Colonoscopy down, MRI to go!!

[charlottevet]

So, yesterday I had my first colonoscopy- it was ok, quite painful at time - though I guess that was my fault for refusing sedation and gas and air hehe.

They didn't find anything in the colon or terminal ileum, but I did have high inflammatory markers in my stool so they are going to MRI me next week to look at the small bowel. Im very excited at the thought of them finding something there and FINALLY after yeas of pain, nausea, fatigue, malaise and discomfort- as odd as that might sound- get a diagnosis and treatment I cant wait for my life to properly begin!

Has anyone here been diagnosed via MRI? Is it likely that I might have inflammation higher up than the colon?

And Happy Tuesday all hope you are all having a lovely day, it' very warm and sunny here int he Northwest of England a rare and wonderful occurrence!!)

xx

 

[Ihurt]

Hey there. I am glad everything went ok with the colonoscopy. The colonoscopy would have seen anything in the colon since it views the whole colon. The MRI will maybe be able to see if there is any issues in the small bowel. A lot of things can cause Nausea and gut issues though( i.e. motility issues of the small bowel, gastroparesis etc..). I hope you get some answers. I know it is hard not knowing what is wrong....

So, yesterday I had my first colonoscopy- it was ok, quite painful at time - though I guess that was my fault for refusing sedation and gas and air hehe.

They didn't find anything in the colon or terminal ileum, but I did have high inflammatory markers in my stool so they are going to MRI me next week to look at the small bowel. Im very excited at the thought of them finding something there and FINALLY after yeas of pain, nausea, fatigue, malaise and discomfort- as odd as that might sound- get a diagnosis and treatment I cant wait for my life to properly begin!

Has anyone here been diagnosed via MRI? Is it likely that I might have inflammation higher up than the colon?

And Happy Tuesday all hope you are all having a lovely day, it' very warm and sunny here int he Northwest of England a rare and wonderful occurrence!!)

xx

 

[charlottevet]

Hey there. I am glad everything went ok with the colonoscopy. The colonoscopy would have seen anything in the colon since it views the whole colon. The MRI will maybe be able to see if there is any issues in the small bowel. A lot of things can cause Nausea and gut issues though( i.e. motility issues of the small bowel, gastroparesis etc..). I hope you get some answers. I know it is hard not knowing what is wrong....

thanks for the swift reply I have had gastropareis and other issues ruled out over the years , they have narrowed it down to some sort of IBD as they have found inflammatory markers in my stool- so i guess its just wait and see!!

 

[Starlight]

Glad e scope went well. Your braver than I am! I'm the opposite, I'd refuse the scope without the sedation! Lol

Hope everything goes well with the MRI to!

 

[Little Bear]

Is it normal to be sedated for the colonoscopy? I have one coming up (waiting for letter to book it) that might getting back to work tricky!

 

[Ihurt]

Yes, at least here in the US it is normal to be sedated for colonoscopy. Most places use some sort of twilight sedation. You wont remember a thing. I could and would not do one without sedation.

Is it normal to be sedated for the colonoscopy? I have one coming up (waiting for letter to book it) that might getting back to work tricky!

 

[Apac]

Kudos to Charlotte for going the colonoscopy without sedation or gas & air!!

I had my first (and I would not be dismayed if it's my last!) colonoscopy last month. No sedation, but I did have gas & air. My pain threshold is not particularly low, so I was surprised to find that the colonoscopy was absolute agony for me! At times it really hurt my bladder too for some reason.
I don't think the air and gas was very effective but I think I probably left some teeth-marks in the inhaler mouthpiece!!

I have mostly read of most colonoscopies being of discomfort at most and painful ones like mine being the unlucky minority and I guess it depends too on the person doing the colonoscopy - the bloke who did mine I think was not very skillful, especially felt him at the bends and in the ileum, and at one point he let go of the scope and the air blowing thingy caused it come out, so I had to have it go back up again!)

So if I ever have to have one again, I will insist on the sedation personally, but I've talked to a few people who've sailed through it easy without any.

 

[BethLynn85]

I'm actually an MRI tech. We have started to do more MRE (Magnetic Resonance Enterography) exams. From what I have seen they are able to make a diagnosis of Crohn's from this exam. We have mostly been doing them on pediatric patients. I go to see my gastro doc next week. I may ask him if he will order an MRE for me. As crazy as it sounds, I want to see what my guts look like compared to a CT. It's the crazy medical person in me!

 

[JustAYoungLad]

How did your MRI go charlottevet?

I have an MRI coming up at the end of the month and I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping it will show that my inflammation in my stomach has reduced/gone.

 

[charlottevet]

hi all

MRI on thursday!! Hoping that we will get a diagnosis or some piece of mind at least from the MRI. been having a tough week with diarrhoea, nausea and stomach cramps... so fingers crossed they can help me soon!!

Anyone who had an MRI, how long did it take till they told you the results?


hope all is well with you all xxx

 

[BethLynn85]

I just had my MRI done last Wednesday. I recieved the results today.

I have to say the worst part about it was not what I had to drink (though it did not taste the greatest) but the amount I had to drink. I was asked to drink 3 450 mL bottles of Volumen. Near the end I started to feel sick because it was all just sitting in my stomach. I made it through 2 3/4 bottles and after seeing the images, the techs said that I drank more than enough. Also be aware, if you haven't had it before, the Volumen can give you diarrhea. But my pictures came out pretty cool! They ran a scan that is similair to a heart MRI where it shows the bowl moving like a mini movie!

Good luck with your MRI!

 

[charlottevet]

I just had my MRI done last Wednesday. I recieved the results today.

I have to say the worst part about it was not what I had to drink (though it did not taste the greatest) but the amount I had to drink. I was asked to drink 3 450 mL bottles of Volumen. Near the end I started to feel sick because it was all just sitting in my stomach. I made it through 2 3/4 bottles and after seeing the images, the techs said that I drank more than enough. Also be aware, if you haven't had it before, the Volumen can give you diarrhea. But my pictures came out pretty cool! They ran a scan that is similair to a heart MRI where it shows the bowl moving like a mini movie!

Good luck with your MRI!

Well, its een a week since the MRI scan and I haven't heard anything yet, though they said it could take up to 2 week to come back....

The Klean prep shizz I had to take wasn't particulalrly nice and gave me diarrhoea for 4 days afterwards!! Though oddly i felt sooo much better after having my system cleaned out like that, in fact i felt healthier this last week since the scan than I have done in a long long time, perhaps my guts just hate having food in them Anyone else found this?!

Although I didnt know what to expect but I really quite enjoyed the experience, it was so easy, just lie in a tight space and breathe in a few times lol.... simples!!!

I'll report back when I get the results.

 

[lsgs]

Well, its een a week since the MRI scan and I haven't heard anything yet, though they said it could take up to 2 week to come back....

The Klean prep shizz I had to take wasn't particulalrly nice and gave me diarrhoea for 4 days afterwards!! Though oddly i felt sooo much better after having my system cleaned out like that, in fact i felt healthier this last week since the scan than I have done in a long long time, perhaps my guts just hate having food in them Anyone else found this?!

Although I didnt know what to expect but I really quite enjoyed the experience, it was so easy, just lie in a tight space and breathe in a few times lol.... simples!!!

I'll report back when I get the results.

Did you have to drink the Klean prep at the hospital or did you do it at home? They want me to drink it at 10am at the hospital and then go in the scanner at 11am. I'm scared I'm going to poop myself in the scanner!!

 

[JustAYoungLad]

I had my MRI scan at the end of may.

It must be different at each Hospital. My hospital in London only made me drink a cup of lactulose, about the same amount you would get in a coke can I would say. It made my stomach go into rumble mode, but settled down after eating.

No news yet, but you know what they say, no news is good news.

 

[niccj]

Hi. I have suffered with severe constipation for years with terrible abdo pain. In Feb this year I had my gallbladder out because of a large stone and for approx 8 weeks after I had constant diarrhea. I was admitted to hospital beginning of May this year because my joints all swelled up to the point my toes didnt touch the floor and I had to have my wedding ring cut off. I couldn't walk or use hands etc.Dr's initially thought it was an auto immune disease such as lupus but the ANA test came back negative but my stool sample came back with a high reading and so I was sent for OGD and flex sigmoidoscopy. The OGD showed gastritis and active bleeding in the stomach and the siggy showed '?? cobblestone mucosa which was quite extensive through the descending colon. I had biopsies taken from both scopes which came back normal. I was then sent for a colonoscopy (yesterday) and the Dr said there is now no ulceration at all in the large bowel or in the terminal ilieum. Now I'm waiting for an MRI of small bowel. Would it be possible that the stool test and the ulceration on siggy were caused because of the swelling (which I still don't know the cause of) or will this only happen with IBD?
it sounds silly but I was finally glad to be getting a diagnosis for all my problems even if it was IBD because I feel that people think I'm making up the pain and tiredness and vomiting etc but now i'm not sure whats going on. Grateful for any help.

 

[highlandsrock]

This is what I wrote down after my first MRI scan at St.Thomas' in London -

"I hadn't had an MRI scan before so wasn't sure what to expect. The main thing I'd been told was that some patients found the whole process claustrophobic. Because the scan was concentrating on the digestive system I wasn't allowed to eat for the 8 hours prior to the test and I was asked to arrive 1 hour early to drink a "special fluid". This fluid looked very much like wallpaper paste but was lemon flavoured. There was a litre to drink and as I got closer to the bottom of the jug the consistency was just like wallpaper paste. The nurse then put a cannula into my arm ready for the contrast dye to be introduced.

When the liquid had had time to move into my system I was taken into the scanner room. You're confronted with a large, ring doughnut shaped bit of kit with a trolley that slides in and out. I was asked to lie face down on the trolley with my arms above my head. Not the most comfortable position when you've just drunk a litre of liquid. The radiographer explains what to expect and tells you that at various points within the test process you will be asked to hold your breath. Didn't sound like a problem but you have to exhale first and that makes it a lot more difficult. After the first couple of attempts it gets easier. You are given a set of headphones to wear as the machine is "quite noisy". At least I didn't get claustrophobia as I went into the "tunnel" feet first.

She wasn't kidding about noisy. The best way I can describe it is being caught in the middle of a game of space invaders. The machine makes some very loud sounds and then, towards the end of the first test session, the table you are lying on starts to vibrate. A very strange feeling. The contrast dye is then introduced and the whole test sequence repeated.

When the tests were complete and I was off of the table the nurse asked me how I was getting home. I said by public transport. He replied that the litre of liquid I had drunk was specially formulated not to be absorbed by the body and that I might want to wait around a bit before catching a train. I then realised the significance of his comment!"

You'll be pleased to know that I made it home OK without any hint of having to rush off to the toilet. If you're really concerned about the prep then have a word with the MRI department a few days beforehand, I'm sure they will be able to put your mind at rest.