What exactly is meant by a "flare-up"?

[Tracer Bullet]

I was recently diagnosed with a very mild form of Crohn's. My symptoms that led me to get diagnosed were basically alternating constipation/loose stools.

I've been taking Entocort and Pentasa, and a probiotic, for about a month. I really have no idea if it's getting better or not, though, because my symptoms were so mild to begin with. And I have no idea what people mean by a "flare-up". If I seem to be having relatively normal toilet habits and don't feel sick, does that mean I'm in remission? I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor on Thursday, so I'll be asking him, but just curious about others' opinions.

 

[GoJohnnyGo]

A Flare-Up would simply be a return of symptoms after a period of remission, or a sudden worsening of symptoms.

The analogy is that of a sudden, rising shot of fire, an apt description on many levels.

 

[merrywidow]

flare up= throwing up and sitting on the toilet. regards sharon x

 

[fenway1971]

Tracer,
Great question and curious to hear others' opinions.

I was diagnosed 5 years ago because I had 6 weeks of watery diarrhea. Before then and since then (until 6 weeks ago), I've had days feeling great and days not feeling great. But, never more than 2-3 days in a row of diarrhea. That is until latest episode which is 6 weeks running.

That said, I've never had a colonoscopy that showed my colon non-flamed. It's always been mild-moderate or moderate-severe. So, I guess it means I've never fully healed.

So, have I been flaring all the time but don't categorize it as such?

 

[Creepy Lurker]

Personally, a flare up to me is when I have active (measurable) inflammation coupled with symptoms.

 

[luckoftheirish]

yo fenway1971, i feel our pain. Had to deal with a similiar "flare up" which lasted bout 4 months. Had to go on a couple of courses of steroids which did nothing only vex me.

In the end i got through it by going to a dietician and getting a tailored diet. By cutting out foods with dairy/wheat and yeast i was a new man. I know that diet isint the answer for everyone and at that its hard to stick to but its worth a try if nothin else is workin

 

[fenway1971]

Thanks, leprechaun. I might try a dietician.

 

[amor151]

a flare up for me is losing alot of weight, no appetite, alot of random pains through out the day and pains after eating, constipation and just generally feeling awful.

i would say a flare up is basically a period of time after a state of remission where symptoms return.

 

[Ghostwind]

For me, a flare up equates the pain, diarrhea, nausea and general not feeling good that the medicines fail to offset. Everyone has their own definition because the disease is so individualized.

 

[Sparky]

A flare-up for me is when I get pain/trots that aren't 'usual' (ie. I expect a certain level of pain first thing in the morning, and after the first meal I eat each day so that doesn't count), and that rapidly becomes a situation where I can't eat anything solid.

A true flare-up (again, only for me) needs 5-10 days of liquids only or high dose steroids to sort it out. Only happens a few times a year thankfully.

 

[Aenea01]

My doc defines flares as when my immunes system is actively causing problems with the rest of my body. Anything less than that he just calls it Crohns symptoms or IBS. Active problems = imcreased white blood cell count, inflamation, increased mucous production, ulcers.. etc..

 

[BWS1982]

I've always been under the impression that there's either remission, or flaring, and respectively, that is "no symptoms" and "symptoms"....I never heard of any gray area until this discussion here. Unless you have absolutely no sign of the disease (you live "normal", normal BM's and no signs of disease at all), you are "flaring".

 

[teeny5]

Do people actually get to having no signs of the disease? I can't even remember what "normal" is anymore!

 

[BWS1982]

from April 8th of last year to August 18th of last year, I FELT cured. Not a single sign of the disease.

 

[teeny5]

Wow! Something for me to look forward to I guess.

 

[panda]

I'm new to this forum & wanted to see if anyone shared my experience with crohns.

Just wanted to say that since I was diagnosed there have been many times when I doubted the diagnosis. I went for about 2 years feeling pretty normal, except for occasional bowel issues or cramps (that I thought could be explained other than by crohns). So there is hope of that.

It returned though, so I know I have it! Never really had the diarrhea thing, my flare up is just pain, lack of energy, feeling generally unwell- have to sleep sitting up, go to liquid diet, eat very little...hopefully avoid steroids.

 

[dayng1016]

A flare for me, is really bad stomach pain, no diarrhea, ever, just some major pain, nausea, which in turn causes me to not eat anything for a day or so until the pain goes away. But lately, no matter what I eat or how much my stomach is killing me, but my upper stomach, the pain is no longer in the lower right quadrant. And the fatigue right after eating is ridiculous.