Symptoms and Signs of Ulcerative Colitis
Ulcerative colitis symptoms range from mild loose stools to incapacitating diarrhea, pain, dehydration and anemia. Relapse and remission is a common feature.
The symptoms of ulcerative colitis depend on the extent of the large intestine that has been affected by the disease. Very often the disease starts in the rectum and then spreads upwards to involve part or whole of the large bowel. In some cases, it may even involve the last portion of the small bowel.
Generally symptoms and signs include: –
- Bloody diarrhea
- Rectal Pain
- Urgency in moving bowels (tenesmus)
- Pain - Crampy - left sided or central or right sided
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Night sweats
Mild forms confined to the rectum alone may reveal themselves with an occasional rectal bleed. If the disease involves the rectum and sigmoid-it is referred to, as proctitis/procto-sigmoiditis-the symptoms may be mild and limited to an urge to pass motion, tenesmus or bleeding from the rectum.
Pancolitis-when the entire colon is affected- loose stools, pain, fever, bleeding occur. Dehydration and anemia are also possible if the symptoms are very severe.
The disease remits and relapses, i.e., it subsides and then flares up after a week, or months or even years. The more extensive and chronic the problem becomes, the more incapacitated is the patient, and may even become bed-ridden.
What is Fulminating ulcerative colitis ?
This is an acute severe form that results in fever, incessant diarrhea, discharge of blood and mucus from the rectum and bloating of the abdomen. Indeed, the patient is very sick at this point and may have dilatation of the entire colon called ‘toxic megacolon’. This condition may even lead to a rupture of the colon, which is a surgical emergency.
Ulcerative colitis symptoms extend beyond the confines of the bowel to involve other organs, and give rise to backache, skin lesions and eye problems.
