Hydrocortisone caused me to put on about 12kg (25lbs) within a week. Good news is that it DOES go away! :D Much of it will be fluid retention which I found making juices with celery (natural diuretic) eating papaya (or paw paw) and acupuncture helped.

Hydrocort is a type of steroid and is normally used to get a flare under control. Has your doctor spoken to you about long term management??

Not yet. Right after my colonoscopy/endoscopy she went on vacation so she put me on Hemril-30 and said I'd try it for a month. Once she gets back we will talk more about long term use and a diet plan. Thank you so much for your help though!

Is that stuff orally or rectally taken? Did you ever had diarrheoa before you were diagnosed because if you did, could it just be that you were putting on the weight you lost through that? The stuff I said previously applied to IV hydrocortisone. Hemril-30 sounds like quite a conservative method of treatment which suggests you disease is quite mild (very GOOD thing). If your disease is mild, I would totally stay with the hemril-30..when I was diagnosed my doc tried to give me this rectal foam stuff which I kicked up a fuss about so she put me on dipentum and I ended up having an allergic reaction to which stuffed up my kidneys and caused my disease to progress...I'm now on remicade - the only thing which keeps me under control~

i take it rectally but before I was diagnosed I didn't have diarrhea or any weight loss, so I don't think I am putting on any weight that I lost previously. Right now we are trying to take an alternative method to any medication and just get it under control by diet.

Rectally administered stuff sux, I hated been on it! If you are thinking about going the alternative way try fish oils with high concentrations of EPA & DHA (anti-inflammatory), yoghurt with probiotics mix with slippery elm powder (probiotics encourage the growth of good bacteria and slippery elm coats the gut giving it a protective layer allowing it to heal) have a diet which is high in protein, especially vegetable protein (building blocks helps in healing) and make juices with cabbage (cabbage has some component which specifically heals the gut mucosa). Also take a good multivitamin which has high levels of zinc as you want your immune system to be able to fight of any infection. Also make sure you have adequate fibre in your diet as it helps move toxins out of your systems and finally make sure your diet is nutrient dense with as little processed foods as possible and decrease saturated fats as it encourages inflammation.

Let me know if this helps! :)

Did you ever have problems with missing school/classes because of UC?

Sigh, yes. Since I have been diagnosed I have had to cut back on my classes to keep my gpa from dropping too much after I started missing classes or just having to get up and stay in the bathroom half of the time. But I think for me, it's better to do well in fewer classes than to stretch myself too thin trying to be well, and go to five different classes, and work, and still try to have some kind of life.

My problem is that I'm a junior in high school so my schedule isn't very flexible and this is probably the most stressful year of my high school career. I've already missed about two weeks and we are considering different options in regards to school.

When things got really bad with hospitalizations etc I had to drop 2x uni classes in order to cope...I would suggest trying meditation and yoga it may sound wishy/washy but keeping your stress under control is really important. Look at
www.calm.auckland.ac.nz/18.html

it's a site with meditation and relaxation techniques...really helped me :)

i may try yoga once I make up the work from the weeks I've missed. Also after stopping the meds, in just one day i lost a pound and a half. I'm seeing a different doctor tomorrow in the city so hopefully he will have a second opinion

omg i know im not taking that but i have UC too and im taking prednisone and ive gained 15 pounds in about 3 to 4 months :/ i dont like it

gaining weight is the worst for me because i've had so many issues over weight in the past. Is the prednisone helping?

can anyone tell me about asacol?

I am currently on asacol.