Colonoscopy question???

[Ihurt]

Hi everyone.

I have not been diagnosed with anything yet. I have been having intestinal issues for over a year now. My gastro doc seems sure I have IBS. I have not had any testing except for stool tests and blood work which was normal. My symptoms are pain all throughout my intestines. It is usually constant crampy pain with feeling of feeling like I have to go all the time ( though I usually only go once a day and sometimes once every other day). I just get that feeling like I always have to go. I do Not have diarrhea. My stools are usually normal to soft, but can sometimes be mixed soft and hard at the same time. Pain is my huge issue. Here is the thing. They say with IBS people are suppose to feel better after they have a BM. I feel WORSE after I go. I feel really crampy and sore all throughout my intestines after I go. i just feel sick and icky inside. I have tried a few different meds for IBS and nothing really helps or I get bad side effects and cannot take the meds. Anyhow, regular doctor thinks maybe I should have a colonoscopy just to see what is going on.

Here is the thing. I have other health issues. I have interstitial cystitis which is a painful baldder disease. Because of this disease I am VERY prone to getting UTI's. I have had to be on a low dose antibitoic ( keflex) for over 4 years now just to keep the infections at bay. I am very worried about the colonoscopy prep. I know you have to induce diarrhea in order to clean out. Obviously this is going to wipe out the good gut flora( even my regular doctor said this is true). I take high doses of probitoics daily, have been for years. But i am very concerned about wiping out any more gut flora( I am sure since being on a low dose antibitoic daily, it has wiped out many already). I am not sure how well these probitoics work, I mean they must be helping some, but I am worried about disturbing my gut flora further with this colon prep.

I will have to use the prep suprep. I am allergic to poylethelene glycol which is miralax which is in that gallon of junk they usually make you drink so I cannot take that one. I have read that some people ended up worse off than they were after drinking this stuff. I read where a few people ended up having severe diarrhea for weeks after drinking this prep and were never the same since. I do Not have the diarrhea now thankfully, but worry I can end up with it due to this prep. For me diarhea would be very bad. My urologist doctor said that I CANNOT get diarhea. It will complicate things with getting UTI's. He said that diarhea causes UTI's in women, eppecially women with IC. The bad thing for me is that I am allergic to most ALL of the antibitocs out there. This is why they put me on the low dose keflex( only one that I can take and I even get side effects to this one, have to be on zyrtec daily while on it).

Have any of you had to do the suprep and have been on antibitoics at the same time??? If so, did it make you worse after the prep and procedure? I am so very worried about this. I mean I really think I should get checked to make sure what is going on with my Gut. Any replies are greatly appreciated.

 

[Jennifer]

Sorry for the late reply but honestly you should have had the colonoscopy done already well before your IBS diagnosis. I've seen you on the forum for a while an I'm surprised you haven't had any real testing done. Boggles my mind. No matter what you need testing done. You're not going to wind up with diarrhea for the rest of your life. Your possible UTI can be treated but you'll never be able to get a real diagnosis for what's going on inside until you have more tests done. Even the forum wiki link to interstitial cystitis says that people who have it are 33 times more likely to have IBD.

 

[Ihurt]

Hey Crabby,

I am definitely getting the colonoscopy done. I am going to request it from my gastro when I see him in Nov. I think he was being reserved because of the whole UTI issue. See, I cannot really be treated even if I get a UTI. I am either severely allergic or have such severe adverse reactions to ALL the antibitoics that treat UTI's and cannot take them. This is where the problem is.

I have also read that women with IC also have a risk of IBD. The gastro also said that ones with IC also have like a 50% chance of having IBS too. But you are right, I really need to figure out what is going on here. I just wish it was not so complicated with the whole bladder issue.

Should I request they take biopsies when I have the colonoscopy, even if they cannot visibly see anything??? I mean if he see something, he will definitely take biopsies. But I have heard that if you are not in a flare, it wont show by looking. Is this true? I just want to make sure that this test is done right the first time around..

Thanks again for the reply.

 

[Jennifer]

They always take biopsies while they are in there. If an area looks suspicious then they take a few more. They also take biopsies from specific areas no matter what. If they see nothing with the naked eye, what they might see under the microscope can paint a whole different picture.

You can say something like, "you'll take some biopsies no matter what right?" if that will make you feel better but I've never heard of having a colonoscopy with no biopsies done. What would be the point of being in there? They don't just look, they take some samples.

 

[Ihurt]

Wow, thanks for telling me this, I appreciate it. I am pretty sure he told me when we talked about the colonoscopy on my last appt, that they only take biopsies during edoscopies if they see something to biopsy. I am absolutely going to insist that he take biopsies. I hate the whole waiting game though. I cant even get in to see him until Nov.7th. for an appt. But I am going to see if I can call his nurse and get in sooner. Then I will have to wait another couple weeks to even get the test. I also have to make sure I am not on my menstrual cycle as well.( I swell up horrible in my uterus when I have my period so it is to dangerous to do it during that week). I just hope I am still flaring when he does it. Now I am worried as some on here have posted that doing a colonoscopy while not in a flare will be useless, that it will give a false negative. Is this true??