NBC's Chloe Melas Says She Was 'Completely in Denial' After Ulcerative Colitis Diagnosis

The entertainment news correspondent says she "spent a decade thinking about my bowel movements" before receiving her diagnosis in 2012

Chloe Melas doesn't take her health for granted.

The NBC News entertainment correspondent, 37, opened up about her health journey since being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2012 in a candid conversation with TODAY.com published Thursday.

"I spent a decade thinking about my bowel movements," she told the outlet. "It consumed my entire life, and it was so stressful." Melas noticed that there was something wrong with her digestive health after seeing bright red blood in her stool at age 23.

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Although she initially ignored it, she recalled eventually going to a gastroenterologist and being diagnosed with proctitis, described as "inflammation of the lining of the rectum" by the Mayo Clinic.

"They could not tell me what it was from. (I was wondering) is this something in my diet? Is it due to stress? Is it genetic? No one in my family had any (gastrointestinal) issues," she told the outlet.

Melas was prescribed suppositories but continued to find blood in her stool and struggled to defecate. After experiencing her symptoms for about two years, her doctor ordered a colonoscopy, which resulted in her ulcerative colitis diagnosis.

"I was completely in denial. I didn't have one friend that ever had a colonoscopy," she recalled. After being put on medication for the disease, which occurs after an individual has inflammation in their colon, per the Cleveland Clinic, Melas began experiencing flare-ups.

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"I (would) feel like I have to go to the bathroom immediately. Sometimes I wouldn't be able to hold it," she told the outlet, explaining that she was then put on a steroid. Melas began a paleo diet and cut out alcohol to lessen the symptoms that remained.

She also recalled experiencing new symptoms that included becoming extremely constipated and beginning to lose weight.

While she says that having a "really clean diet" helped some of her symptoms, she sought a second opinion after her doctors began considering removing part of her colon when she was about 20.

"I wanted another opinion ... and found another doctor. He changed the dosage of the medication I was taking, and with a couple of little tricks on his end, he was able to put me in remission," she told the outlet.

Melas shared that she had her "first normal colonoscopy in years" a few months ago, calling it "amazing."

“I don’t think about going to the bathroom anymore. I always know, though, in the back of my mind that it is just very temporary because you never know when ulcerative colitis can rear its head," she said.

Melas said that she's tried to incorporate more health habits into her life, including drinking more water and eating more fiber — something that's also made a difference.

“I’m able to go to the bathroom stress-free, and that’s something that for so long I didn’t have. But I don’t take it for granted. If you’re having issues in the bathroom, you need to go see a gastroenterologist immediately. It could be a symptom of something much larger," she said.

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As for her reason for opening up about her health journey, Melas said, "I want to speak about the things that are tough to talk about because I know there are people suffering in silence."

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