Pill Cam for diagnosis?

[MissU]

Hello everyone!

I am a 21 year old female currently being "probed" for crohn's because of chronic constipation, a family history of ulcerative colitis (mom), joint pain, mouth ulcers, and flare ups where I get SEVERE stomach cramps with diarrhea that have me flat on my back. I wanted to ask you about using a pill cam for crohn's diagnosis, as I want to ask my doctor to do that instead of a colonoscopy (terrified of the prep!!! ). Do you think it is a valid way for diagnosing crohn's? My doctor is concerned that I have crohn's because I am very underweight, have low IGG and IGA levels, high MPV levels, and low vitamin D levels, and, according to two GI doctors, look unhealthy. My endoscopy that I just had to rule out Celiac's showed that I also have gastritis. I wouldn't be able to get the colonoscopy until December due to college and the GI doctor is yelling at me to get it sooner so I think the pill cam could be a viable option until then? I am also concerned that my GI doctor is overreacting with the Crohn's testing. I do have the family history and some of the symptoms, however I don't get fevers and have constipation with only rare diarrhea. What do you think?

 

[Tired]

The pill cam is usually for the small bowel, it does not replace colonoscopy, which is for the colon.

 

[MissU]

If I cannot gain weight, do you think it would be in the small intestine instead of the colon?

 

[kiny]

I wanted to ask you about using a pill cam for crohn's diagnosis, as I want to ask my doctor to do that instead of a colonoscopy (terrified of the prep!!! ). Do you think it is a valid way for diagnosing crohn's?

no, diagnosis is done with colonoscopy and biopsy

 

[Tired]

If I cannot gain weight, do you think it would be in the small intestine instead of the colon?

Not necessarly, most of my inflammation is on my colon, at worst I had only about 5 inch of inflammation on my terminal ileum. I lost weight like crazy before my first hospitalization.

Thing is that inflammation is heavy on the body, it is systemic. You really should have a colonoscopy.

 

[Jennifer]

Hi MissU and welcome to the forum!

To get a diagnosis for IBD you need biopsy results from a colonoscopy. A pill cam can be used to see the extent of the disease or damage if its needed (not a good test to have done if you have a stricture as it could get stuck which may require surgical removal). Also since you said you're afraid of the prep, sorry to disappoint but the pill cam usually requires prep and since you usually have constipation I don't see a GI letting you do it without any prep. The camera has to get clear images just like a scope needs.

If you do in fact have IBD I'd take it seriously as it does require treatment so if possible please try to have a colonoscopy much sooner. The prep usually takes a day (the end of the day) and so does the scope. So two days down max usually.

Take care and keep us posted.

 

[Riley]

I had the pill cam done but that was for a study not a diagnosis. If the doctor suspects you a stricture then it's not a good option at all. Plus I had to do the prep anyway which as everyone says, really is the worst part of the colonoscopy. I would say schedule the colonoscopy as soon as possible. Just get it over with.

 

[MissU]

Thank you everyone! Is there any type of prep that doesn't require you to drink gallons of liquid? I throw up so easily and can't even drink an entire can of pop without getting nauseous...

 

[Tired]

Sodium phosphate, but you have to drink a lot of water. It has more side effects though and has been implicated in kidney damage because some do not drink water as required. So what they often do is half peg half sodium phosphate

I know for a fact that the preparation is yuk, it's worst than colonoscopy itself.

 

[Ihurt]

I don't know, I used suprep for my prep for the colonoscopy and for me drinking that shit was easiest part of the whole thing. It was the nasty constant diarrhea that was the worst and how it inflamed my whole area down there..

I do know that I have read on here of some people who had the pill cam and they did not have to do the prep. You just go liquid diet for one day and then the next day you swallow the pill cam. It makes NO sense to even have to do prep since this thing is looking at your small intestines in my opinion. I think drinking A lot of water would clear out the small bowel alone. Maybe ask your GI doc about it. Maybe someone else will chime in that has had it done, but I do know some who have Not have to drink any prep.

Thank you everyone! Is there any type of prep that doesn't require you to drink gallons of liquid? I throw up so easily and can't even drink an entire can of pop without getting nauseous...

 

[radchic]

In Canada we have pico-salix. It is a packet of powder dissolved in 6-8 oz of water or gatorade. 2 doses 4 hrs apart the day before procedure. DH and DS say its the easiest prep.

 

[Jennifer]

Thank you everyone! Is there any type of prep that doesn't require you to drink gallons of liquid? I throw up so easily and can't even drink an entire can of pop without getting nauseous...

Best prep I've ever done is Suprep. Very little liquid to drink. http://www.suprepkit.com/ I only had to do half the prep myself (once you're running clear, output is the same as your input then you can stop drinking prep). With any of the preps that require you to drink very little prep, be sure to drink plenty of water.