
†XELJANZ is indicated for adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis in whom tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers did not work well or cannot be tolerated.
UC Flares & Remission
Remission means those times when you aren’t having a flare and your UC symptoms are under control. But just because UC goes into remission doesn’t mean there isn’t a possibility for a flare to happen in the future.
Talk to your gastroenterologist and discuss your treatment goals. Establishing goals is an important part of making sure you are getting the most out of how you and your doctor manage your UC.
Talking To Your Doctor
No matter how long you’ve had UC, talking about it can feel difficult. Use our quiz to help you take a fresh look at life with UC, then talk to your GI about your disease and the different opportunities available to you for your treatment plan.
are in your treatment journey.