When IBD symptoms change, the mind wants an answer one question and one only: is this a flare?
You may not have that answer yet. Infection can overlap with new or worsening IBD symptoms and may need stool testing; medicine effects and other conditions can overlap too. Start with the next action: check for urgency, use your own flare plan and describe what changed.
If symptoms are changing now
- Use urgent medical services if symptoms are severe or worsening quickly.
- Follow your personalised flare plan if you have one.
- Use your agreed IBD contact route promptly when the change is continuing, concerning or different from previous episodes, including new, persistent or increasing blood.
- Compare the change with your usual baseline.
Do not start leftover steroids, antibiotics or other prescription medicines, and do not copy another person's dose change.
Mirae can capture when the change started, what is different and how it affects daily life. It cannot confirm a flare or decide treatment.
Stay with what you know
Blood returns and becomes “my treatment has failed.” A difficult meal becomes “Pizza caused this.” A missed dose becomes “everything is out of control.”
Return to the observation:
My usual pattern is two formed bowel movements in the morning. Since Monday, I have had five or six looser movements across the day, more urgency and two nights of waking.
Bowel frequency, urgency, blood, mucus, pain, fatigue, appetite, nighttime symptoms, stoma output and symptoms outside the gut may matter. Compare them with your baseline and the signs in your own plan.
Use that comparison in your medical update. If blood is new, persistent or increasing, or symptoms are deteriorating, make the contact before completing a longer record.
Send one update
Talk or type the changes into Mirae's IBD symptom tracker, then prepare a concise message:
Template: copy it, then fill in your own answers
Started:
My usual baseline:
What is happening now:
Blood, mucus, urgency or nighttime symptoms:
Pain, fever, nausea or vomiting:
Eating, drinking and hydration:
Effect on sleep and daily life:
Current medicines:
Missed, delayed or changed doses:
Recent infection, antibiotics, travel or surgery:
My main question:Symptoms changed four days ago. My usual pattern is two formed bowel movements each morning; I now have six looser movements across the day, urgency, blood on two days and one night of waking. I am drinking but eating less, and I missed work today. I have taken treatment as prescribed. I had antibiotics two weeks ago. I need to know whether testing or treatment review is needed.
On a low-energy day:
Started Monday. Usually two bowel movements a day, now six looser movements with urgency and blood twice. Woke last night. Taking medicines as prescribed. Drinking, appetite low. Need advice on the next step.
The summary organises the timeline and can help when preparing for your next IBD appointment. Mirae can help you build it in the Mirae app or on the web. Symptoms, CRP, faecal/fecal calprotectin and other test results still need clinical interpretation (AGA guidance for UC; AGA guidance for Crohn's disease).
While you wait for advice
Do not change prescribed treatment for a possible flare without following your current plan or getting medicine-specific advice; suspected serious reactions need urgent advice. Keep an accurate IBD medication record, but remember that missed-dose instructions differ by medicine; check the patient information leaflet or confirmed instructions, and contact the prescribing service or a pharmacist if the answer is unclear. Do not guess or take an extra dose unless the medicine's current instructions or a prescriber specifically tell you to.
If tests are requested, follow the collection and timing instructions. A symptom record cannot replace blood tests, stool tests, imaging or endoscopy.
Add another Mirae note only when something changes: symptoms worsen, eating or drinking becomes difficult, a new symptom appears or you receive an instruction you need to remember. Hourly tracking will not make the answer arrive faster.
Food, stress, sleep, travel or a medicine problem may belong in the timeline. None proves that you caused the change.
When recording stops
Use emergency or urgent medical services for severe or rapidly worsening symptoms, including:
- severe abdominal pain
- heavy or non-stop bleeding
- repeated vomiting or being unable to keep fluids down
- fainting, confusion or very little urine
- a swollen abdomen with severe pain, vomiting or no bowel or stoma output
- feeling acutely unwell with fever or a rapid heartbeat
This is not a complete list; follow local emergency advice. Do not finish a template or wait for a routine advice-line response before seeking urgent help.
Build the plan while you are well
A personal flare plan should name the changes to report, the routine contact, the out-of-hours route and the signs that mean urgent care. It should also record any medicine action specifically authorised for you.
Save the current plan and contact routes in Mirae. Update them after treatment changes, surgery, hospital admission, pregnancy or another event that changes the instructions.
If no dose change or rescue medicine has been authorised, it is not part of the plan.
Record who authorised each medicine action and when, so the plan can be followed without guessing.
Medical and product note
This guide provides general information for adults living with IBD. It is not a diagnostic tool, individual flare plan or emergency service. Symptoms, treatment plans and urgent-care routes vary by person and country.
Mirae does not confirm inflammation, detect infection, interpret tests or recommend treatment changes, and its AI can be incomplete or wrong.
References
- Gordon W. Moran et al. British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines on inflammatory bowel disease in adults: 2025. Gut, 2025.
- Siddharth Singh et al. The role of biomarkers for the management of ulcerative colitis. American Gastroenterological Association, 2023.
- Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan et al. AGA Clinical Practice Guideline on the Role of Biomarkers for the Management of Crohn's Disease. Gastroenterology, 2023.
