Ulcerative Colitis is an autoimmune condition, meaning a condition where the body’s immune system attacks healthy cells in the body. It is a type of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) that causes ulcers (sores) in the superficial lining of the colon and rectum.
Bowel Symptoms
- Diarrhea
- Bloody bowel movements
- Abdominal pain
- Sensation of incomplete
emptying after a bowel
movement - Urgency to pass bowel
movements - Constipation
- Rectal bleeding
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Weight loss
Inflammatory bowel disease causes a variety of symptoms both in the bowel and outside the bowel. It is also characterized by flares and remissions. A flare is the reappearance or worsening of symptoms. There may be long periods when you do not experience any discomfort in between flare-ups or active disease symptoms. These periods are called remission. It causes a variety of symptoms both in the bowel and outside the bowel.
| Non-Bowel Involvement | Symptoms |
|---|---|
| Skin condition called Erythema Nodosum | Tender red bumps typically on the shins |
| Skin condition called Pyoderma Gangrenosum |
Skin lesions that join and form deep chronic ulcers |
| Arthritis | Pain and swelling involving mostly the large joints such as knees and hips |
| Eye conditions | Redness, itching, sensitivity to light, vision loss |
| Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a rare condition causing inflammation of the bile ducts which carry bile from the liver to break down fats |
Fatigue, itching, fevers, chills, night sweats |
| Anemia, which is lack of enough healthy red blood cells |
Weakness, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeats |
