Hi can you help me I have just come back from the hospital after my first appt. I had a camera look up my bum and the nurse said I just had piles and IBS I have looked at these symptoms and my syptoms and they are not the same. she said my bowel wasnt inflamed and the blleding was from really bad piles. This has been going on for 6 weeks I cant eat anything without urgently going to the toilet and having explosive D. I have bad stabbing pain in my left and right side. I just feel tierd and fed up. She has sent me for a x ray but it will be a while until I have it and thats it, They didnt tell what to do or how to cope and live my life with this even if it is IBS. My doctor thought it was crohns disease Im totally confused and fed up. Can a nurse really tell that I have IBS just with a 3 min look up my bum?
Im so depressed
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Captain Obvious
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Hey Egg - did they take biopsies
Hi Thanks for answering me I wasnt sedated and they took no biopsies she just took me into a room felt my tummy (I had to do an enima before I went.) I laid down she siad she was going to feel in side with her finger and then without telling me she then put a camera and air up my botttom. It was painful...... well very uncomfortable and she said she could see some inflamed piles( Hemmeroids )and then pushed on about another few inches said my intestines werent inflamed and I had IBS but need an xray at some point then sent me home.
imisspopcorn
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Did you have a Sigmoidoscopy? They can be done in the doctors office by a nurse practioner here in the U.S. If so, it only goes into the lower part of the colon.
My Colonoscopy has always been normal since my disease is in the small bowel. You can have piles causing the bleeding but the pain you are having is different. Can you follow up with the doctor? Maybe you need a CT scan to see whats going on in the small bowel.
My Colonoscopy has always been normal since my disease is in the small bowel. You can have piles causing the bleeding but the pain you are having is different. Can you follow up with the doctor? Maybe you need a CT scan to see whats going on in the small bowel.
My doctor did a full blood test thing and he said he thought with the results he thought it was crohns but this nurse asked me nothing at all. Thanks for your support and advice. I am actually feeling better in the last few days than I have felt in the last 6 weeks I have had headaches and fevers that have lasted 3 or 4 days. I have also had bad wee infections for weeks on end. Do they always just go for the IBS thing? It seems this is the easiest thing for them to do. My next step is this x ray with a barium enimia (rubbish at spelling) but the nurse said this was just procediure so Im not sure what to do next x I think it was a sigmoidoscopy but she never told me and I was just so shicked and scarred I was stupid enough not to ask doh!!!!
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Captain Obvious
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Ugh yeah, I was dx'd w/IBS for years. Didn't help that no one paid attention to me.
If you need to, get pushy, Egg!
If you need to, get pushy, Egg!
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I would certainly be pushing for a colonoscopy with biopsy, even just to rule it out. They do indeed love that old IBS dx, the IBS I "had" for 3 years magically turned into Crohn's -__-
hope you feel better soon egg.
Took them weeks to diagnose my wife with Crohn's, even though we had it diagnosed in a matter of hours from the internet articles. Then, after a year and a half, they scheduled a 2nd colonoscopy with another doc just to "make sure".
Sure is good.
There are a lot of things it could be - anything thing from IBS to ulcerative colitis to Crohn's to .... well.. you name it.
Good luck. And make sure they're sure.
Took them weeks to diagnose my wife with Crohn's, even though we had it diagnosed in a matter of hours from the internet articles. Then, after a year and a half, they scheduled a 2nd colonoscopy with another doc just to "make sure".
Sure is good.
There are a lot of things it could be - anything thing from IBS to ulcerative colitis to Crohn's to .... well.. you name it.
Good luck. And make sure they're sure.
Trysha
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Proper exams
A nurse is not qualified to make a diagnosis of Crohn's, you need a properly qualified GI consultant., and at least a colonoscopy.You should also have blood tests.
I was appalled when I read your post.
Talk firmly to your doctor and insist on referral to a GI specialist Your doc has the necessary pull to do this.
Trouble with the NHS is money not spent in the right direction.
Your symptoms appear to coincide with inflammatory bowel disease and Likely Crohn's.
Don't put up with it, it could be very detrimental to your outlook.
annsplash
It would appear that you have received less than optimal treatment.egg said:
A nurse is not qualified to make a diagnosis of Crohn's, you need a properly qualified GI consultant., and at least a colonoscopy.You should also have blood tests.
I was appalled when I read your post.
Talk firmly to your doctor and insist on referral to a GI specialist Your doc has the necessary pull to do this.
Trouble with the NHS is money not spent in the right direction.
Your symptoms appear to coincide with inflammatory bowel disease and Likely Crohn's.
Don't put up with it, it could be very detrimental to your outlook.
annsplash
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annsplash said:
I'd like to stick up for the NHS here as, although they took a year to diagnose my Crohn's, every single person that I dealt with has been brilliant. Will also add that prior to my colonoscopy, I had a Sigmoidoscopy when I had my first consultation with my GI specialist. He said it was more likely ulcerative colitis, but it prompted him to book me in for a colonoscopy.
Having said that, I was misdiagnosed by my GP twice - first with a peptic ulcer and then the classic IBS. It was only when I was losing a lot of blood and weight that he realised that something else might be afoot - even though my Mother has Crohn's and he's her doctor too!
I do agree with everything else said though - but I found it difficult to be assertive without sounding too pushy when trying to convince your GP you need to see a consultant.
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Regular Joe
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Hi Egg.
Sorry you're having pain and depression. I understand what that's about.
My regular family doctor ruled out IBS based on my colonoscopy. He said the issue is "inflammation". He said there is some kind of "inflammatory process" going on in my small intestine. Because he's not a GI specialist, he won't say one way or the other if what I have is Crohn's. But he's confident it's some kind of "inflamatory bowel disease" (IBD).
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a "black box" type of diagnosis when doctors can't find a source of "inflammation", but you have the symptoms. Once the doctors determine you have an inflammation in your upper or lower bowel, then that rules out IBS. If you have an inflammation in your stomach or esophagus, they'll usually diagnose that as an "ulcer", which would also rule out IBS.
You described symptoms that could be an infection, virus, or bowel inflammation. The fever and bladder infection makes me curious. You should request a colonoscopy and what they call here an "upper GI" set of X-rays, and another procedure they call a "small bowel follow-through" which is what they might be giving you the barium for (you drink it and they follow the barium through your stomach and small intestine taking X-rays every 15 minutes).
The bladder infection might be giving you a fever. You named a lot of symptoms, but they'll have to figure out where the fever is coming from or determine if you have an infection. If you said your regular doctor said you might have Crohn's, and he looked at your blood tests, that means he maybe found an "elevated white cell" blood count which means there is some kind of inflammatory process going on, and your immune system is going after it. They usually test for bacterial infections with the blood testing and they rule out certain things like "Celiac's Disease" or C-diff or other kinds of identifiable illnesses. Your regular doctor probably couldn't find any other reason for your symptoms in your blood work so maybe he guessed at IBD (Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis)?
If a person who has a Crohn's diagnosis has an elevated white blood cell count, and they have the bowel symptoms you describe, it usually means there is a "flare" going on (a flare means an "active inflammation" in the bowel). It's all tied to our immune system.
None of us can really know what your doctor saw that made him think of Crohn's Disease, and it would be wrong for anyone not in your shoes to second guess him. I do know from experience it is better to deal with a specialist rather than a Nurse Practitioner.
Also, because of the swine flu pandemic, and AIDS, and other contagious diseases going around, my bet is that your medical people in UK want to rule out anything which could be contagious. You could have a rare infectious disease that isn't showing up or it could be IBD. Neither is easy to diagnose. Crohn's in the small intestine is especially tedious (time consuming) to diagnose, and involves going through many expensive medical procedures. The symptoms many of us have with small intestine Crohn's flare-ups are almost identical to Malaria. I wouldn't fault the medical system just yet, but it does help to be "pushy" so they can get all the testing done quickly and prescribe some kind of treatment to make you feel better.
The best way to work through this, at least it's been that way for me, is to be your own advocate. Get information about your symptoms and ask your doctors many questions. Don't stop asking questions until you get anwswers that satisfy you. Have someone go with you to your medical tests and visits. Show them that you want to take charge of your life and your health. They won't fault you for that.
Good luck and God bless you.
Joseph
Sorry you're having pain and depression. I understand what that's about.
My regular family doctor ruled out IBS based on my colonoscopy. He said the issue is "inflammation". He said there is some kind of "inflammatory process" going on in my small intestine. Because he's not a GI specialist, he won't say one way or the other if what I have is Crohn's. But he's confident it's some kind of "inflamatory bowel disease" (IBD).
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a "black box" type of diagnosis when doctors can't find a source of "inflammation", but you have the symptoms. Once the doctors determine you have an inflammation in your upper or lower bowel, then that rules out IBS. If you have an inflammation in your stomach or esophagus, they'll usually diagnose that as an "ulcer", which would also rule out IBS.
You described symptoms that could be an infection, virus, or bowel inflammation. The fever and bladder infection makes me curious. You should request a colonoscopy and what they call here an "upper GI" set of X-rays, and another procedure they call a "small bowel follow-through" which is what they might be giving you the barium for (you drink it and they follow the barium through your stomach and small intestine taking X-rays every 15 minutes).
The bladder infection might be giving you a fever. You named a lot of symptoms, but they'll have to figure out where the fever is coming from or determine if you have an infection. If you said your regular doctor said you might have Crohn's, and he looked at your blood tests, that means he maybe found an "elevated white cell" blood count which means there is some kind of inflammatory process going on, and your immune system is going after it. They usually test for bacterial infections with the blood testing and they rule out certain things like "Celiac's Disease" or C-diff or other kinds of identifiable illnesses. Your regular doctor probably couldn't find any other reason for your symptoms in your blood work so maybe he guessed at IBD (Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis)?
If a person who has a Crohn's diagnosis has an elevated white blood cell count, and they have the bowel symptoms you describe, it usually means there is a "flare" going on (a flare means an "active inflammation" in the bowel). It's all tied to our immune system.
None of us can really know what your doctor saw that made him think of Crohn's Disease, and it would be wrong for anyone not in your shoes to second guess him. I do know from experience it is better to deal with a specialist rather than a Nurse Practitioner.
Also, because of the swine flu pandemic, and AIDS, and other contagious diseases going around, my bet is that your medical people in UK want to rule out anything which could be contagious. You could have a rare infectious disease that isn't showing up or it could be IBD. Neither is easy to diagnose. Crohn's in the small intestine is especially tedious (time consuming) to diagnose, and involves going through many expensive medical procedures. The symptoms many of us have with small intestine Crohn's flare-ups are almost identical to Malaria. I wouldn't fault the medical system just yet, but it does help to be "pushy" so they can get all the testing done quickly and prescribe some kind of treatment to make you feel better.
The best way to work through this, at least it's been that way for me, is to be your own advocate. Get information about your symptoms and ask your doctors many questions. Don't stop asking questions until you get anwswers that satisfy you. Have someone go with you to your medical tests and visits. Show them that you want to take charge of your life and your health. They won't fault you for that.
Good luck and God bless you.
Joseph
Thanks for all your kind thoughts and great info. Shantel you were asking about the urine infections the nurse took a sample which she said was a urine infection however when the sample was sent to the labs it didnt grow anything they gave me antibiotics both times but neither time they could or could not confirm a infection the symptoms were like an infection difficulty passing urine and burning. My doctor referd me to this nurse specialist yesterday he didnt do any examination he thought it was chrones just from the things I told him. He rushed through the apptionment I had yeaterday because he was concerned about the symptoms. It was the specialist nurse that said it was nothing other than IBS. When I got home last night my stomach was in so much pain yet she said I had no inflamation it was angry time she had finished with it. I am trying not to eat fibre as she said that was the thing to do. I had read that porridge and things were good for chrones however she says as I have just IBS dont eat fibre its all very confusing. Anyway Im going to the doctor on friday and see what he says about what teh nurse said. I am starting to think maybe its all in my head this nurse said IBS is down to stress and I am worried now that Ive done this to my self some how. My symptoms seem so real to me but I am starting to think im making it up. The apin and the constant trip to the toilet cant be made up im sure of it. !!!! Thanks again everyone x
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seaofdreams said:
Same for me.
Hi Egg, hope you're doing ok? I just wanted to say that in the UK, the NICE guidelines don't make it at all easy for a person with inflammatory bowel disease to reach a diagnosis. I was fobbed off with the IBS explanation for ages. I repeatedly presented at my GP's surgery every few days for months on end. I lost so much weight I looked like walking bones but because I didn't have blood in my D, & because I'm relatively young, I didn't fit in with the NICE guidelines ticky box style criteria for a gastroenterology referral. I ended up paying for a private consultation with a gastro consultant, just to get the wheels in motion (cost around £200). This led to the diagnostic tests (sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy with biopsies & barium meal). I believe that you have to be quite pushy to get the right help unfortunately. Well that's definately been my experience anyway. For me it got to the point where I was under 6 stones in weight & my partner & I felt that we had no choice but to pay to not be fobbed off. Keep your chin up Egg. I know it's hard.
Love.
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You guys need to come to Australia, as soon as I mentioned my symptoms, my doctor happily referred me to the local GI and everything happened really quickly from there.
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Captain Obvious
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Yup, lots of great stuff going on with my old bladder...
Feel free to PM me, Egg!
As Shan said, don't start to believe you're making it up or it's all in your head.
Feel free to PM me, Egg!
As Shan said, don't start to believe you're making it up or it's all in your head.
