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I have no idea what those numbers mean, Cat, but hopefully your doctor will get back to you soon. It's nerve-wracking not getting a response when you don't know what your results mean.
 
Thanks, Izzie. My GI got back to me early this morning (he always responds to me at such odd times, once he called me at like 9 PM on a Saturday night). He said I'm definitely anemic and I do need iron infusions, but he can't order them so my GP has to. He's sending the information over to my GP. So, I heard back, but I'm also still waiting. :p I just want to get the infusions started. I really just want to feel less fatigued.

I also talked to my mother yesterday about this stuff. She's not a medical professional but she is knowledgeable about anemia. I told her my numbers, and she said that's dangerously low. Great. I figured it was low, but I wasn't sure if it was "low but okay" or "low and not okay". I guess this means I'm not okay. I want to get the infusions started soon! Hopefully my GP responds quickly as well, I left him a message right after I heard back from my GI.
 
Hopefully you'll get some energy back once you get started on the infusions! I can't take iron tablets either, they make my stomach act up something crazy. Might end up having to have shots or something too, depending on how my blood work comes back. I'll find out in the next week I guess.
 
There are iron injections, but apparently they can be pretty painful. Infusions from an IV are the way that iron seems to be administered nowadays as that's not painful. It just takes longer, it sounds like it can take an hour or two. Which is fine, I talked to my boss and I told her I might need to take a bit of time away from work here and there for iron infusions, and she just wants me to feel better (she's seriously a nice boss and is really understanding about my health issues) so she was totally fine with that. So yeah, it's looking like I'll have some iron infusions as soon as my GP can get them ordered.

Yeah, the iron tablets are horrible on my stomach! I'm not sure why but that seems like a pretty common complaint. And I don't really eat red meat, I don't do beef nor pork. I only rarely have something like lamb or venison although I do eat chicken, turkey, and fish pretty regularly. But things like beef and spinach are the foods that are highest in iron, and I just can't have those. So no tablets and my diet doesn't allow for much iron, so add that together with all the bleeding I've had this year and it doesn't equal good things. I hope your bloodwork is better than mine, Izzie. But it does sound like the infusions are relatively easy to have, so if you do need the infusions too, it shouldn't be too bad.
 
Okay, today I learned my lesson the hard way once again. I've had a good GERD week.

So today, I had a coffee. No big, I thought. I had a croissant, thought hey, this'll be fine. Had tea with lemon in it. And then I had half a box of spicy chai-flavored mints... And now I'm out of Gaviscon at 3 in the morning with the WORST reflux episode I've had to date. I am BURNING UP from the inside this is horrible.
 
Oh man, Izzie, that sucks. I hope you were able to get things calmed down somehow. And I thought I was pushing my luck yesterday GERD-wise because I had one piece of chocolate and a tiny amount of spaghetti sauce in the same day (I did need an extra ranitidine just for that). Hope you are doing better today. Is this the week that you get back your x-ray results? I hope those results come back soon!
 
Cat-a-Tonic said:
Oh man, Izzie, that sucks. I hope you were able to get things calmed down somehow. And I thought I was pushing my luck yesterday GERD-wise because I had one piece of chocolate and a tiny amount of spaghetti sauce in the same day (I did need an extra ranitidine just for that). Hope you are doing better today. Is this the week that you get back your x-ray results? I hope those results come back soon!
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Well I only have myself to blame. Sometimes I think hey, it's passed, I can go back to normal now, only to overload my system completely and get back to square one.

Did manage to calm it down with extra meds, chamomille tea and crackers, but had black stools this morning :shifty:

Test results are coming in tomorrow! I'm nervous about it, I must say.
 
I do that too, both with the guts and the GERD. When I start to feel pretty well, I'm like, hey, I'm good now! I can eat whatever I want with no consequences! And then I do that and of course experience consequences. That's what set off my bleeding back in March, in fact. I was feeling really well, I was doing so great that I got really cocky about what I could eat. I decided to try a high-fiber whole grain cereal. So yeah, that felt like it was shredding my insides and I then bled for a month straight and have had off-again on-again bleeding ever since, and now I need iron infusions because of the severe anemia. So yeah, lesson learned there! I still sometimes get cocky about what I can eat, though, and think that I can eat things that I can't. Or sometimes I'll just get lazy about it and I'll be like, screw it, I'm having pizza, I know I'll have consequences but I don't care.
 
As long as you don't put yourself in actual DANGER I figure some cheating here and there is probably part of life.

Speaking of iron and anemia though, I used to be a vegetarian when I was younger, then got lazy and went back to eating... well all kinds of crap really. And lately I've been feeling like I really want to go back to my old veggie ways but now I'm concerned about nutrients and my anemia and whether or not that's just the worst idea ever?

I'm not saying I need to be a vegetarian 100% again, really, I just really want to cut back on my meat consumption for ethical and environmental reasons, but I still want to put my health first. Is there a consensus on how much meat/fish/poultry one should eat to ensure adequate nutrition when it comes to things that only really exist in high enough quanitites in animal protein? Iron, B12 etc.? And are soy products just the worst? Any info any of you have would be very much appreciated.
 
Izzie, I take a B12 supplement every day. Without taking a B12 tablet, my levels seem to drop too low, I can't seem to get or absorb enough from my everyday diet. And obviously I don't get enough iron in my diet - my last bleeding episode was 2 months ago and I'm still dangerously anemic so that obviously isn't working out so well. So, it's really hard for me to say. I'd say that it's probably fine to adopt a veggie or less meat diet IF you take supplements as well. That's just my non-expert opinion based on my experience of course.

I think there are still mixed opinions out there with regards to soy products. For what it's worth, I consume soy regularly and it doesn't seem to affect me. I use a soy-based protein & vitamin powder in my morning smoothies - I can't do whey protein, and it was hard to find another protein/vitamin powder that didn't have carrageenan in it (carrageenan is a "natural" food additive that's been shown to cause UC in lab rats, so I do try to avoid it as I don't want to make myself worse). So I consume soy just about every day and I haven't noticed any correlation between it and my symptoms.

I do eat chicken, fish, and turkey pretty regularly (at least a few times a week). I also eat a fair amount of eggs. So I'm definitely getting protein, I just have a hard time with the vitamin side of things and I take a bunch of supplements (calcium, magnesium, D3, B6, B12, Biotin, potassium).

If you want to try a specific diet without supplementing just to see how you do, then it'd probably be best to get your vitamin levels checked now, then do the diet for a few months and get your levels checked again. That way you can see if anything is dropping too low.
 
Best of luck to everyone this week. I'm feeling pretty good today, though I'm still in a weird constipation cycle.

Today I got a bunch of test results in the mail. Mostly they don't seem to show anything, but there is this for the biopsies that were taken from my rectum:

"The biopsies show surface mucin depletion and flattening, consistent with healing injury. These features are non-specific, and the differential diagnosis includes local trauma, such as from sterocoral injury. Diagnostic features of chronic mucosal injury or acute colitis are not seen. Clinical correlation advised."

So I guess this means what I was told by the GI doctor: That the redness she saw in the biopsy was caused by the prep itself. Does it make a difference that I started having constipation problems before I took any prep? (That's why the prep didn't fully clean me out, I think.)

I guess I'll just have to wait for colonoscopy number two and hope they can see my full colon there. But it does seem a bit odd to me that my GI is so sure that the abnormalities were just an effect of the prep. I've seen the pictures of my rectum and they don't look normal.
 
Cat you do know that proton pump inhibitors block iron absorption? It is probably your reflux meds that have caused low iron rather than bleeding two months ago.

Did you get your haemoglobin results too? You can be severely iron deficient without being anaemic (which isn't as bad).
 
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Hey all, sorry for my inactivity for the past few days - I have been on holiday again - before I go away again in 3 days time! How is everybody?

I've decided I am getting better. I have a few twinges, and I do think it is highly unlikely that I have IBD. My GI sent me a copy of his report and he does suspect IBS because of my test results, but because of my symptoms, he is putting me through the other testing.

I had to taper up my antidepressants yesterday, and I am currently sat at my desk, feeling extremely nauseous! I just want this to pass! I think I may have to start taking all of my dose at night rather than 1 in the morning and 1 at night!
 
Lorikeetie, back in August my hemoglobin was okay (12.5). My MCV was a bit low at 78 which was concerning to my GI. Yeah, I know that reflux meds can mess with all sorts of things, but my GI didn't seem concerned about that aspect. I can't come off of my reflux meds anyway, that would just be horrible, so I have to stay on those but I also need to get my iron up. So iron infusions seems like the best solution.

Kelleh, glad to hear you're doing better. And I'm also glad you're still going to have testing just to be sure. If it were me, I'd want to have tests done to rule out other possibilities before I accepted an IBS diagnosis. (I can't remember, have you tried IBS meds? Do you respond to them?) And holy cow, you take a lot of vacations! Where are you headed to next? I've been planning my Japan vacation with my mom, we're going to spend 3 weeks there in the spring and we'll mainly be in Tokyo and Kyoto. It's going to be amazing.

CatLady, I don't know the answer to your question about inflammation & constipation, but I wish you a lot of luck with your upcoming colonoscopy and I hope that does give you the answers you're looking for. Do you have the colonoscopy scheduled? I hope it isn't too far off in the future.
 
Cat, I'm also glad but I don't think I will learn why I was so ill for so long. I know I have twinges etc. now, but they're not as bad as I think it is just going to be 'IBS'. I've tried IBS meds and not responded to any of them. Maybe I just didn't use them long enough? Either way, they never helped me at my worst.

I have taken all of my vacations at the end of the year. I am going away on Friday! This will be my 3rd out of 4 holidays! My friend is actually going to Japan at Christmas! It sounds amazing, he was telling me about where he has booked to go. Hope you have fun out there!
 
So I got my results back from the barium x-ray, and eh... nada. All normal.

My GP agreed though that this does NOT mean that there's nothing wrong and the logical next step is a pH test, which she can't order, a GI has to, and my GI is a jerk. Also my awesome wonderful GP who believes me is quitting her job.

Sooo yeah. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, again. Either have to take up a discussion with the GI OR demand a transfer (which is my legal right, but what a pain to have to argue).

ETA: On a positive note, which my doctor wanted to emphasise, since I pretty much definitely have reflux, it's good that it's not severe enough to have caused so much damage that it shows up on images (like scarring, strictures, MASSIVE hernia etc.)
 
Oh, Izzie, that sucks that your wonderful doctor is quitting! :( She's completely quitting, like, she won't be a doctor at all anymore? What a bummer to lose a good doctor and to have to basically start all over with a new unknown doctor who may or may not be good, that's a nightmare. Sorry to hear about the normal test result as well - I agree that it doesn't mean that nothing is wrong, it just means this test didn't find it and more tests are needed. I really hope you can get the pH impedance test one way or another. I guess the logical thing would be to try your awful GI one more time, and if he won't order the test, then argue to switch to a new GI who hopefully will order the pH test. (Is that awful GI still in the process of ordering the pill cam for you? Or is that not happening?)

Kelleh, 4 holidays in a row, I'm jealous! I don't get to take vacations very often. For one thing, my annual allotment of vacation days and sick days at work are lumped together, and I usually end up using most of them as sick days. So I don't end up with a lot of time to take vacations, and I don't have a lot of money either thanks to medical bills (and other things, like the fact that my hubby only works part-time). So yeah, I'm jealous! You'll have to let me know how your friend's trip to Japan goes. I've heard that the toilets there are amazing. :p Like, heated seats and bidets and all sorts of fancy technological stuff. The food looks amazing too and Japanese food is really easy on my stomach - sushi, rice, soy, miso, seafood, noodles, etc are all very tummy friendly for me, so I know I'm going to stuff my face at every opportunity. ;) I'll be walking around a lot though too, so hopefully I won't gain too much weight from all the eating I'll be doing. I'm going in the spring so I'm going to see the sakura (cherry blossoms), it's going to be the trip of a lifetime for sure. I'm so excited!

How's everyone feeling today? I'm doing okay. My energy level is a bit up. I have had a stressful day at work, there's a big meeting tomorrow and I have had to help one of the big managers prepare for it (I do a lot of spreadsheets at work so I did some spreadsheets for her for the meeting). Fortunately she loved the work I did and she gave me lots of praise today, that felt really nice to get thanked for my work. So that was a bit of a boost. I did go to the gym yesterday but it went badly - I guess I'm still not quite over this cold/cough, as I had significantly less lung capacity than normal and I was coughing and out of breath a lot, and the iron deficiency also surely isn't helping as I didn't have a lot of energy in the gym and everything was really slow-going. It was a train wreck of a workout. :p So I'm back to resting for a bit longer rather than exercising. It's frustrating but it's what my body needs, and I am feeling better today than yesterday, so I'm hopeful that things will continue to improve. Still waiting on my GP to get back to me about the iron infusions, though, getting slightly grumpy about having to wait like this.
 
Cat-a-Tonic said:
Oh, Izzie, that sucks that your wonderful doctor is quitting! :( She's completely quitting, like, she won't be a doctor at all anymore? What a bummer to lose a good doctor and to have to basically start all over with a new unknown doctor who may or may not be good, that's a nightmare. Sorry to hear about the normal test result as well - I agree that it doesn't mean that nothing is wrong, it just means this test didn't find it and more tests are needed. I really hope you can get the pH impedance test one way or another. I guess the logical thing would be to try your awful GI one more time, and if he won't order the test, then argue to switch to a new GI who hopefully will order the pH test. (Is that awful GI still in the process of ordering the pill cam for you? Or is that not happening?)

Kelleh, 4 holidays in a row, I'm jealous! I don't get to take vacations very often. For one thing, my annual allotment of vacation days and sick days at work are lumped together, and I usually end up using most of them as sick days. So I don't end up with a lot of time to take vacations, and I don't have a lot of money either thanks to medical bills (and other things, like the fact that my hubby only works part-time). So yeah, I'm jealous! You'll have to let me know how your friend's trip to Japan goes. I've heard that the toilets there are amazing. :p Like, heated seats and bidets and all sorts of fancy technological stuff. The food looks amazing too and Japanese food is really easy on my stomach - sushi, rice, soy, miso, seafood, noodles, etc are all very tummy friendly for me, so I know I'm going to stuff my face at every opportunity. ;) I'll be walking around a lot though too, so hopefully I won't gain too much weight from all the eating I'll be doing. I'm going in the spring so I'm going to see the sakura (cherry blossoms), it's going to be the trip of a lifetime for sure. I'm so excited!

How's everyone feeling today? I'm doing okay. My energy level is a bit up. I have had a stressful day at work, there's a big meeting tomorrow and I have had to help one of the big managers prepare for it (I do a lot of spreadsheets at work so I did some spreadsheets for her for the meeting). Fortunately she loved the work I did and she gave me lots of praise today, that felt really nice to get thanked for my work. So that was a bit of a boost. I did go to the gym yesterday but it went badly - I guess I'm still not quite over this cold/cough, as I had significantly less lung capacity than normal and I was coughing and out of breath a lot, and the iron deficiency also surely isn't helping as I didn't have a lot of energy in the gym and everything was really slow-going. It was a train wreck of a workout. :p So I'm back to resting for a bit longer rather than exercising. It's frustrating but it's what my body needs, and I am feeling better today than yesterday, so I'm hopeful that things will continue to improve. Still waiting on my GP to get back to me about the iron infusions, though, getting slightly grumpy about having to wait like this.
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Well basically, my GP (and myself, tbh) don't think the pill cam is a priority? And the wait is so darn long that I'm just like hey lets do the pH thing FIRST because the reflux is what bothers me most right now. But no. So yes the pill cam is happening but it's the least relevant of the two and he won't order a pH test.

Bottom line I don't think I want a doctor who straight up says that he thinks I'm making a mountain out of a molehill and it's just psychosomatic. When they DO find the problem I'll need treatment and I don't want it to be from him....
 
Colonoscopy is scheduled for Dec. 15. Not that far away, but I'm antsy about it. I'm teaching my own course for the first time this quarter, and that eats up a lot of my energy. Maybe the GI stuff really is rooted in stress.

For the past few days I've had what I think is tenesmus. I feel like I have to go all of the time, but when I go to the bathroom I can't actually pass anything. Over the past four days I've only had one small piece of poop tonight, and that was after drinking lots of Miralex, which is what my GI suggested. If this continues I may try to see if I can get an appointment with her sooner, which she told me to do if the Miralex didn't work.
 
Sorry to hear that Izzie! It sucks when the person that does believe in you walks away from their job! I'm sure you may be able to find somebody else though that will also believe you. If your GI refuses, you do need to put yourself through the stress of finding somebody else, or you'll be stressing out at your current GI and thus stressing for longer and making everything worse!

Oh that sucks! I rarely have sick days, and my manager is letting me have the day off without booking it off as annual leave next Friday for when I go to my colonoscopy.

Those toilets sound amazing, especially for people like us! I'll make sure I get you the low down of how his holiday goes! I know he's flying to Tokyo the first day and staying there, but they are actually travelling quite far around the country! I'll have to find out for you what else he is doing. :)

In answer to your 'how you doing' - I'm doing weirdly. :p Mentally is weird anyway. My OH upset me today so I've had a good cry already, but at the same time, I'm now OK. I tapered up my antidepressant yesterday and it's surprising how quickly it affects you! Also, stomach pain soreness is coming back. I've upped my fibre as I keep feeling so blocked up. Let's see how this goes. Only one more week until I go and have a small little camera shoved up my backside!
 
Izzie, that makes sense that you don't want the awful GI treating you. So now you'll be having a new GP and a new GI - hopefully both are good! It sounds like it can't get much worse than your current GI. Let us know what happens, hopefully the new doctors are both good and you can get the pH test done soon.

CatLady, I don't think stress is necessarily the cause, but it can definitely exacerbate symptoms. As for your energy being sapped, have you had your vitamin levels checked lately? If you have low D3, B12, iron, etc that can all cause lower energy (and all of those deficiencies are common with IBD), so it could be a reasonably easy fix if it just requires supplementing. Presuming you do have IBD, that itself can also cause energy drain. The body is both causing and fighting the inflammation, so it's essentially doing double duty and that takes a lot of energy just by itself. If you can get diagnosed and treat the cause, your energy levels should improve.

Kelleh, you said you increased your fiber intake - is it soluble or insoluble fiber? For me, soluble is okay in small doses but insoluble hurts and causes me nothing but trouble. Insoluble is what seems to cause me to bleed, it's what set off my bleeding back in March. Anyway, be careful with fiber, although I know you're trying to make yourself worse for your scope but don't make yourself so bad that it affects you for months.

I'm flying in to Tokyo as well! Direct flight from Chicago to Tokyo. We're mostly staying in the Tokyo area, but we'll be going to Kyoto for a bit and also to Mt. Fuji. We discussed travelling around more, but Japan is a surprisingly huge country - in US terms, if you were to travel from the north of Japan to the south, it'd be like travelling from Maine to Florida. That's a very long distance, so yeah, we aren't going to travel around a ton because it's a deceptively large (or at least long) country.

I'm curious, does your friend speak any Japanese? I only know a handful of words & phrases and I can't read Japanese (I've tried learning but I failed, ha ha) so I'm curious to know about the language barrier for English speakers in Japan. If your friend doesn't speak much/any Japanese, can you please ask him after his trip if he ran into any difficulties in terms of the language barrier. Thanks! :)
 
I've actually upped my soluble by quite a bit, but it's a mixture of the 2. I am not at the moment trying to make myself worse for my scope, but more a matter of trying to make this constipation go away! I just can't seem to get a sensible formed stool. Today has been a horrific day anyway, and I have just about had enough of it. I'm literally letting my eating disorder take hold of me today to take me away from everything else. :( I've binged on so much, and yes it irritated my bowel to help me go a bit more (but it was mostly tenesmus), but I wiped away a lot of mucus. Probably due to constipation. I can't find much on excess mucus, I have a lot of it recently.

He hasn't learned any Japanese. He is just chucking himself into the deep end I think! He said he'll learn simple phrases, just to say thank you etc. but he said the learning the characters etc. is a lot to learn in just a couple of months. (He only decided to go about 2 weeks ago). But yes, I will ask him! He seems to think Tokyo will be fine for the English speaking, but venturing out into the countryside may be a little harder with the language barrier.
 
Kelleh, the thing about mucus is, everyone - even healthy people - have mucus in their bowels. It helps the stool slide through. Excessive mucus doesn't necessarily mean anything, and the body can even produce excessive gut mucus if you have seasonal allergies (there are histamine receptors in the gut - it's oddly similar to the sinuses). So yeah, excessive mucus doesn't really indicate anything and it can happen with IBD, IBS, or to healthy people.

Wow, your friend is more brave than I am! I'm trying to learn some words & phrases, but I do agree on the written part. Written Japanese is so hard - there's basically 3 different written languages, and although 2 of them kinda sorta have an alphabet, the 3rd one does not and it just requires memorizing thousands of written characters - and you need to learn all 3 in order to be able to read Japanese. So yeah, I tried learning the two that kinda have alphabets, but even those are pretty difficult and I just couldn't get it. Honestly I kind of wish I was going to Korea instead - I can read Korean, it has a proper alphabet and it was easy to teach myself to read Korean. Written Japanese is so much more difficult than Korean! So I hope your friend is right, I hope there's a lot of English (at least in writing) in the bigger cities. Because I might be able to ask some basic questions but I cannot read it.
 
Fair enough, it just seems to be me wiping a lot of it away, not actually in stool! It's just odd. I just give up with my different symptoms. They are pretty annoying. :) Let's see what happens next week! Just finding this all a little depressing on top of everything else.

There are 3 alphabets (or whatever they call them) or so I believe? One of them is one given to children when they first start in education, but then the others become much more complex. Well, that's what I understood from what he told me.

Have you ever seen some of the 'Engrish' posts? There's Asian characters, and then they've translated the English underneath and it's always very bad grammar etc. It always does make me chuckle - but you do tend to get the gist of what they are trying to say!
 
Kelleh, yeah, Hiragana is the version of written Japanese that schoolchildren learn first. It's very swirly, like every single written character is so swirly that it just confuses me! Katakana is probably the easiest one to me, because it's not so swirly and it's easier to differentiate the various characters - Katakana is mainly used for writing foreign non-Japanese words (like I know the Japanese word for taxi is takushi, so that would be written in Katakana since it's a word they took from English). Kanji is the insane one where you have to memorize thousands of individual written characters. I have an American friend who lives in Japan and it took him something like 10 years to learn Kanji well enough to read a book in Japanese, and that's with him being immersed in the culture every day and studying every day. So yeah, if it took him that long, that means I'll never ever learn Kanji. :p I might be able to learn Katakana, Hiragana is looking doubtful, and Kanji is just not happening.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll see a lot of Engrish over there. I find that stuff to be pretty funny so I'm sure I'll take photos of it! A lot of people over there do speak some English (my American friend teaches English to high school students, it seems like it's a pretty popular subject to study) but yeah, sometimes the grammar isn't great or things just get completely lost in translation. :p
 
It fascinates me and when I was younger, I'd have loved to learn it, because of my love of watching anime and most were all Japanese with English subtitles. When somebody speaks it, it sounds AWESOME! Seems that most foreign countries all learn English in school.

I love lost in translation - so make sure you share!

Weird new symptom... Well not weird and guessing it's a cause for alarm! I had that horrible stitch in my left hand side I get in colon area rather than say a runners stitch, but I decided to run through it. Got home, needed toilet. Poop still kind of pellet-y, but it was surrounded by reddish/brown water! I'm guessing I'm bleeding, judging by the cramps I'm getting! Weirdly I didn't wipe any blood, or anything actually, so maybe I imagined it?! [emoji23]
 
Hello everyone, been a bit quiet of late as trying to get things back on track from a personal perspective. Anyway, I continue to have symptoms that come and go, especially around the digestive part. I continue to mange all my fistula's and they are generally behaving themselves, although in the last week with increased daily bowel movements, they are starting to play up!!! I am now seeing a GI specialist and I have had the following back yesterday post a gastroscopy:

1. Diffuse mildly erythematous mucosa in the gastric body
Biopsies were taken from here and my duodenum.

2. Early blood work back has one particular marker where I am ASCA Positive / p-ANCA Negative. ASCA IgA levels reads 17 U/ml (should be <10 U/ml) ASCA IgG reads 3 U/ml.

3. There are also some other blood markers apparently but I can't remember them.

I am awaiting faecal calprotectin results (along with the biopsy results) and the GI has instructed me to undertake a Pill Cam next week.

So all in all I'm not sure where this leaves me right now. GI says it points towards Crohn's but he is still reluctant to formally diagnose. Putting the jigsaw parts together is a phrase he used today!

I'm back in to see my CRS today for next plan steps around the 2 Setons I have in place. It's all rock and roll here!!!!


I still continue to have joint and muscle aches, particularly my hips, feet and knees. I also suffer with very loose stools (some with blood seeping from them when observed in the toilet - thinking it might be the fistula's tbh) and abdominal pains across my middle, left and right that radiates around to my back.


Anyway, anyone that can help interpret the above today for me and give me any further guidance would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
 
Kelleh, did you possibly eat anything recently that was red in color? Or anything that may have had red food coloring in it? It could have been blood, it's possible to pass blood without having any on the TP when you wipe. It's hard to say but I'm glad you're having that scope soon, hopefully that will figure out the cause if it is indeed bleeding. For what it's worth, sometimes exercise will make me bleed, in particular bicycling a long distance will sometimes cause me to form a new internal bleeding hemmie. You said that you were running when the pain happened? So it could be that running just irritated things inside to the point of bleeding. I know that for me running is bad for both my joints and my guts - my arthritic hips get horribly painful, and my guts also don't like being jostled around like that. So I'm guessing your guts probably don't like that so much either.

Speaking of bicycling, and Japan - my mom told me that one of the places we'll be staying at, the room includes free bicycle rental during our stay. I can't wait, a bicycle ride in Japan through the cherry blossoms! :D I'm so excited! Just wish my GP would get back to me about the iron infusions already, I'd like to get my iron and energy up so that I actually have energy to make it through my trip. ;)

Hi Needananswer, it sounds like you're well on the way to putting together your puzzle pieces. It sure sounds like Crohn's to me with fistulas and joint pain and bloody stools although of course I'm not a medical professional. Some GIs don't like to diagnose until they're absolutely certain, which usually means seeing concrete evidence of Crohn's on biopsy. Although it sounds to me like your GI may be willing to diagnose if they get enough of the puzzle pieces to line up (my GI is similar although I'm still missing just enough puzzle pieces to still be technically undiagnosed - my GI does treat me as though I have IBD, though). Good luck with the pill cam, keep us posted on how that goes!
 
Yes, it does seem like a lot of doctors are cautious about diagnosing. I asked about my biopsy report at r/askdocs. Someone responded that basically the report means that they couldn't find a "smoking gun" that definitely suggests IBD, but it's still possible that I have it. The pathologist who did the biopsy speculated that my mucin depletion was due to severe constipation--but doesn't that raise the question of what caused that in the first place? I've seen several sources say mucin depletion is consistent with UC, so I'm not entirely giving up on IBD yet. I just don't understand how IBS can cause constipation that's as bad as I've had it recently. I was finally able to have bowel movements today, after two days of chugging Miralex. There was a ton of mucus, some of which looked like it had red. But that could just be from hemerrhoids, which the doctor also saw on my scope.
 
Shit. I messed up. Or, it messed up on its own I get. Apparently I got a new pill cam appointment sent to my OLD address. For last monday. Crap. As if he didn't already dislike me, now he's going to think I just skipped an appointment I've been trying to get for months.

In my shoes, what would you do? Try again with him or just throw a justified temper tantrum and demand to be transferred to another hospital?
 
Cat, no, nothing red. I tend to avoid red to save the confusion. :lol: Sad I know, but it just makes my anxiety a little bit better! I have to admit though, the pain afterwards was not good. I have it still today, and I just struggled to eat my breakfast. Managed to eat it, but I'm stupidly bloated. I have a meeting/training session with my boss today, so today could go horrifically wrong. Turns out they don't like running. The thing is, I was being absolutely and completely stubborn. I was just running through the pain I felt because I was so annoyed at myself for eating too much during the day, and I saw some photos of me about 10lbs ago, and I was like 'wow, I want to be back there. Back then I didn't see it, but I actually didn't look that bad!'.. (my mental health has been shocking now I have upped my dose of venlafaxine) Then this happens. Maybe the fibre (despite being soluble) is making my life hell? No idea. We shall see. Pretty sure I am going to need to run to the toilet in a minute with the aide of the porridge I just ate and the coffee I am drinking. Oops. I don't really help myself any more. :lol:

Free bicycle rent?! That's awesome! Are you going when the cherry blossom's are in bloom then? That'll be absolutely stunning, I am totally jealous of that! Fingers crossed for the iron infusions, because that'll be a maybe once in a lifetime opportunity, unless you've already been/plan on going again of course!

Izzie, just explain that one of you is at fault, and you need to check if your details are up to date with the hospital. Try and reschedule it. I wouldn't through a tantrum because you don't know who's fault it is, and he could easily turn it around on you. Good luck with that. Bet you feel so damn irritated about this though - I know I would be, I'd be kicking myself!
 
Izzie, I'd definitely use this as an opportunity to get a new GI. You could phrase it as, your current GI's incompetence is so out of control that he can't even send out information to the correct address (I'm presuming you did tell him or his staff that you moved?). Don't throw a tantrum necessarily, but be firm and don't let them push you around, you've had enough and you will be switching to a new GI which is your right. And if they try to deny you that right then get the name of every person you've talked to at that GI's clinic and say you'll be turning over all that information over to your lawyer. (Sorry, I'm an American, we're all lawsuit-happy here! :p ) Hopefully being firm with them will be enough.

Kelleh, I hope you feel better! Maybe having to run to the bathroom will help you feel better? It should at least alleviate some of the bloat. And yes, I will be in Japan when the cherry blossoms are blooming! I've never been there before and I'll likely never go there again, so yes, it'll surely be the trip of a lifetime.

I've tried to push myself through exercise as well when I shouldn't have (due to pain or nausea or reflux or whatever symptom) and that never, ever goes well. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to push yourself through when you're feeling like that! I know it's frustrating to stop exercising or to not exercise for awhile - I'm there myself right now, I've been coughing for 2 weeks from this stupid cold that I caught the other week and I've also been dealing with the low energy. On Monday I tried working out and it went pretty badly, I couldn't catch my breath and I was moving really slowly. It was kind of a mess. Since then I haven't been back to the gym (and I'm still coughing!). I hate it, but what my body needs now is rest and not exercise. It's frustrating for sure, especially when you're trying to be healthier or lose weight, but you just have to listen to your body and do what it needs you to do.
 
Kelleh-speaking of mental heath i was prescribed an SSRI for my anxiety which they said could help with my symptoms additionally..however id read that SSRIs can cause diarrhea which obviously wouldnt be ideal. Has anyone tried them before with any success??
 
I've been on an SSRI for years to help my anxiety, but the onset of my GI problems don't seem to be related to meds. My psychiatrist doesn't seem to think that it's the meds I take for mood and anxiety, since I've been on them for a long time with no problems.
 
Wow Izzie, sounds like your GI is like mine. Keep pushing. I have been seeing my GI for 18 months now, and she isn't even who diagnosed me. I hope you get answers soon :)
 
I haven't been on an SSRI but I do take a low dose of a tricyclic anti-depressant (Amitriptyline, 25 mg). Rather than cause diarrhea, I find it has the opposite effect - it can slow things down a bit and I even get constipated at times if I take other constipating meds along with it (such as Zofran). I'm not sure if it does that at higher doses, I take a low dose as that's what works best for migraine prevention (the main reason I'm on it).
 
Speaking of meds, you guys, there's finally a generic version of Nexium available! :D Name-brand meds always cost more money, even with insurance. I had a coupon card for Nexium but the company kept changing what discount the coupon gave, so one month it'd be $15 and the next it'd be $35 and one month they tried to charge me $120! Eek, I can't afford that! The generic is $10 with my insurance, so it's nice to have it be cheaper and to know what it's going to cost every time. Plus, my GI is able to prescribe me 2 months' worth at a time, so I pay $10 for a 2 month supply - that's awesome. Definitely way better than $120!
 
Hey all!

I've been working and working and working lately. And feeling.. okay? I think a lot of it is just me being used to feeling kinda crappy so I push though. But it's mostly good.

I'm actually considering just not even trying with my old region's hospital management anymore and just waiting on the referral I have in the city where I actually live. It'll probably take until next year though. Not sure what to do.

Found out my bloodwork is still pretty blah. Still the same, still anemic. However, it's not gotten worse either, and I haven't noticed any drastic bleeding. Wondering if it's just tough for my body to "reset" because of my diet, all the tea I drink (makes it hard to absorb iron), and heavy periods etc.

I can manage as I am now, but I'm obviously still sick and have no diagnosis. I'm just so tired of hounding doctors to make something happen and quite frankly I don't have the time because of work...
 
So I've been gone and now I come back with a mini rant, sorry.

I think my GP just doesn't like me. She seems to have thought that sending me off to integrative medicine was going to get me off her plate, but that isn't working. My nutritionist is upset, you see. I don't eat much, and what I do eat isn't nutritionally balanced, so she feels I am likely malnourished. AND, despite a nice, boring diet, I am *still* having 3+ bouts of D most days. She feels that isn't right, at all, clearly isn't diet, and wants GI to see me again. So she sent that in a nice long note back to my GP. My GP's office called back that afternoon (yay, I thought, they're paying attention!) only to tell me that the GI has already diagnosed me - with IBS. Therefore they see no reason to refer me back to GI, and wasn't I given lotronex. So I explain to the nurse who called that the lotoronex wasn't working as promised, so I quit taking it. Sure, it would stop me up, but for days, and then when I'd finally go again, it'd be D all over again. So my GP is going to see me tomorrow, not because of the D, but because the other part of integrative, the mind-body counselor, reports that I'm still experiencing pain (duh!) so she is reluctantly following up on that, and maybe we'll discuss the D, too.

On the up side, the mind-body stuff, does seem to help me stop thinking so much about trying to not be in pain - if that makes sense - and just deal with the fact that I am in pain, I'm likely to still be in pain tomorrow, and how can I best live with that. It's been helpful not just for the belly stuff, but for my knees, too. I like mindfulness meditations already, so they have me using some mindfulness especially for chronic pain and that seems to be helping, too, as it's something I can do when I'm laying in bed at night, which is when things always seem to be the worst.
 
Izzie, can you hound the doctors through email? That's what I do when I don't feel up to calling, waiting on hold, my call being transferred multiple times, waiting on hold again, finally talking to someone who may or may not know what I'm talking about, etc. I just email my GI or GP directly and that usually goes pretty well with minimal issues and is far less annoying and exhausting than trying to get through to someone on the phone. At least that way you'd be able to keep on top of things without exhausting yourself quite so much. Plus, for me, I like to have things in writing, so with email I can always look back on what my GP or GI said awhile ago if there's any question.

Wildmtn, are you able to get a new GP? Because it sounds like yours is not so great. Could the integrative doctor refer you to a new/better GP? Or at least give you suggestions as to who is a better GP? Your current GP sounds like they're just treating you as an annoyance and that's not a good thing!

As for me, I'm hopefully finally getting somewhere with the iron infusions. I called my GP's office first thing this morning because I had sent several emails to him last week but heard nothing back. Fortunately I got to talk with his nurse who actually had information - she said that my GP did order the infusions and he had contacted the infusion center on Friday, and that the infusion center should be calling me today to set up my first appointment. I haven't heard from them yet, but it's only 10 AM here so hopefully they will call me soon. I'm excited about having the infusions, hopefully it isn't too long of a wait for an appointment. I'm looking forward to hopefully having more energy!
 
Cat-a-Tonic said:
Izzie, can you hound the doctors through email? That's what I do when I don't feel up to calling, waiting on hold, my call being transferred multiple times, waiting on hold again, finally talking to someone who may or may not know what I'm talking about, etc. I just email my GI or GP directly and that usually goes pretty well with minimal issues and is far less annoying and exhausting than trying to get through to someone on the phone. At least that way you'd be able to keep on top of things without exhausting yourself quite so much. Plus, for me, I like to have things in writing, so with email I can always look back on what my GP or GI said awhile ago if there's any question.

Wildmtn, are you able to get a new GP? Because it sounds like yours is not so great. Could the integrative doctor refer you to a new/better GP? Or at least give you suggestions as to who is a better GP? Your current GP sounds like they're just treating you as an annoyance and that's not a good thing!

As for me, I'm hopefully finally getting somewhere with the iron infusions. I called my GP's office first thing this morning because I had sent several emails to him last week but heard nothing back. Fortunately I got to talk with his nurse who actually had information - she said that my GP did order the infusions and he had contacted the infusion center on Friday, and that the infusion center should be calling me today to set up my first appointment. I haven't heard from them yet, but it's only 10 AM here so hopefully they will call me soon. I'm excited about having the infusions, hopefully it isn't too long of a wait for an appointment. I'm looking forward to hopefully having more energy!
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Doctors here don't really do the email thing! Though I know there is a national online system for handling health care contacts, I guess I could sign up for that... Good idea! It's tough with phones and being available etc.

I'm working my behind off lately, which I hadn't planned on doing this semester but it ended up happening, and I can't really be available by phone or spend hours hounding doctors....
 
My doctors are fortunately all within the same hospital & clinic system, so I'm lucky that I have an easy way to email any/all of them. Yeah, I work full time so it's much easier for me to just send an email and be done with it, rather than waiting on hold on the phone for someone to pick up and hope that it's the right person. Email is so much easier!

I got my infusions scheduled! The following 3 Mondays I'll be having infusions. Then I'll get my iron and ferritin re-tested and go from there. They said each infusion takes about 3.5 hours though! Holy cow, I figured it'd be an hour or two but 3.5 is quite long. So I'm going to have to miss some work, that's not ideal but if it helps me then that's the important thing. So yeah, wish me luck! First infusion is a week from today! :)
 
All my docs are in the same system, too, and we have the ability to email as well - very handy. Except that...I'm not sure how to go about getting a new GP within this system, or if it would even make a difference, if that makes sense. I guess that's something I should figure out.

Cat - wow, 3.5 hours is a long time! Hope you bring something to read!
 
Wildmtn, yeah, 3.5 hours sounds like a crazy long time and I have to do that 3 weeks in a row. I do have plenty to read - I've been re-reading the Laura Ingalls books recently and I'm just over halfway through the series. I've got a Kindle Fire and a Nintendo DS as well so I'm pretty well set for portable entertainment. I might bring my crocheting along as well, I feel more worthwhile when I'm actively making something like a scarf or a blanket. I'm not allowed to nap though as far as I can tell - they want me awake so that they can monitor me and make sure that I'm not having an allergic reaction or a drop in blood pressure or anything like that. So, I have to sit there for a pretty long time the next 3 Mondays in a row. Oh well, it's definitely for the betterment of my health and I've been through a lot worse, so I'll deal with it. I'm going to be on a plane for 13 hours each way when I go on my Japan trip, so I'll consider these infusions a small bit of practice for those plane rides. ;) (Although obviously I will be allowed to sleep on the plane!)

As for getting a new GP - I think you could just pick one out from the doctors that are covered under your insurance, then call them and see if they're accepting new patients right now? That's how I got my GP when I first moved to this city, I called the local clinic and there was only one GP taking on new patients so he became my GP and still is (fortunately, he's pretty good). And when my husband first had kidney stones, he hadn't bothered getting a primary care doctor yet at that point - my GP wasn't taking on new patients at that time, but I contacted him anyway to see if he'd make an exception and take on my hubby, and he said of course he would. So both hubby and I see the same GP. Perhaps, if you've got local friends who like their doctor, you could get the name of that doctor and then contact them and say that (friend's name) recommended them and ask if they'd take you on as a patient. They'll likely say yes, the worst they can say is no. :) Good luck! I hope you can find someone MUCH better than your current GP!
 
meganwilson1991 said:
Kelleh-speaking of mental heath i was prescribed an SSRI for my anxiety which they said could help with my symptoms additionally..however id read that SSRIs can cause diarrhea which obviously wouldnt be ideal. Has anyone tried them before with any success??
Click to expand...

Personally I am allergic to most SSRI's, but I am on SNRI's. The one I am on causes constipation.

Hi all!

Sorry if I have missed something. I am finally back from my holiday and am back now until next month when I go to Sweden! How is everybody?
 
Welcome back, Kelleh! Here's how I've been - I'm getting my iron infusions starting next week, yay! But in the meantime I'm not feeling very well. Today is a bad day - I'm even more exhausted than I've been, I'm so wiped out that I'm just barely functional. I'm super nauseous as well and had some wicked d yesterday and guts are really unsettled today. I did eat a trigger food yesterday but only a tiny bit of it - it was cottage cheese. At the local farmer's market, there's a cheese vendor who sells the most amazing, delicious cottage cheese ever. Sometimes hubby and I buy some and he'll eat most of it and I'll just have a bite or two. So yesterday I had my two bites or so of cottage cheese, but I guess that was enough to set things off. I don't know why cottage cheese does this to me! :( It's delicious but not really worth this level of symptoms for 2 lousy spoonfuls of it, ugh. So yeah, I'm bad right now but hopefully next week things will drastically improve energy-wise once I start my infusions.

How was your holiday? How have you been feeling lately? And remind me again, when is your scope? It's soon, correct?
 
Woo, that's great news! I'm guessing they approved them then? You'll have enough energy for your cycling in Japan with those!

I'm very sorry to hear that you aren't feeling too good today. Usually, the general rule is, if it tastes good - it's bad for your stomach! Cottage cheese is good, especially locally sourced, so I really do feel sorry for you!

I, too, have done something silly. I took 2 cap's full of Lactulose and 2 Dulcolax and I have really watery/mucus-y diarrhoea, which is exhausting me like hell on top of getting back home late last night. Wish I had today off as well! Stupid work.

My holiday was very good thanks. FAR too much chocolate and beer. The beer is so strong over there! It's a very pretty country, lots of old buildings. My Belgian family are also very nice, they took us for a really nice park walk where I got to feed goats with acorns!

Scope is Friday. Not so nervous at the moment, but I'm sure I will be when the time comes. Just ordered lots of pieces of clothing for a Halloween party on the weekend! My boyfriend is going as Scooby Do, so he suggested I go as Velma. Haha. Ordering bright orange socks from Amazon makes my purchase history even weirder!
 
Kelleh, yes, my GP apparently ordered the iron infusions last week Friday but he didn't bother to call me and tell me that. Gee, thanks. :p I called his office first thing Monday morning just to see what the status was, and the nurse I spoke to said the infusions were ordered and that I'd be getting a call back shortly to get them scheduled. I was skeptical that I'd get a call back so soon, but I did get a call pretty quickly Monday morning to say that I'll be having infusions the following 3 Mondays! So in 6 days, next week Monday, is my first infusion and I'll have a total of 3, then we'll re-check my iron levels to see where I'm at. I'm really hoping that they'll help a lot, my energy levels lately have been horrible and today is extra bad, so any improvement will be wonderful.

Chocolate and beer, eek! Neither of those would do good things for me - I can have both in very small amounts (like a couple sips of beer and one small piece of chocolate, any more than that and I'd start feeling ill). Sounds like a lovely trip though, I want to feed acorns to a goat! That sounds like fun. :) Glad to hear you had a good time, but yeah, having to go back to work after a nice trip is always the worst part!

I'm trying to muster the energy to work on my Halloween costume as well. I'm nearly done, I just need to do a bit more work on it. I didn't dress up last year due to not feeling well, but in years past hubby and I went all out on making very detailed Halloween costumes. And this year, I've decided I want to make Bjork's swan dress and wear that for Halloween, so that's what I've been working on. If you want to see hubby's and my previous years costumes, here's the link to our DeviantArt page. Click the links on the left to see the costumes from different years.
http://halloweeners.deviantart.com/gallery/
I'll post photos of the Bjork swan dress costume once it's done. :)
 
At least it was a nice surprise for you! Hopefully you'll improve when you get these. It's so soon too, no waiting around! Happy for you there. :)

Haha, nope. They don't mean. The beers were 330ml but were 8.5% alcohol content. Eek. I got super drunk on Saturday night. I slept in my clothes and boots, and had my 16 year old cousin trying to get me to drink water!

Ooh, I just had a look. I LOVE your beauty and the beast costumes. They are so GOOD. I've definitely just ordered all of my stuff. Just need to find the shoes on Saturday. Any excuse to buy a new pair of shoes, really! Love the photos!
 
Thanks! Yeah, we made all those costumes pretty much from scratch. For Beauty and the Beast, we weren't sure how to do Beast because faux fur fabric is quite expensive to buy. But I had the brilliant idea of going around to thrift stores and buying cheap old teddy bears and cutting those up to use their fur - that worked well and was much cheaper, although our basement looked like there had been a teddy bear massacre. :p There were teddy limbs and stuffing everywhere. It was slightly horrifying, but the end result was that Beast turned out really well, so it was worth it.

I can't even remember the last time I got drunk, seriously. It was probably when I was in college! (Like 15 years ago.) I've had bladder issues for many years, way longer than I've had this IBD thing. If I have more than 2 drinks then I tend to get a bladder infection which is really not a fun time - plus of course alcohol isn't friendly to my guts either, so I very rarely drink, and when I do I'll have one small glass of wine and that's it. It's just not worth it to anger both my bladder and guts.

And yeah, I'm glad that there's only a week wait to start my infusions, that's definitely a good thing. I just have to make it through this week and through Halloween, we're having a few friends over on Halloween so I won't be able to rest then but I can rest on Sunday, so I just need to push through until then so I can rest, and then Monday afternoon is my first infusion.

Good luck on Friday with your scope! Update us when you're able to. I'll be thinking of you and wishing for the best!
 
You guys are very inventive and creative for a different costume every year! Absolutely loved looking at all the different ideas. You are so very artistic, I envy you! You look brilliant, both of you.

I got it wrong. My boyfriend is going as Shaggy, he's made a dog tag for the dog, and I'm just going to go as Velma. Shall see how it goes!

Oh my god, bladder infection from alcohol! That sounds horrible! I thought you were going to say you had a weak bladder before I read that whole sentence - but what happens to you sounds like the devils work!

Thank you. I'll update ASAP. Hopefully when I get out, or maybe after the weekend, as need to drive myself up to my boyfriends. I am going to try my hardest to not have any anaesthetic (or gas and air) at all. I think gas and air is my only option at a push, anyway.
 
Yeah, my bladder is not right but that's never been diagnosed either so who knows! I know that sugar, alcohol and caffeine are all triggers for bladder infections for me, so I avoid things like coffee, soda, and alcohol. Fortunately, taking cranberry tablets tends to prevent the majority of my bladder infections - I now get one every 1-2 years, rather than getting 6-8 per year like I was in the past. So that's not too bad, as long as I take my cranberry pills and avoid my bladder triggers then I'm usually fine. The bladder issues are MUCH easier to control than the guts are, so I hardly ever talk about the bladder stuff as it doesn't bother me so much and is pretty easy to keep in check.

So your dog is going to be Scooby Doo for Halloween? I want to see pictures! What kind of dog do you have, does it look like Scooby Doo?

I'll try to check the forum periodically over the weekend to see if you've updated about your scope. Or at the very least, I'll be on here on Monday. My iron infusion is supposedly going to take 3.5 hours, so I'm sure I'll be taking advantage of the free WiFi in the hospital and checking up on the forum and facebook! I'll probably also be bored out of my mind, ha ha. 3.5 hours is a looong time to sit and have an IV drip.
 
That sucks. I know I have a weak bladder and as a kid I ALWAYS had bladder infections, but since about 14 - I haven't actually had one. Do you eat cranberries at all as well on top of the pills, or drink the juice?

Haha, it's not my dog, it's my boyfriend's house mates, but we're borrowing him. He's a lovely dog. He is a Staffordshire Terrier, but is a massive softy. Not quite a Great Dane, but he'll suffice. :) I will be sure to get you some photos! I'm quite looking forward to it.

Cool. :) I will try and put something on straight away - maybe if I am sat in with some biscuits and tea in the recovery room. Perfect time, haha.

Wow, that takes a long time! Surprised they have Wi-Fi. I know private hospitals do here, but NHS ones - nope. You'll be pretty bored if you don't have anything to do! I'd probably take a book.
 
Kelleh, I haven't been to a hospital here that *doesn't* have free WiFi! :p Everywhere here has free WiFi. My GI's old clinic, my GI's new clinic, my GP's clinic, the hospital, the urgent care clinic, the rheumatology clinic that I went to for a short time - they all have free WiFi. That seems to be a very standard thing in hospitals and medical clinics here. And yes, I'll be bringing a book - I'll also bring my kindle Fire, my Nintendo DS, and maybe some yarn & my crochet hook as well. :p And I'll of course have my phone, so I can get online with that or with my kindle. They have cable TV in the infusion center as well (I've been there once before for a blood test a few years ago) so I'll be pretty well set for entertainment. It's still going to be hard to sit there for 3.5 hours, though. I'm an antsy person and I don't do super well with just sitting still.

Is a Staffordshire terrier similar to a pit bull? I'm not very familiar with a lot of dog breeds. I know a girl who has a couple of pit bulls and hers are also super sweet dogs. At any rate, I bet he'll look cute as Scooby Doo! Have fun, are you going to a party or just hanging out in costume?

I don't drink cranberry juice, because most cranberry juices are full of sugar so they do me more harm than good. And the ones that are 100% juice with no added sugar, they are so tart and not easy to drink. So I go for the cranberry tablets only at this point as those are easiest. I have one at morning, one at night, and I'll pop an extra one anytime my bladder is feeling iffy or if I've been doing things that might trigger an infection (like if I've had too much sugar or haven't had enough water, etc).
 
Oh, that's interesting! I think our hospitals don't want to encourage using mobile phones in waiting rooms. I don't know, but I'll start looking out for it in our hospitals now! Wow, you need a lot of entertainment - but I'd probably do the same. Good luck! I know how hard it is to sit still, I am a massive fidget bum!

It is similar, yes. They get given bad names over here, but it's usually the owner that is the problem and not the dog. He is absolutely lovely. His name is Hugo! I am going to a party. Or rather, I have no choice as it's at my boyfriends home. I am quite looking forward to it now that I have a costume on its way.

Ah, yeah. I'm not so good with the no added sugar rubbish, I'd rather drink full sugar when it comes to juice, but I can never justify the calories in them. I have heard good things about cranberries though. Funnily enough, I just ate some in my fruit and nut mix.
 
Hah, everyone uses their cell phones in doctors' waiting rooms here. At my last GI appointment, the medical assistant said my GI was running late and asked if I was okay with waiting. I was like, I'm fine, I have my phone and it's charged up and there's free WiFi so I'm good! ;) So I just played on my phone until my GI showed up (he was only like 15 mins late). So what do people do in waiting rooms there? Just... wait? :p That would drive me crazy! Especially since my GI is usually late to appointments.

Yeah, that's how it is here too with pit bulls. They get a bad name and every so often there's will be something in the news about somebody getting mauled/killed by a pit bull and I think that really panics a lot of people. Good training does go a long way for sure! My hubby has a rule which I think is good - never get a dog that you couldn't take down in a fight. Like, if your dog snaps and goes completely crazy and tries to attack you out of the blue, make sure you don't own a dog that's so large that it could kill or seriously injure you. Hence, we have a corgi. :p The only thing she's going to maul are her dog treats, ha ha.

Cranberries are good, but for my particular issues they seem best for me in tablet form. They're just a little too tart/acidic in juice or fresh (not great for the GERD), and I can't do dried fruit as it's too hard for me to digest. So yeah, tablets it is.
 
We do too, but there's no free Wi-Fi. Especially not in my doctor's surgery, and my mobile network is awful in there, no matter what carrier I am on. It's not a very good way to discourage us! I just tend to surf Facebook or play a silly game.

You have a Corgi? I am so, so jealous. They are the height of cuteness. What's her name? Hugo is a bad guard dog. He licks everybody to death that walks in, regardless of whether or not he knows them. He just gets super excited as he sees it as somebody new to play with.

That sounds fair enough. I can see why a pill will be much easier to digest or even help, especially with those kinds of issues! It's unfair we have to result to this way to get what we need though.
 
Hello, everyone.

Funny that bladder infections should come up, as I'm pretty sure I have one. I had blood in my urine on Friday, at least. The P.A. I saw yesterday was unable to definitely confirm this, as I couldn't produce a urine sample--despite the fact that I've been peeing like crazy. But she agreed that I likely have one and was willing to prescribe antibiotics for it anyway.

I'll have to look into cranberry tablets, though. Apparently D raises your chances of getting a UTI.
 
Was that visible bleeding in your urine CatLady42? I remember when I was younger I used to say I was 'peeing out a hedgehog' because it hurt that much. :lol: Poor you, hope you feel better soon.

I've never heard of D increasing your risk of a UTI, and the only way I can think of it happening is if you wipe the wrong way. But I wouldn't know. (Not saying you do that by the way, just trying to think how it would!)
 
CatLady, blood in the urine plus not being able to urinate - that could be a kidney stone. Have you had any pain in the lower back? Kidney stones can also cause referred pain in the lower abdomen, it kind of mimics IBD pain. I haven't had a kidney stone but my hubby has had several, and his first symptoms were pain which started in his LRQ in his abdomen, dark/bloody urine, and occasional vomiting. Because of the abdo pain and vomiting, he was afraid that he might have IBD as well. I thought it might be a grumbling appendix. We were both wrong, it was kidney stones. If the antibiotics don't clear up your infection, ask the doctor for a CT scan to look for kidney stones. (For what it's worth, they can do x-rays as well, but x-rays missed finding my hubby's stones - CT scan did find them, so from my experience I'd skip the x-rays and go for the CT.)

But yeah, being a female and having diarrhea makes you more likely to get a UTI/bladder infection. Apparently this is because the anus is so close to the urethra, so when you're having a lot of d, bacteria from the stool can pretty easily get into the urethra and that causes the infection. I do highly recommend that you try the cranberry tablets if you do have a UTI - you can get them pretty much anywhere, Target, Walgreens, etc. They've been a great help to me and although they're meant to raise the acidity content of my urine (higher acidity kills the bacteria more easily and prevents infections from taking hold), they don't mess with my GERD or anything like that.

Kelleh, yes, I have a corgi and she's ridiculous and adorable. :p Her name is Lily. She's not one of the standard red corgis, she's a different color variation so she's mostly black with some white and just a little bit of red - the color is called black-headed tri-color. So she looks a bit different than most corgis but I like it, she's unique. The hubby and I bought our house about 7 years ago, and it's right near a large dog park, so after we got settled in we started looking for a small-ish dog. We were actually thinking of getting a corgi mix but we couldn't find one. Then, Lily just sort of fell into my lap! A lady at work had transferred to our office from California, but when she moved here she couldn't keep her dog any longer, and none of her family or friends could take the dog, so she put out the word that she had a free dog to give away to a good home. When I heard this, I asked her what kind of dog it is. She said it's a corgi! I said, I'll take her! So Lily became mine. She's 7 years old now and we've had her for 5 years. Here's one of my favorite photos of both my pets, Lydia kittya and Lily pooch (sorry, photo is pretty large):

DSC07763.jpg


As for me, I'm doing somewhat better today. Yesterday I was so exhausted and so nauseous, I ended up taking a half day at work and going home sick. I went home, got into my pajamas and got into bed, and napped for 3 hours straight. Still felt exhausted when I woke up! Was still nauseous the rest of the day as well, I had toast for lunch and toast for dinner and that was it. Today though I actually have a slight appetite, nausea seems mostly gone, and the exhaustion is still there but not as bad (I'm thinking my 3 hour nap must have helped). I'm mostly just counting the days (hours, minutes, ha ha) until I can have my first iron infusion. I'm already starting to pack a bag to bring with me to the hospital. :p Is that weird that I'm super excited to go to the hospital and have an infusion? I'm packing my best "going to the hospital" sweatpants and my cashmere arm warmers, ha ha.
 
Oh wow, she's not even the colours I expected her to be! Both of your animals are absolutely gorgeous - love it, and also very jealous! So adorable. I love animals. It's even cuter that you managed to get a photo of them together, although your cat really doesn't look pleased about this.

Glad to hear you're doing better today! 3 hours is quite a nap! Sounds like you absolutely needed it! I had toast for dinner last night, so I'll join your club on that one. Although, tonight I am going to have baked beans on toast. :lol: I had a reasonable sized lunch, so dinner doesn't have to be too big.

Went to the gym last night, it was probably the toughest work out I have ever done. My stomach just wasn't happy, and I was feeling sick. Stupid stubborn me though, carried on. Okay, I only did a 45 minute workout, but it was tough. I'm starting to get a little obsessed though as I do have the gym bug. I do need to go back to playing golf, but I am in my own little world with exercise at the moment, and I just want to keep the routine up.

Cashmere arm warmers? I didn't know you could even get arm warmers still!
 
Kelleh, my cat is not pleased in the photo, that's for sure. :p She isn't friends with the dog - my cat will tolerate the dog, but they are not friends (the dog would love to be friends with the cat but it's just not happening). Also, my cat hates having her photo taken because she hates the camera flash. So she always sort of glares and squints when I take her photo. My dog, on the other hand, loves having her photo taken and will pose nicely (and she knows she gets a treat afterwards if she poses nicely, ha ha).

The cashmere arm warmers, I made them myself. :) I took an old cashmere sweater that had shrunk too small, and I cut off the sleeves and hemmed them. I figured, if I'm going to have an IV then I'm going to have to have short sleeves, so I still want a way to keep my arms warm - hence the DIY arm warmers.

Sounds like you had a pretty brutal workout! :( I had a really tough workout myself last week - I still haven't fully recovered from the chest cold that I caught like 3 weeks ago, so I was still coughing and my lungs hurt and I just couldn't catch my breath in the gym. That plus the crushing fatigue meant I wasn't able to do much of anything in the gym, it was not a good workout. I haven't been to the gym since. I'm hoping to get back to the gym next week, after I have my first iron infusion. It drives me nuts to have to skip workouts like this, but I know that rest is what my body needs right now, not exercise. And to have a goal in mind, to get back to working out next week, that's giving me some hope. As long as I have a workout to look forward to, then I'm not completely frustrated.
 
Dogs are always so playful, and cats are just.. well cats. Poor doggy, she just wants a friend and your cat just wants to sleep! Bless, at least she's trained in that sense!

Wow, that sounds awesome. Cashmere is so expensive here so I'd have been pained to throw it away too. I love how creative you are. I do like the idea of keeping your arms warm too, I know I get too cold too and if you have an IV in.. then, yeah, not much else you can do!

It wasn't even that brutal! I just felt sick. I pushed myself, yes, but I've done harder workouts. It just took it out of me. I wish I could see I need rest sometimes and not exercise, but I always find it a little difficult. I like being out and about, away from home and away from my 'issues' of my stomach. Well, let's hope the iron makes you go crazy and let you have awesome gym sessions! :D
 
Ha ha, that would be awesome if the iron infusions suddenly turned me into superwoman. :p Prednisone did that to me but of course that effect didn't last long. Fortunately, I'm sort of a homebody so I don't mind staying home, I'd rather stay home than go out, honestly. When I don't work out for a period of time, though, I can tell it affects me. The gym is my anti-depressant and my stress relief, so when I can't go to the gym, then the bad emotions start creeping back in and I have a much harder time dealing with stress, I get weepy and start sort of hating myself and I just generally feel not good mentally. Which, in turn, doesn't help with the fatigue and the gut issues, because the depression seems to add to the fatigue and the stress makes the guts that much worse. So yeah, if I can just get back to the gym soon, I'll be okay. I am not expecting to turn into superwoman, I'd just like to turn into "I have a normal human amount of energy" woman. ;)

Yeah, cashmere is expensive here as well, although this sweater was bought second-hand so it wasn't too pricey. It fit when I bought it but it ended up accidentally going into the dryer a couple times, so it sadly shrunk. It's a really pretty teal green color and I just hate to throw stuff like that away, so I always try to repurpose things. I still have the rest of the sweater besides the sleeves - I think I might try to make myself mittens out of it. I definitely am a crafty person! I love sewing and crocheting especially. Crafting is something that I can do even when I'm feeling ill or exhausted, it helps me feel worthwhile when I'd otherwise feel worthless.
 
Haha, you'll be superwoman in no time then! ;)

I can't sit still long enough to stay home. Although, at the moment, I do feel like being at home. I think the reason why I don't is because I still live with my parents and they do tend to drive me around the bend.

I wish I had the energy. I had 10 hours sleep, and I feel tired. I'm yawning and everything. I would have put it down to being bored or something, but it happened on Saturday too when I was walking around (although, I was slightly hungover, but I did have ample sleep). I sleep 9-10 hours a day, so it's ridiculous. I can't find a reason as to why I am tired. I've taken NSAID's today, I know I shouldn't, but my head killed this morning. After a bout of diarrhoea yesterday, I'd have expected to be tired yesterday - not today. But I wasn't as bad as I am today. No idea. It's driving me mad.

My stomach hurts, I have a stabbing pain in my right side, level with my navel, but quite over from it. My left side, as usual, hurts too, but not as troublesome. Just want to go home to my bed right now, but I am determined to go to the gym and do a 3 day week on it.

Haha, oops. One day, my mum managed to shrink one of my coats. I DO NOT know how she managed it. I was quite upset though! I'm glad you have something that makes you feel this way. I used to be the same with art (although, I still used to get stroppy at it!), but these days, I don't sit down enough to draw, plus I never have any idea on what to draw.
 
Oh, if I still lived with my parents then I wouldn't want to be at home much either! I can totally relate to that. My parents live in another city about 90 minutes away and that's a good distance for me. I can still see them sometimes but I can control when and where I see them, and it's far away enough that I'm not seeing them constantly. They drive me nuts sometimes as well so I totally get it!

What kinds of things did you used to draw? I used to draw a lot as well, and I've sometimes thought that I should start a comic strip about chronic illness. I never seem to have the time or energy to start drawing again on top of all my other craft projects, though.

I get at least 8 hours of sleep a night myself and I'm also constantly exhausted, but for me it seems due at least in part to the iron deficiency (my other vitamin levels are okay). Have you had your vitamin levels checked lately? If you have a deficiency in anything like D3, B12, iron, folate, etc - those could all cause a drop in energy levels. So get some bloodwork done if you haven't lately. It could be as simple as taking a supplement.
 
My GP wasn't as horrible as I feared!

I had told her that the last GI that gave me Lotronex was extremely vague on how to take it, and she at first seemed to not believe me, then decided to look up the note. It read "take 1mg/day, increase or decrease dose as needed". Can't get much more vague than that! So, instead of acting annoyed with me, she suddenly turned nice! Said that I clearly wasn't being treated, even if it is "just" IBS (which she is positive it is) but that it is outside of her realm, and she would be referring me to yet another GI.

This one is in the town my parents live in, but that's not too far (20ish minute drive) and they were able to squeeze me in on Friday afternoon, which is really fast for a specialist around here. I'm hopeful again!
 
Don't get me wrong, I love my parents. However, they have a tendency to sit at opposite ends of the room from one another and play on their laptops. Mum's kind of annoys me because of her excessive clicking on her laptop track pad to play candy crush. It sounds trivial, but I hate some noises - and that's one of them. Funny that I actually work in an office!

I did a lot of still life and also did animals. Still life was like roses etc., and I was very good at painting and shading, so I did very well in school. But it was so stressful, I eventually give it up when I got my good pass grade and haven't really drawn since. I used to draw cartoons too, usually in the style of manga. It used to just keep me happy and relaxed to an extent.

I don't think I've had my vitamin levels checked since... well ever.

@wildmtnhoney - Glad you have some hope here! Looks like they are pursuing you.
 
Kelleh, then go get your vitamin levels checked! :p Seriously, your GP should be able to do that pretty easily via bloodwork. That would probably be very enlightening as to why your energy levels aren't where they should be. Oh, and get your thyroid levels tested as well - thyroid issues can sometimes mimic IBD-like symptoms and can affect energy levels as well, I believe.

I found art a bit stressful in school as well, particularly in college. I took some art classes which I thought would be fun, but they weren't. The worst class was, it was in a freezing cold classroom (I swear the room had no heat, and this was in the middle of winter) and the teacher was from China. He said that back in China, he was expected to practice drawing for 16 hours a day every day, so he expected similar things from us. Um, no. :p I like drawing but I have other obligations and cannot just be drawing literally all of the time that I'm awake. That class in particular really sort of put me off art and I haven't done much drawing since then.

Wildmtn, wow, that is fast for a specialist! My GI seems to consistently have a 4ish month waiting list for an appointment and even my GP is now booking appointments about 3 months out (used to be more like a 2 week wait so I'm not sure what happened there!). Anyway, good luck on Friday, let us know what happens! Hopefully getting a new set of eyes on your case will be good and worthwhile.
 
Hey everyone, I am a 21 year-old female who has been suffering for about 6 months now. I am having severe abdominal pain, nausea, occasional vomiting, diarrhea almost daily, and rectal bleeding (both with and without passing stools). I am not able to eat much because of it all and have lost about 25 pounds or so because of it. Not to mention I have been also getting very dizzy and light-headed and feelings of low blood sugar, even after eating a decent meal or snack. I've seen three doctors and been to the ER three times, and have hundreds of blood draws and still nothing

On Friday, I am having my first colonoscopy and endoscopy done. I am doing a mild sedation with it and I am rather nervous. I am looking for any tips anyone may have when it comes to the prep. I start the Gatorade prep tomorrow along with the Ducolax and the magnesium citrate. I am bleeding a lot today, and I am concerned on how tomorrow will go with me bleeding this bad. I went to the ER two nights ago due to the amount of blood that I was passing. Anyways, any tips or advice for the rookie here? Or what I should be expecting for the colonoscopy and the endoscopy? Seriously, anything is appreciated!
 
Cat, I do need to. I'll ask when I go to my GI soon, or even ask my GP when I am next at the surgery which is in about 2 weeks times for my Venlafaxine restart. Thyroid has been checked, so that one is not an issue as it came back negative. I had a thought - perhaps I am sleeping far too much. I went to bed 2 hours later last night, I shall see how I get on throughout today. Stomach hasn't been the best. If nothing shows tomorrow, I am going to be surprised. It's being a complete pain in the backside (no pun intended). Keep waking up feeling nauseous too, but I have a feeling that may be because of my anti-depressants.

Haha, different cultures definitely expect different things. Weird. I was just put off via the stress of school. I got a good grade though, I just didn't pursue it. It was more a hobby. Now I'm a software developer and rarely put pen/pencil to paper. :p

@Kstene - First of all, don't panic! Stress can make your symptoms worse. A lot of people's blood tests do come back normal, and I will have to admit, I am one of those people. But I do know people who are officially diagnosed with completely clean blood tests.

Are you having your colonoscopy done this Friday? We are in the same boat. My first colonoscopy (or rather, flexible sigmoid) is being done tomorrow (Friday). I have just stopped thinking about it, and I am now no longer nervous. I am just wanting to get to the bottom (no pun intended, I seem to be on a roll this morning!) of the issues I have. If you are bleeding, they should be able to find out the cause when looking at you with the colonoscopy. Good luck, and welcome to the undiagnosed part of the forum! We are all like you. :)
 
Hi Kstene, welcome to the club! Kelleh has given you some good advice. Are you in the US? If so, we get good sedation here in the US so don't worry too much about that. Typically the sedation in the US is versed plus fentanyl for pain relief. For me it usually feels like having a nice nap and there's never been any pain (full disclosure, I was awake & talking for one scope through the sedation as it failed to fully knock me out, but still no pain, no discomfort at all). So try not to worry about the sedation/scope part of things, that's the easy part, honestly. The prep tends to be the worst part.

I've done the Gatorade & Miralax prep twice myself, it's a pretty strong prep but it doesn't taste bad and is easy to get down. Once you're going clear - meaning, no solids - I was told flecks are okay and yellowish water is okay, but absolutely no solids - then you can stop drinking the prep. Since you've said you're barely eating anything, it probably won't take much to clean you out and you likely won't have to drink the full amount.

There's a good thread here with colonoscopy prep tips:
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=44105

As for your bleeding, is it bright red or darker/black? Are there clots or clumps in it? Bright red bleeding usually indicates it's coming from lower in the digestive tract, often from the rectal area. So, if it's bright red, then the good news is that they should find the source of the bleeding on your colonoscopy. Knowing the source will allow your doctors to figure out the best way to treat it. Have they done anything for your blood loss and the resulting dizziness/light-headedness? I have on-again off-again bleeding due to recurrent internal hemorrhoids myself, and I've experienced dizziness & light-headedness from blood loss as well, so for me my hemoglobin is good but my iron and ferritin are low, so I'll be having iron infusions starting very soon. Blood transfusions might be another option for you if you're low on other things besides iron & ferritin.

On that note, you've mentioned that your bloodwork has always come back normal. What bloodwork have you specifically had done? As Kelleh mentioned, some people with IBD have normal inflammatory markers in their blood (CRP and ESR) even when in a terrible flare - that is the case for about 10% of the IBD population, and unfortunately it does make it more difficult to get a diagnosis (I'm in the same boat, I have presumed IBD but my CRP and ESR are almost always normal as well). With the blood loss, I'd be concerned about things like your iron, ferritin, and hemoglobin levels. Have those been checked recently? What about your vitamin levels - B12, D3, folate? Those tend to be low in IBD patients as well. Also, electrolytes - low sodium levels in particular can cause dizziness & light-headedness (I've been there as well, when I have a lot of diarrhea I lose sodium very easily). Low sodium can be easily treated of course by eating something high in sodium - my go-to is to have a spoonful or two of soy sauce. It's gross, but it's super high in sodium and helps me feel better right away. If you notice the dizziness is happening in correlation with bouts of diarrhea, perhaps try having something high in sodium and see if that helps.

Oh, and back to the topic of your upcoming colonoscopy - make sure they take lots of biopsies! Some illnesses can only be found on biopsy, and if they're not sure whether they're seeing Crohn's, the biopsies can confirm things. So that's very important, make sure they take lots of biopsies.

Sorry for that wall of text! I hope that was somewhat helpful. Let us know how the prep and scope go and of course let us know if you have any other questions. We're always here for advice and support. :)
 
Very good advice from Cat. I too have been having bleeding. I am going to ensure they get biopsies, especially in certain places that I think are troublesome. I am currently thinking I have a form of proctitis and maybe some form of colitis too, but all shall be revealed.
 
Hah, so I just realized at least 3 people here are having big appointments tomorrow! Kelleh's sigmoid scope, Kstene's colonoscopy, and Wildmtn's appointment with the new GI. And I'm having my big appointment on Monday, my first iron infusion. I wish you three lots of luck tomorrow! And Kstene, best of luck today with the prep!

Kelleh, that's good that you've ruled thyroid stuff out, that was one of the first blood tests I had done as well and mine was also negative. You definitely do need to get your vitamin levels checked though, glad to hear you'll be pursuing that soon. Are you going to the gym today? I'm living vicariously through your gym updates at the moment, my goal is to be able to get back to the gym after Monday once I've started the iron infusions. And remind me, do you do more cardio or more weights or a mix of both? I just love lifting weights, it makes me feel so strong and normal and healthy and not sick. It's my favorite thing and I miss it, have only been to the gym I think once in the past 3 weeks now? Ugh! And I can't go today, not feeling well enough. I'm headachey and I've just started my "time of the month" so I'm very crampy as well. Feeling very bleh. Plus the usual exhaustion of course. Yuck.
 
Wow, we are all busy! :D Let's hope it all goes well for each other!

Yep, that and coeliac's were one of the first that I had tested. That and obviously a FBC which came back normal, twice. I went to gym for an hour last night! Wasn't actually as hard as the night before, but my ankle keeps giving way but I don't NOT want to go tonight, so may have to do some cycling or something, something easier on my ankles. Not sure what I can do though to keep the weight off of it. I think body weight exercises on my legs are going to be a big no-no. I'm definitely aching today, so tonight will just add the icing to the cake and tomorrow is going to be a super-achy day. I do a mix of both, but more so weight lifting now. It makes me feel so much better than myself, and I can actually see the changes in myself, which make me incredibly happy.

That's not good! :( That's going to put your iron levels down too! You can moan about it all, as much as you like! Definitely an ear here for you! :)

As for me, I'm the 'constipated' frequent toilet visitor. It hurts. A LOT, just a big pain in my left side. Pretty sure I saw blood again. Massive chunks of mucus, and mucus in general. All orange-y. Ugh. If I'm not inflamed now, I never will be. Let's just hope they find something tomorrow, because this is absolutely annoying. I tried buscopan this morning (I may have already said this) but it did nothing at all. I think I am going to cope without pain killers, but we shall see.
 
Kelleh, I know, menstruation is not my friend right now (not that it's ever my friend!). I don't want kids anyway so maybe I should just get a hysterectomy, cut the stupid thing out! :p Speaking of blood loss, I actually did have a bit more rectal bleeding on Tuesday as well, but I could tell it was coming and I took measures to stop it before it got bad. For me, I seem to form a new internal hemmie whenever I have a lot of diarrhea, but constipation doesn't seem to affect the hemmie situation negatively. I was definitely going a lot on Tuesday and I could tell it was aggravating things inside.So I took a bunch of Zofran to slow things down and constipate myself, plus I did one of my steroid suppositories to heal the little internal hemmie that did form. So that worked out well, I only had a teensy bit of blood on the TP a few times that day but nothing in the toilet bowl, and nothing since that day.

Orange colored stools tend to indicate inflammation (for me at least it does) so hopefully with all your symptoms right now this means that something will show up on the scope tomorrow. Good luck!!
 
I don't think it's any woman's friend. :D I will keep mine though, however, even though it seems to make my stomach worse too. Although I'm not due yet, so doesn't explain my stomach right now.

I actually said something on a different thread about haemorrhoids. I actually only really get them really badly inflamed when I have diarrhoea. Constipation just doesn't bother them at all. Well, I don't think they do. I know diarrhoea causes me to get fissures too, but I actually think mine are almost healed now, so not all too bad really! The only thing that really helped me was Prednisolone and a lot of time and patience.

I did have some orange in my stool which was absolutely covered in mucus yesterday, but I took that it was from some Indian and Chinese food I have eaten in the last couple of days. However, the mucus is DEFINITELY orange and was there all last week and is now in huge chunks. It's not nice to think about, but it certainly fits in with the whole Halloween time of the year! :lol:

Let's hope! :) Maybe it is proctitis and this is why bloods never showed anything, because it is well known not to! Or maybe, this is just the start. Apparently the beginning of UC starts with constipation and can take years before the whole huge horror scene bleeding and diarrhoea occurs. Although, I know with my bf, his just started randomly at full force.
 
Pumpkin spice mucus! :p Ha ha! Now, you know this means that I'm expecting you to have green & red mucus at xmas time. ;) (Kidding of course! But now that I think of it, it could be done. Blue food coloring turns my stool green, and if I could get myself to bleed again then that'd account for the red...)

Constipation does seem to give me new fissures every so often - pushing out a large, hard stool tends to, well, rip me a new one. :p My fissures are never very large though and they don't bleed much at all, so a fissure is preferable to me over a hemmie. My hemmies can and will bleed profusely and frequently. So yeah, constipation isn't fun but at least it alleviates the hemmie issue.

I only know one person "in real life" who has UC, but I think he's an atypical case. Honestly I'm jealous of him. He's a co-worker of mine. He said he got sick as a child but has been in remission since then, and he's now at retirement age so he's been in remission for something like 5+ decades! He only takes Lialda as a maintenance med and he never seems to have any symptoms ever. He can eat anything, which is the worst part. His desk is across from mine and I've seen him eat salad, nuts, even popcorn! Those foods would shred my insides but he's fine with it, no foods bother him at all. The only thing worse than watching healthy normal people eat foods like that, is watching someone with IBD eating foods like that. Seriously, why can't that be me?? I miss popcorn so much! :(
 
That would be extremely crazy! Holiday coloured mucus. Morbid, weird and cool all at the same time. :lol:

I don't tend to ever let out a big BM! They're always small and today, they're very small. Ick. I hate my body so much. I am really hoping they find something tomorrow. I'm very eager to get this over and done with. I'm not sure if I am going to get my answer, but I'm sure if there is something to see, it will be seen tomorrow. If not, I think I am going to shift elsewhere, or at least get help with the pain I have now. Well, MRI first to probably rule out small intestine problems, but I'm pretty sure by the placement that it is in my colon and rectum.

Wow, my boyfriend wouldn't even consider popcorn! I do, but only to check it does irritate me, and of course it does, every damn time! I never learn. Now I want popcorn. :( I've eaten a whole bag of nuts and some vegetable crisps, so I really don't need any more food and sometimes I find it hard to distinguish between tummy upset and hunger. Sounds weird, I know. One day you shall be able to eat popcorn!
 
Kelleh, so you mainly just have like little rabbit poos? I hate those, it seems like so much work to get them to pass and then when you look in the toilet it's just like 3 tiny pebbles. The result doesn't equal the work or suffering that goes into making and passing them. I fortunately don't have those very often (they only seem to happen when I'm REALLY constipated, like if I have multiple days in a row of taking too much Zofran). As long as I'm careful about what meds I'm taking, I can usually avoid getting to that point. But yeah, I hate those too.

I wouldn't even consider popcorn, either. It's a guts killer for me in multiple ways. It's so high in fiber that the fiber content alone does terrible things to me. And then there's the hulls, they don't break down and they're sharp and you can feel them scraping along as they move through. Ugh, popcorn just equals pain. But I do miss it, particularly when going out to a movie. Hubby and I found some popcorn-flavored jelly beans (they taste better than they sound) so lately I've been buying a bag of those to sneak in to the theater when we go to see a movie. They're an acceptable substitute but they're obviously nothing like real popcorn.

Okay, so here's a question for all the ladies who are also bleeders - do you find yourself playing the "menstrual blood or rectal blood?" guessing game every single month? :p Seriously, I can never tell! If there's blood in the toilet and it's that time of the month, I'm always left guessing if it's one or the other (or both). It's disconcerting!
 
well drat, my appt has had to be moved to next Tues.

my youngest son is super ill with a cough and can't go to school until Monday and has a followup from urgent care this morning, with the GP tomorrow. Poor kid got an oral steroid this morning, is on azithromycin, and an inhaler. They want to be sure he doesn't have reactive airway disease, or pertussis!!
 
Sorry for the double post!

Kstene - welcome! I think you've already gotten all the advice I would have given! Good luck today with prep, and tomorrow with the scope.

Cat - I guess because my blood is from a fissure I'm "lucky" in that when I'm bleeding from the rear, I'm also usually in pain :-/ So I don't get as confused.
 
Wildmtn, aw, poor thing! I had maybe pertussis when I was a freshman in high school. They couldn't definitively diagnose me (that seems to be a theme with my life, hah) but they said it sure seemed like it. All I know is I coughed for about 10 months straight and it was not a fun time. (I was vaccinated as a child, but apparently that vaccine can sometimes wear off over time.) So I can relate, and I hope he recovers much more quickly than I did! It's also good that you were able to reschedule for just a few days later and don't have to wait weeks or months for another GI appointment.

Still, we all have appointments coming up very shortly. Kelleh and Kstene have scopes on Friday, I have an iron infusion on Monday, Wildmtn has a GI appt on Tuesday. Am I missing anybody? Hopefully we all get some answers and/or feel better after our appointments!
 
Good luck to everyone who has upcoming appointments.

Another "does anybody else..." question: Does anybody else have reddish bits in their mucus? I haven't had much visible blood from my rectum, I think, but I have a TON of mucus and sometimes it's colorful. Sometimes I try to go and only get out mucus, if anything. Not fun, though I guess it's better than D.

I got a call from my GI's office this week suggesting that I move up the date of my colonoscopy. I would love to, but the only days my GI does them are my teaching days, so I would need to plan this well in advance. There was an opening for this morning, but that just wasn't going to work. I wish I knew why my GI thinks I should have it sooner, though. She's very nice and thorough, though.
 
Yes Cat, it's weird because I have been taking lactulose, which obviously shouldn't be doing that. If I truly have fructose malabsorption, then possibly that is the reason. Laxido is generally OK. When I seem to flare, I'm pretty sure I start prolapsing when I try and pass anything. Gross, I know.

I had pumpkin seeds last night and that did the same to me like you and popcorn. Popcorn can do it, and other times it doesn't.

As for your question, I definitely try and guess. [emoji14]

Wildmtnhoney, sorry to hear that. Hope your son gets better soon!

CatLady42, yes, sometimes on the red part. Probably from a fissure or haemorrhoid. You are like me, my mucus is a stupid amount of different colours. As I said to Cat the other day, it's orange to match Halloween at the moment. :p

Waiting for everybody to get up out of my house and use the bathroom so I can start my scope prep. Surprisingly calm at the moment. No nerves, although I have some tenesmus and horrible pressure. If they don't find something today, they never will. :p
 
@Kstene My bloods come back clean with no issues everytime. Even with 25 cms of very inflamed bowel, nothing shows. My doc actually told me this yesterday and said that sometimes blood tests can lie. Other tests, like CT scans and colonoscopies, do not :)
 
My sigmoidoscopy is done. It didn't hurt, but was uncomfortable. Everything looked fine, but biopsies have been taken.

The only drama that took place was when I was leaving I almost blacked out and I was made to rest in hospital and was giving toast, tea AND biscuits. I think the shock to my body made me almost pass out. I almost threw up, I was sweating, lost my vision and hearing. I didn't lose consciousness though. They were a very nice department. I'm still kinda light headed but it's done with. :) Iam thinking my stomach problems may be IBS problems induced by fructose malabsorption, so my next step is to attempt and get the breath test, rather than being diagnosed by process of elimination. :)
 
CatLady, as to why they want to move your scope forward - the only thing I can think is, if you're having bad symptoms right now then they probably want to do the scope while things are bad. For some of us, there's such a long wait for a colonoscopy that we make the appointment while things are bad, but then weeks or months go by and things improve on their own and then not much is seen on the scope. It's best to have the test when things are at their worst, that gives you the best chance of finding out what the cause is. Just my guess though!

I have mucus sometimes, lately not very much but a little bit. My poo can be a rainbow of colors and my mucus can as well. That's not very helpful, but it definitely happens to me as well!

Kelleh, pumpkin seeds - ouch! I avoid those as well, anything like seeds or nuts just doesn't break down properly (no matter how well I chew them) and they hurt all the way through.

Are you doing the enemas at home and then going to the hospital for the scope? I did my enemas in the hospital (the nurse did them for me as I had never done an enema before). Good luck with your scope! I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear how it went!

As for me, I'm actually having a halfway decent day. The exhaustion is still there, but it's quieter than it's been. It's like it's still trying to yell at me but it's further away so it's just sort of a whisper rather than a shout. (If that makes any sense at all.) I think I'm actually feeling well enough to go to the gym today! :D Seriously excited about it, too. It's been awhile and I've missed being in my happy place.
 
Kelleh, did you have the scope yet? It's almost 9 AM here but I think it's later in the day (early/mid-afternoon?) there in the UK? How'd it go? Or are you still waiting to have the scope?
 
Yep, it's just above your first post as to what happened! I feel a bit sore and icky at the moment, but I just need to eat again.
 
Hah, thanks, I totally missed seeing that post! :p Clearly the fatigue is still affecting my cognitive abilities somewhat.

Holy cow, that almost passing out stuff is scary - did they figure out why exactly that happened? Did your blood pressure drop or something like that? Hopefully you're okay now. That's frustrating that they didn't find anything, but I'm glad they took biopsies. And it sounds like you have a plan in mind for what to do next, that's a good thing and I hope that is worthwhile. I'm glad you got the scope over with, I know you were worried about it. I hope you're resting and eating and doing better now!
 
Kelleh - the near-passing out doesn't sound fun or good at all! Glad you're home and ok now. I'm sorry they didn't find an answer during your scope today.

In me news -- I thought I was getting a nice reprieve from the D...until I kept not going :( Then I realized that I've been cold for days, my hair has been clogging the drain in the shower, I've been needing an afternoon nap, and the icing on the cake, I GAINED nearly 10lbs in not quite 3 weeks!! I had thyroiditis way back in March, then my thyroid went too low, and we've been trying to find the right dose of thyroid meds ever since. So I called the endo today and they're going to try to get me in for a blood test today.
 
Sorry for the double post (again!) but since we were recently talking about little rabbit poos, I just had to share my whine that that is what I just had -- and they ARE super annoying! Totally feel for everyone who goes through that on a regular (or any) basis!!
 
Wildmtn (and everyone else), you don't need to apologize for double posting! :) It's not against forum rules and it's perfectly okay to do.

Wildmtn, I hope your thyroid is okay! Keep us posted. And yeah, fortunately I don't often have the rabbit poos but I do have them from time to time, and they're just frustrating. So much effort required to produce what seems like the world's tiniest poo!

So, scratch what I said earlier about going to the gym today. :( Sometimes at work I "spot check" where my body is at by taking the stairs from 3rd floor down to the basement and back up again. Just now I did that, and I felt horrible afterwards. That's not good. My head is throbbing, I felt for a second like I might pass out, totally winded, just a general awful feeling. This indicates that I shouldn't go to the gym. I'm pretty upset about that. I'm just going to try again after I've had my iron infusion on Monday, I think that's all I can do. My body gave me the clear signal that it's not okay to work out and I need to respect that. Still super bummed, though. Stupid broken body.
 
Hey, so I'm Jen. I was originally searching around for stories of how long it took people to be diagnosed with bowel related issues and I've ended up here!

I feel like a little bit of a fraud as I've only just started on the epic journey of trying to find out what's wrong with me. I'm convinced that they'll eventually decide that it's all in my head. For a while now I've had quite severe abdominal pain, nausea, some diarrhoea (but not a ridiculous amount....yet...), massive amount of weight loss and I'm tired a lot of the time (although that's probably linked to the amount of times I wake up in the middle of the night with pain and feeling stupidly hot).

I'm sure I could write a much better post but my brain doesn't want to function properly. I just tried to start my car with my credit card. Funnily enough it didn't work.
 
My blood pressure dropped from 110 to 85, which is weird because I wasn't squeamish, and yes it hurt at times, but nothing to warrant that. They took biopsies and yes they bled, but not a lot. Just have to wait for the biopsy results now, but I have a feeling they're going to come back clear. No idea what it could have meant. It was just weird. Somebody suggested shock to the system or hit the wrong nerve. It was just weird. I was light headed all day, just not to the point where I was almost throwing up, blacking out or losing my hearing.

Put funnily enough, my rectum was fine as well! Well, she said it was, I didn't actually see it! Apparently no haemorrhoids either and fissures all healed, so that's a plus, but doesn't explain my mass mucus production.
 
Does anyone know, can a fiber supplement, like Benefiber, lead to D? My nutritionist had wanted me to add it this week, so I took the first serving yesterday, and now I have swung from C two days ago, to mushy yesterday, to watery D today!
 
Hey all.

I've had a shitty shitty week. We had a death in the family and it's been tumultuous and sad and panicky and awful.

I've tried to take a break from trying to get answers, honestly, because I'm managing okay with Omeprazole, Gaviscon and a cautious approach to any "risky" foods. I'm still as anemic as I have been, but at least it's not worse, and there's so much else going on I just CAN'T right now.

I'm hoping I'll have the energy to deal with it again in a couple of weeks or so.
 

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