Table 5 Impact of actual or potential symptoms on attitudes to medication

"... you can't go anywhere without your tablets, you can't go anywhere without your Imodium you know. You walk around with a spare pair of knickers in your bag and wet wipes and everything just in case. ...I've only ever had one accident (faecal incontinence) and you know it frightened the life out of me." (female with crohn's disease, 44 years).

"so, I think if I didn't take them, I am sure I would be poorly." (female with ulcerative colitis, 56 years)

" do I keep throwing this amount of drugs into myself which I am sure must be helping me in some point but damaging me in another, or do I risk the ulcerative colitis giving me another year like I had last year, which was absolutely awful, so it's really again you are between a rock and a hard place." (female with ulcerative colitis, 42 years)