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Digestive System Ulcerative Colitis Symptoms
Symptoms
About Ulcerative Colitis

Symptoms

The primary symptoms of ulcerative colitis are:1

  • Recurring diarrhoea, which may contain blood, mucus or pus
  • Stomach pain
  • Needing to poo frequently and with urgency, which may include a persistent need to use the toilet even if your bowels are empty (known as tenesmus)

Other symptoms may include fatigue, a loss of appetite, and weight loss. The severity of the symptoms will vary, depending on how much of your rectum and colon are inflamed, as well as how severe this inflammation is. In some severe cases, you may also experience a fever.2

You may go for periods of time where your symptoms are mild, or you may not even have any symptoms at all. However, these periods are then followed by periods where symptoms worsen. These periods are known as flare-ups, or relapses. 

During a flare-up, you may experience symptoms elsewhere in your body. Around 1 in 3 people with ulcerative colitis will also develop inflammation in other parts of their body, which can lead to a range of symptoms. These are known as extra-intestinal symptoms, as they occur outside of your intestine, but are still associated with your ulcerative colitis.1

An outline of the human body highlighting the common symptoms and extraintestinal manifestations of UC. Common symptoms are: a abdominal pain, diarrhoea containing blood, needing to poo frequently, rectal bleeding, urgency and tenesmus (a persistent need to have a bowel movement, but bowels are empty). Extraintestinal manifestations are: irritated, red eyes, mouth ulcers, painful or swollen joints (arthritis), problems with bones e.g. osteoporosis and erthyema nodosum (swollen fat under the skin causing bumbs and patches).

References

  1. NHS – Ulcerative Colitis. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ulcerative-colitis/. Last accessed April 2025.
  2. M. Zhao, L. Gonczi, P. L. Lakatos, J. Burisch. The Burden of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Europe in 2020. Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis. 2021;15(9):1573-1587.