Ulcerative Colitis and exhaustion

[splatt73]

I have had ulcerative colitis for several years and have had numerous treatments including messaline, immune suppressants, steroids, enemas and other drugs. I have all the usual symptoms. None of the medications have ever helped reduce my tierdness and exhaustion. I feel week all the time, any ideas

[Julie Thompson]

Hi, exhaustion can be common with inflammatory bowel disease, however it is important to ensure that your iron stores are adequate as having low iron levels (ferritin & haemoglobin levels) is really not going to help. Low iron can occur if you are passing bloody stools during a flare up but also you might need low iron to be ruled out when you are in remission. Generally if iron levels are low it is not possible to used dietary sources to increase your levels, as usually supplementation is required to bring levels back to normal. However you also should be cautious and discuss this with your gastroenterologist or doctor as taking iron supplementation during a flare up can sometimes make symptoms worse, in this case an infusion of iron would be advised if your levels are low. Please check out the following document from Crohns & Colitis UK which does give a little bit of information about managing tiredness with colitis, you can always contact the charity if you need more information.
http://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/
http://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/Reso ... olitis.pdf