hey there

In my experience my flare ups last a few weeks/months, i.e: 2 weeks of it building up to its full glory and then 8 weeks on steriods! That is how it has been for me for the last 8-10 months. My flares come out of nowhere and only settle with steriods. I am on a cocktail of daily medications but they dont seem to keep the Crohns in remission for long - but i am hopeful! :-)

Personnally i dont ever want to have an op and i have discussed this with my Doctor and he said that is the last thing they will do but i stay positive that i will never change my mind and my fear of the dreaded op with remain!!How long have you had crohns? Are you having a flare at the moment.

I don't have a lot of experience with flares. I've only had one since diagnosis of UC and I'm going through it right now. I've had gut symptoms of the flare since June, but I think it was in the works for a quite a few months prior.

I think my doctor's philosophy is to try to get everything under control with meds first, and it may require trying several different meds until one works. I think surgery is truly a last resort for my doc.

Well I just asked my doctor the same question. the answer i was given is that there is no way to tell. Everyones flares are different and there is no "typical" flare. I'm going through one right now and it's been almost 2 months. it seems like ever week that goes by I am going to the pharmacy for a new prescription. I am now taking 5-6 different meds with a grand total of 18-20 pills a day.

I was diagnosed in June with UC and have not been in remission. I am taking several different medications along with prednisone attempting to put it in remission. This last monday I started nicotin patches (quit smoking after 26 years and wham UC) to see if it will help put it in remission. I have asked the question of my GI doc about remission,surgery,etc. Everyone is an individual and each person reacts to certain meds differently and surgery is when all else fails. This whole thing can be frustrating but it is better to have a positive outlook to help get through it :)