Sarah, thank you for writing this post. I bet a lot of people can relate to your situation and will find they are not so alone in reading it. The things you and doctor listed out and agreed upon are so very helpful and wise. I do agree that if our UC and digestive system is unhappy or under distress then we will also be not having a good life at that time. I am sorry about the stress you have had this year. It’s been a hard year. Anita wrote wise advice about taking care of your health. You wrote about being afraid of new medication and I wanted to reassure you. If you never take it, you will never know if it helps. If you do take it, you can see how it goes and if there are side effects that you can’t stand, then you stop taking it. Your intestines need help also, and love. Think of this medication as self love and also using human wisdom. Stress totally screws up my GI tract, I don’t have UC though. My husband has something similar to UC and he ignored it for years. Was not good for him, so I encourage you to try whatever you need to try medication or diet wise and see how it goes. I used to be a person who was never going to take pharmaceutical drugs but here I am with several health issues and I find that not taking care of my health (including meds) is not self love. Quality of life is important. I wish you well.