What I Do When My UC Flares: A Lesson in Self-Love

Warning: this is a personal one.

If you are a regular reader, you know that I have Ulcerative Colitis (UC). If you are new, welcome! I have Ulcerative Colitis.

UC is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune condition. Which means that I will have this disease in varying degrees of severity, for the duration of my life, even when I am completely free of inflammation and symptoms. Bummer, right?

You might not have the same disease as I do, but a lot of us have some sort of chronic disease, and it sucks.

I share this reality of having a chronic disease with so many of you. You might not have the same disease as I do, but a lot of us have some sort of chronic disease, and it sucks. It takes a large toll on us. Not only do we feel helpless and sometimes hopeless, but we also have to endure the physical suffering that goes along with it.

I was diagnosed about 10 years ago and have what is considered a mild case that I have managed with many years of trial and error. For the past 3 years, I have been keeping my symptoms mostly under control with diet, namely, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), which I have referenced in this blog many times over these years.

I am also, as you might expect from the work I do, quite fanatical about my lifestyle. I really work on my sleep, though I sometimes struggle with that. I lift weights, I walk and hike, I ski, I take the stairs. I have an infrared sauna that I use as often as I can, though I sometimes forget that I have it and it goes unused. I practice gratitude, self-development, and have an occasional meditation practice. I try to reach out to my social network often, take my supplements, and avoid all the toxins that I can control.

That sounds very buttoned up with some tinges of perfectionism, AND I also generally have no symptoms and feel amazing. I love my lifestyle, I love working on myself and my health, and it is completely and totally worth it. I consider my body my godly vessel that deserves pristine love and care. I am really happy to do it all.

But being human, I have times that I want to loosen the reins and test boundaries. And for my little sensitive body, this can sometimes cause a flare of colitis symptoms. Other times, I am taken off guard and I have a flare for who-knows-why.

Like so many of you with chronic illnesses, when my symptoms flare, there is a bit of despair, sprinkled with a bit of denial. I go along for a bit, hoping that it will go away on its own. Then, I realize I need to batten down the hatches and return to the things that I have learned, over years of trial and error, that get me out of a flare.

For me, that is a strict, very low fiber diet (Stage 1 and 2 of SCD), no alcohol, some herbal anti-inflammatories, a focus on stress management, and slowing down and resting a bit more than usual.

It always takes me a bit of time to get myself to the place mentally where I can do this. It takes slowing down, paying attention, and maybe even missing out on doing some things I enjoy doing. I do not blame myself for having a flare. I know that my body has the ability to heal itself if I give it the help it needs.

This, to me, is self-love 101.

I have helped myself, and many patients, manage chronic illness. I can help you, too.