Ulcerative Colitis Treatment Options

Ulcerative colitis is a condition that affects your intestinal lining and rectum. Ulcerative colitis is also a type of irritable bowel disease. The disease causes inflammation, ulcer development, abdominal pain and frequent diarrhea. The disease can become debilitating without treatment. Treatments will vary because the disease creates different symptoms in every individual. Your physician will provide a regimen treatment depending on the complexity of your disease.

Dietary Changes

• Dietary changes can help lengthen the time between flare-ups as well as reduce symptoms of your disease. When you've been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, your physician may want you to try changes within your diet before aggressively treating your disease. Steaming, baking or stewing vegetables may be easier on your stomach instead of eating the vegetables raw. Drinking more fluids can help cleanse your colon and rid your body of waste. You should drink at least eight full glasses of water in a day. Fluids can include fruit juices that don't have a high content of sugar.

Avoid Triggers

• Some foods can contribute to your condition; dairy products and milk can exacerbate your symptoms. While fiber can be a good source of nutrition in a diet, eating fiber while you have an IBD condition can make bouts of diarrhea more problematic. Popcorn, nuts, caffeine and alcohol can make your diarrhea worse, as well as cause gas when you have an IBD. According to the Mayo Clinic, having ulcerative colitis can impede your body's absorption of nutrients. You may want to discuss taking a multivitamin supplement with your physician.

Medications

• The first step with medication treatments is the use of anti-inflammatory medications. Anti-inflammatory medications can reduce your symptoms. Some medications include mesalamine, balsalazide and olsalazine. According to the Mayo Clinic, mesalamine is effective in treating more than 90 percent of sufferers who have mild forms of ulcerative colitis.

Immune System Suppressors

• Immune system suppressors work by targeting your immune system. Immune system suppressors are prescribed if other medications prove to be ineffective. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is believed that when a bacteria or virus enters your body, damage results to your digestive tissues due to your immune system's response to fighting the invasion. Immune system suppressors are given to suppress your body's response to damage being created to your digestive tissues, which then also reduces inflammation.

Other Medications

• Other medication options can include antibiotics, anti-diarrheal medications, pain relievers and iron supplementation. If you develop a fever when you have ulcerative colitis, antibiotics are prescribed to prevent or control an infection. Psyllium capsules or powder, or Citrucel can be provided as anti-diarrheal to help form bulkier stools. If you have pain, Tylenol can help relieve mild to moderate pain. Iron supplements may be prescribed if you often have blood present within your stools, as this may be a sign of anemia.

Surgery

• Your physician will not recommend surgery unless all other treatments have not worked for you. In a procedure known as a proctocolectomy, your colon and rectum may be removed. As a result of this procedure, you will no longer be able to eliminate waste as you once did. Your physician will need to develop a pouch out of your small intestine. This pouch will be sutured to your anus, which will create a new passageway for you to have bowel movements. According to the Mayo Clinic, you will have more bowel movements than usual. This is due to the fact that your colon is now absent, and you're not able to absorb water to create harder stools.