Other, more powerful anti-inflammatory medicines are helpful, but they suppress the immune system, which causes an increased risk of infections. For this reason, they are used less often for long-term treatment. These medicines include prednisone (sold under several brand names), methylprednisolone (Medrol), budesonide (Entocort), azathioprine (Imuran), mercaptopurine (Purinethol), infliximab (Remicade)  and cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune).

You may also be given medicines that make symptoms less painful by decreasing spasms of the colon. One example is hyoscyamine (Levsin, NuLev).

When symptoms are severe or when diarrhea causes dehydration, you may need to be admitted to the hospital to get fluids and, sometimes, nutrition intravenously (through a vein) while the colon recovers.

Surgery Surgery is used in people who have severe symptoms that are not controlled by medicines, who have unacceptable side effects from medicines, or who have a very high risk of colon cancer because of extensive inflammation in the whole colon. One of several surgeries may be used to treat ulcerative colitis, depending on the amount of colon that is affected. Either part of the colon or the entire colon can be removed. After some surgeries, bowel movements will have to leave the body through an opening called a stoma in the abdominal wall. The stoma replaces the function of the rectum, and may be connected to a drainage bag. It may be used temporarily or permanently. Newer surgical techniques allow many patients to keep the layer of the rectum that contains its muscles, even though the lining of the rectum needs to be removed. This type of surgery (called ileoanal anastomosis, or pull-through surgery) has a cosmetic advantage, and it allows bowel movements to pass through the rectum and to be near normal, except that bowel movements are more frequent (usually five to six times per day) and contain more liquid.