Are scopes of any value after a two week remission'?

[1tiredmama]

I do not understand the ups and downs of IBD. My son can go for months sick and then start eating out of the blue for a few days almost normally. Twelve days ago, he went from being so sick and weak that he slept through two evaluations while the doctor and I spoke, and he needed help getting into a gown for an x-ray, to eating normally that night! He has eaten normally for twelve days now, and gained 4lbs. Terrific, but it can end at any moment. Can someone please explain how that works?

Anyway, will this remission mess up his scheduled scopes? Do remissions mean that the internal problems have resolved themselves?

Thank you.

 

[kimmidwife]

Why they have these ups and downs is a very good question. Is he on any medication like prednisone? I think two weeks is such a short amount of time that it will not greatly affect the outcome of the scopes. It takes time to achieve a true remission and does not happen overnight.

 

[1tiredmama]

Thanks, Kim. The only GI med at this time is Prilosec. I think my son's good spell has just ended. The nausea is creeping back. He could not manage dinner tonight.

 

[CarolinAlaska]

Good question. I'm interested in seeing the replies and hearing what your scopes show.

 

[Patricia56]

He is not in remission. remission is something that lasts longer than a couple of days.

remission would mean that he had normal lab work, no belly pain or GI symptoms, no weakness (probably anemia?) and no evidence of inflammation like D or C.

My guess - not being a doctor - is that when he is having a bad spell he changes what and how he eats - less food, leaves certain things out like bread or milk, etc.

This may help calm the inflammation down enough that he starts feeling better. So he goes back to eating "normally" and bam, he is sick again when really he was sick all along, just not doing things that aggravated his illness.

I would not worry about the scopes. If he has Crohn's there will be evidence of inflammation either visually or at the microscopic level. Going 12 days with eating fine is unlikely to make a difference. If anything, if he's starting to feel bad again, it will be beneficial since it will have made the inflammation worse.

At least those are my best guesses given what you've shared.

And given that he has an existing autoimmune disorder it seems to me that there might be some interaction between these things that is contributing to what's going on.

I really hope he gets feeling better soon.

 

[Sascot]

It can be very frustrating. My son took ages to diagnose because he would get severe tummy pains - doubled over - for a week, then gone completely. Then he would be fine for ages, then bad pain for another week, then gone again. The longest he had pain for was 2 weeks, then completely gone again. Never could quite understand how something so sore for so many days could suddenly disappear!
Never cancel any tests just because they happen to be in a good spell.