Get help for your ulcerative colitis from this group

Manoj Tahiliani, a 36-year-old businessman, started having digestive problems about seven years ago. A battery of tests revealed that he suffered from ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease which is not completely curable.

Juggling work, treatment and medication was tough for Tahiliani till his doctor told him about a support group for people like him, about a year ago. “After joining the group I met a six-year old who suffered from the same problem. I started looking at things more positively from then on,” he said.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine. The most common IBD are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, where the lining of the intestine gets inflamed as a response of the body to any insult or injury.
The support group, called Colitis Association of India, was started in March 2005, by doctors, patients and their families who felt the need to educate other patients about inflammatory bowel disease. Dr Devendra Desai, one of the founder members of the group, felt that most patients do not have proper knowledge about ulcerative colitis. “Some patients say they have an ‘ulcer’. They do not take proper treatment, which is for life-long. As a result, they have relapses. This is why we started this support group,” said Dr Desai.

The group meets four times a year and each time they discuss one topic pertaining to the disease. This is followed by a question-and-answer session.

“Majority of the patients are young, working and have issues about work, marriage, pregnancy, delivery and continuation of medicines. Various issues are addressed during the meetings,” said Dr Desai.

According to Manoj, hearing about the experiences of people has helped him a lot. “Many a times people who have stopped taking medicines after a while have had relapses. I also found out about important diet control methods,” said Manoj.

VD Kumar who has been associated with the group since its inception felt that the best part of such a group is that it gives people the opportunity to interact. “People are not really comfortable talking about their problems openly like loose motions or cramps. In a group meeting they find commonalities. And there is always a doctor or a counselor who can answer the patients’ queries,” said Kumar, whose wife suffers from Crohn’s disease.