Colitis While Pregnant

Hi R., I'm having a slight flare myself while breastfeeding a three month old. I had a slight flare throughout my first pregnancy in 2005, but was also on 15 mg of prednisone the whole time.Your meds should be safe during the pregnancy. Just make sure that you report to your doctor if things start to get worse. I waited too long after my son was born and I let myself get really unhealthy. Breastfeeding didn't work out for me because of my bad flare. Feelings of guilt did not last very long since my son started to grow and thrive when he switched to formula. Remember that it is more important for you to be healthy and strong enough to care for your baby.My second pregnancy was so much better and I was healthier than when not pregnant. Every pregnancy is different. Take care.

I have ulcerative colitis too and I had my son last year. I was taking asacol, but I was still having a flare up for the first three months of my pregnancy. I decided to stop taking my meds since they didn't seem to be helping and my symptoms cleared up. I had one more flare up and then I stayed symptom free for the rest of my pregnancy and a few months post partum. It was great! Asacol is hit or miss with me, sometimes it works and other time it seems to be causing the problems. It seems like it works for you so I would keep taking it. My doctor said that it could take up to 2 weeks to really start working. Just to reassure you, my son was born completely healthy (9 lbs, 6 oz) even though I had a couple flare ups while I was pregnant and I was taking Asacol for half the time.

Good luck and I hope that the Asacol kicks in and starts working!

Oh boy do I know how you feel and am sorry you are going thru this bout with colitis. I am way past the baby making age, but have colitis and take asacol everyday. I found it to work pretty good if you keep taking it on a regular basis.(it's an anti inflamitory for the intestines) I was taking 4 pills, 3 times a day to keep things under control, but started having chest pains and thought for sure I was having heart issues. It scared me so I saw my Dr, and after many tests, they say my heart is fine, but asacol has a few side effects, one being, acid reflux chest pain. So, I stopped taking asacol at night and within 3 days the chest discomfort was gone. So, I can only imagine as a pregnant tummy grows and can cause heart burn by it's self, but with the asacol it might be even worse. So, just wanted to warn you all to maybe work asacol into the schedule so you won't take it before bedtime and lay down giving it a change to cause acid reflux and make you even more miserable than colitis already does. And, have happy babies!!

Just a suggestion/thought -- have you been tested for Celiac's Disease? This disease can often show itself as colitis, irritable bowel, etc. But can be controlled by not eating gluten.

Hi R.,

I am in the same position as you. I am 31 weeks pregnant and have developed colitis as well. I developed it at 16 weeks pregnant. When they finally figured out what the problem was, they put me on predisone and asacol. I was weaned off the prednisone quickly, but am going to take the asacol for the whole pregnancy.

Different people have recommended special diets, but I asked my doctor if I should follow a special diet. He said no. Basically, his recommendation was to eat low fat, (less irritating to the bowels) and keep a food journal. Everyone is different. So what may give you a flare up, may not be the same for me. So far it is working very well.

Maybe you should talk to your doctor too about continuing the asacol until the baby is born. It is supposed to be safe for your baby.

Best of luck. Try not to let it stress you out too much.

J.