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Yes Pepto has usually helped me. I literally had to take it very morning so I could try to go to school. I remember telling my husband a few nights ago I wish I could take Pepto but since I'm pregnant I can't take it :( on every scope I've had there has always been inflammation in biopsies. Only once did a scope (done in 2008) did the scope not show noticeable inflammation in the colon. But pathology came back positive for inflammation in every biopsy they took. Upper scope (2008...the most recent I've had) showed a tear in my stomach and what the surgeon referred to as "orange peel" in appearance through my esophagus and stomach. But I moved and never followed up because I eventually started feeling better again.

Right now my symptoms are severe left Sided pain, diarrhea, and vomiting blood. I called nurse advice who told me to call 911 :-/ so hubby is on his way home to take me to the ER. I hope they help me but Im not very confident in the Army health care system here. and pregnancy certainly complicates things. Up until this flare my most recent was August 2011. I also have kidney stones and have had multiple surgeries for that and both August and now the stones have put me in a flare. My urologist says because of the stress my body is going through. Just this pregnancy alone I've had 3 surgeries and 2 week long hospital stays for my stones
 
Nathan, I don't think anyone wants to join the Crohn's club, but sometimes I feel like any diagnosis would be preferable to being in undiagnosed limbo forever. The unknown is scarier than the known, I think. Not knowing what I have is, I think, scarier than being told I have a really serious illness. At least with a name for the monster, then you can fight it really effectively, you know? I'm very fortunate in that I lucked out and got put on treatments that worked for me, but it really was just dumb luck and guessing when you come down to it.

Good luck with the gluten-free diet! My mother thinks she has celiac (she doesn't, loooong story - in a nutshell, when I became ill, she somehow convinced herself that I have celiac, and therefore she has celiac and she gave it to me - I've tested negative for celiac on both blood test & biopsy, plus pastas & breads are some of my safest foods, so I don't have it and she's never been tested and had no symptoms to begin with so I highly doubt she has celiac either!). So because of my mother's diet, I am somewhat educated in what a gluten-free diet is like. Supposedly Udi's is a good brand of GF bread - my mother prefers their raisin bread (although dried fruits are hard on people with IBD so maybe avoid the raisin bread!). I just read in the news the other day that Domino's is starting to offer gluten-free pizza crusts, too. So there are some "normal" GF options, you don't have to just eat veggies and meat and avoid grains altogether.

Txarmywife, congrats on your pregnancy! :) I didn't know Pepto was contra-indicated in pregnancy, that's frustrating. You might want to inquire with your doc as to whether anything like Asacol or Pentasa would be okay during pregnancy - those are mesalamine, which as I said is fairly similar to Pepto, but they have special coatings so they pass through the stomach and release in a specific area (Pentasa in the small intestine, Asacol in the terminal ileum and colon). So they're not systemic meds (won't go into the bloodstream, work only on the specific area that they release) and might be okay during pregnancy, although I'm not sure. They might do you some good - it's worth asking about at any rate.

The "orange peel" look you described sure sounds like Crohn's to me. I've heard of "cobblestoning" which appears with Crohn's once it's been active for awhile so the orange peel thing could be the same or similar. Did you or could you get that doctor to send you images of what it looks like? That might go a long way in getting you a diagnosis if the right doctor sees it and can determine what it is.

Good luck at the ER! I hope they can help you. Are you allowed to take pred during pregnancy? You might even want to try asking for something like IV steroids as those work quicker and are more effective. And I'm sorry to hear you have kidney stones, my husband had stones last year and he was so miserable. Actually, up until he got the stones, he always acted like I was being sick for attention or not as sick as I said I was, etc. He totally didn't "get it". Then, he got stones and his doctors made him wait 6 months to try and pass them (he eventually had surgery for them too) so during that 6 months, he learned what it was like to have a painful medical issue you can't control. He is SO much more understanding about my illness now! So while I wouldn't wish stones on anyone, I am glad in a way that he got them because it made him a better person. Anyway, I'm rambling. Good luck at the ER and I hope you feel lots better soon!!
 
Pepto contains aspirin which can cause reyes syndrome so that's y you can't take it while pregnant. Prednisone is a class c for pregnancy so it can be used but with caution. I'm at the ER now and will update. Im not very hopeful as its packed and that's usually when they just dope you up with pain meds and send you on ur way :(
 
ER trip went better than expected. Got to see my baby who is doing well :) blood looked ok but do have a UTI. (Get them regularly from the kidney stones) they gave me IV fluids, morphine, rocephin & wrote me script for prednisonolone and cefdnir antibiotic. Told me to follow up with my OB in a day or two to speed up the GI referral. Since I'm pregnant they couldn't do much testing. They just did an ultrasound and labs which were normal I guess. (I never have abnormal labs or markers)
 
Cat, if I don't get an answer this time, I very well might go bonkers, wild, nuts, insane or any other of a long list of mentally instable adjectives. That's why I'm trying to get celiac on or off the list now while I've got time in before my colonoscopy to eliminate and then reintroduce it if need be.

Doctors appt this evening and I get my bloodwork back. Lets see what it says! :thumleft:
 
Cat-a-Tonic said:
ABC, thank you for the info. I'm hoping you can provide more info? For example, does intestinal TB always present with inflammation? In my case, I get LRQ pain but my doctors have never been able to find any inflammation and I don't have a hard spot nor thickening anywhere in my intestines either. I'm assuming then that intestinal TB would be essentially ruled out for me? Also, I've tried several IBD treatments (prednisone, Entocort, and Asacol) and all have worked well for me - your "My Story" post made it sound as though IBD treatments won't work for intestinal TB, so I'm assuming that since IBD meds did work for me, that also essentially rules out intestinal TB for me? Does intestinal TB usually follow the same pattern or can it vary the way that IBD can?
Click to expand...

Hi Cat, yes, like Crohn's intestinal TB always presents with some inflammation. If you have never been able to find inflammation then why have the doctors given you prednisone? I always thought the main purpose of prednisone was to control inflammation. Steroids can help a little bit in case of intestinal TB but IBD meds that fall under the "Biologics" category will definitely make intestinal TB worse. I can't post any links on this forum yet but please search for the term "abdominal tuberculosis" on Google and review the first PDF that shows up (a paper by Dr. M.P. Sharma & Vikram Bhatia). That paper covers pretty much everything you need to know about abdominal/intestinal tuberculosis. Thanks.
 
Ooooookayyy. Cat is having a bad tummy day today. Hubby made something new for dinner last night, turkey stroganoff. The ingredients all seemed to be things I could eat and it sat fine in my stomach last night. I don't know if it was too rich for me, or maybe the turkey was a bit off, I don't know. But I feel awful today! So nauseous, I took the max dose of Zofran and am still getting regular waves of nausea. My face is really pale and I feel like crying, which are sometimes signs of an impending flare. I really, really hope not! I haven't had any of my other flare symptoms yet - no joint pain, no night sweats, no chills, etc. I haven't even had d - my stools have been totally formed, solid, perfect so far. But I'm so flipping nauseous and feel so emotional, I'm just trying to hold it together. If I can pull myself together in the next 2.5 hours then I can go to the gym, that's what I keep telling myself. I always feel better after exercising. But I don't know if I'm going to make it or if I'll be too nauseous to exercise. So frustrating! I guess my body feels the need to give me the ocassional reminder that I'm SICK and always will be, regardless of how many good days in a row I'v had. Ugh, I hate feeling like this. I am such a wimp, remission has spoiled me, ha ha. I start complaining because of one bad day. I just needed to get this out there, sorry for whining. Hopefully tomorrow is better because I'm supposed to go out of town tomorrow afternoon! Uh-oh...

Nathan, good luck with the appointment and blood work, and with the gluten-free diet too. My understanding is, if the gluten-free diet works, you should know pretty quickly, and you should also feel pretty icky if you go back to eating gluten. If you have the blood test for celiac, take it with a grain of salt - that blood test in particular is known for not being very accurate, so you might get a false positive or false negative. The diet should give you a good idea of whether or not you have celiac (you could also have a gluten sensitivity, which wouldn't show up on any tests but would be noticeable with diet change). And of course the best test to diagnose/rule out celiac is the upper endoscopy with biopsies. Good luck with it all and please keep us posted!

Bozzy, it sounds like you got those appointments coming up quickly, that's excellent that you don't have to wait too long. Have you had an MRI before? My brain is mush today but I think we already talked about how cold it is in the machine, so dress warmly. And no metal - no zippers, no rivets, etc. The machine is basically a huge magnet so even a tiny bit of metal can wreak havoc. When I had my MRI, they even told me no pockets (I guess they thought I could be hiding metal in my pockets??). I would suggest a nice warm pair of pajama pants with no metal bits, a nice warm sweater, and warm socks - maybe even gloves and slippers! Seriously, I was freezing in the MRI machine and my liver scan took about an hour or so. So dress warm! They should give you a blanket, but the blanket I got was flimsy and didn't do much.

Txarmywife, glad to hear the ER visit went better than expected! :) And glad to hear your baby is doing well too. If you haven't already, you might want to check out the pregnancy sub-forum (under the General IBD section). They should have some good info in there. I don't have kids myself so I don't know much on the subject.

How's everyone else doing? Having a better tummy day than I am, hopefully! For those not on facebook, I saw that Sunshine was admitted to the hospital yesterday. Poor girl! Hang in there, Sunshine!
 
ABC, I was sick of being sick and at one point I pretty much demanded to try prednisone. A doctor told me he thought I have IBS and he said prednisone wouldn't work on IBS, but it would work on IBD. I convinced him to let me try pred for a short time to see if it worked or not. It did work, very well in fact, so it seems I do have IBD, it's just hiding very well. I may have microscopic colitis, which is where the inflammation can only be seen on a microscopic (biopsy) level, which would explain why they haven't seen inflammation. Or it may be that I have Crohn's and it just hasn't progressed enough yet for them to see visual inflammation on my scopes. I don't know. At any rate, prednisone works for me which means I must have inflammation somewhere, it just hasn't been found yet.
 
Cat, I am so sorry you are feeling so bad! Sounds like rest is what you need right now. I hope whatever is wrong fixes itself as fast as it can!

TXArmyWife, I'm glad the ER went better than expected. Sounds like you got the meds you need to help your flare.

Well, I'm trying to stay positive, but my body doesn't seem to want to cooperate with me, and it looks like I'm heading down the road of joining Sunshine in the hospital. :( I've been on the antibiotics for three days, and my pain is better, but I have a fever now. My PCM said that fever meant I needed to be treated at the hospital. :( It is low grade right now (99.3, normally my temp is 97.2), and we are watching to see if it goes up to 100.0, and if it does my husband will drag me to the hospital if I don't cooperate. >.< C'mon immune system, do your job!!!
 
Oh no, Allie! :( If it comes down to that, I hope your time in the hospital is brief and that they can get you all fixed up. I did see that you got some new yarn, so at least you'll have something to do while you're there. Still though, not good. I hope your fever comes down so you can avoid the hospital.

As for rest, yeah, so, I'm at work. :p Fortunately it's a pretty slow day. The Zofran may have finally kicked in, I feel a little less awful than I did an hour ago. I'm definitely doing low-res/liquid diet for now and will probably skip the gym just to be safe. I must have been optimistic this morning, I packed oatmeal for lunch! That's not going to go well while I'm feeling like this. So I will save the oatmeal for another day and I think I'll go to a chinese restaurant near here and get some plain white rice for lunch. I also know a place that does buttered noodles so that would be good if I feel I can handle butter. I can't rest tonight after work either as I have to pack for my trip. (My microwaveable heating pad stuffed animal thing is definitely on the list of things to pack!) Hopefully today is the worst of it and I can feel better on my actual trip.
 
Aww, I would hate to feel that bad at work! :( You must have been REALLY optimistic, I can't eat oatmeal on a good day! :p I really hope you start to feel better before your trip! I know for me trips always lead into flares, and I would hate to see that happen to you too!

I will be sure to pack a ton of stuff to do if I end up going. I cannot believe I have had this infection for almost two weeks and only now, after being on meds for it, does a fever show up! That is normally one of the first symptoms. >.< I'm hoping it stays low grade and helps fight the infection and thats it. Last time I was in the hospital I had very few things to keep me busy, and my husband was so emotional about the whole thing he didn't visit often, so I was sooo bored. Stuart has said if I get hospitalized again we would bring my laptop and I could buy internet to keep me busy. I think he is just trying to make it sound better than last time so I won't fight him as much to go. :p
 
bozzylozzy said:
Cat - ive suffered with migraines and auras before - normally get a zig zag crescent moon shape that gradually gets bigger .. sometimes end up with tunnel vision if its bilateral.
this is different. when i move my eye quickly left/right.. i get. what i can only describe as a "black bulb flash"
Oh well.. at least it shouldnt be anything sinister! Haha
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Hi Bozzy
Have you had your retinas checked, if not it is very important to do so as soon as possible, since the symptom could be one of retinal detachemen and time is of the essence for the eye surgeon to get to work..
Hugs and best wishes Trysha
 
thanks trysha, when i went to eye casualty thats what they were looking for. and thankfully no signs of tears or retinal detachment.. phew!
im booked for an MRI next wednesday.. because of all my other symptoms they want to rule out neurological problems.

@cat - its a well known fact (when it comes to me) that going to the gym actually damages your health... LOL!! last year, i started the gym.. and sprained my ankle... then i started aqua aerobics.. then had my appendix go haywire!.. then i started back at the gym.. and BAM! i ended up with tonsillitis. so.. I REST MY CASE ;)
so glad you've started to feel a bit better. going on a low residue diet sounds like a good idea. all the best chuck! xx
 
Good to hear that you were well taken care of.
Hope the MRI goes well for you next Wednesday and look forward to hearing
how things went for you.
Hugs
Trysha
 
Bloodwork showed nothin. Going for more bloodwork, going back for a GI appt, but my doc doesn't think going for a colonoscopy again would matter since my first colonoscopy was only about a year ago, but depending on what GI says, we'll go for it anyways.

Bleh, no bad news, no good news, no brushoff. She considered fibro when I talked about joint pain, but not seriously and I shut it down.

This is frustrating.
 
Bleh. The nausea got worse (I tried drinking 1/2 of a Slimfast and things went haywire!). I nearly barfed at work and started getting really weepy so I went home sick. I've been lying in bed playing Words with Friends and am feeling a little better now. I managed some gatorade and some graham crackers and so far so good. Haven't barfed (yet) and haven't had d (yet) so hopefully this is just a mini-flare or a reaction to last night's stroganoff. Hubby is being very understanding, he installed Words with Friends so he could play with me. :) And he's doing the laundry for me so that I can attempt to pack for my trip.

Allie, you have to pay for internet in the hospital there? Is that the German hospital? Would they let you make the drive to the army hospital? At least there they speak English, right? And might not keep you forever like the German one would? Anyway, I hope you can avoid the hospital altogether - how are you feeling now? Any better?

Nathan, that's very frustrating. What blood work are they doing? Have you ever had elevated/abnormal blood results? Something like 10% of people with IBD will have normal bloodwork all the time, even in a bad flare. So more tests would be a good idea besides just bloodwork. Have you had any scans (CT, MRI) or anything like pill cam or small bowel follow-thru?

Bozzy, the gym always makes me feel better - it's such great stress relief! But it's impossible to exercise when I'm nauseous like this. So I didn't go today and probably won't go for the rest of the week so that I can rest up and get over whatever is causing this nausea. Feeling barfy in the gym is the worst! Sometimes my reflux gets so bad in the gym that I feel like I might need to run for the bucket. Knock on wood, so far I haven't puked in the gym, but certainly don't ever want to either. I'm the kind of person who hates barfing so much that I will avoid it at all costs - I'd rather be nauseous all day than barf once and feel better and get on with things (probably why I'm having the day I'm having, ha ha).
 
Trying diabetes at my request (just a hail mary, diabetes causes stomach troubles, diabetes could cause dehydration which causes constipation/cramps, so since nothing else was showing I thought it was worth a go) ESR, and another one SRA maybe?

I had elevated white blood once upon a time, but that was before troubles, after an infection, so probably irrelevant. Other than that, clear as glass.

Scans - CT, Small bowel follow, Sigmoid, Colonoscopy. I think that's it. I should request Small bowel again, if I remember correctly the terminal ileum wasn't clear in the scan I had done. I just remembered that though, so I'll have to ask next appointment, after my bloodwork.

Other than that, I'm feeling better-ish today. Certainly down from the major flare this weekend. I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital this weekend they way it was building up.

Cat: You've been having a few miniflares lately? Are you on any medication to keep it from building?
 
Nathan, this is the first mini-flare I've had in awhile. I had pain due to eating a salad a few weeks ago, but that didn't feel like this does (this is worse - I was able to work through the salad incident). I'm guessing this is food-related too but this is primarily nausea and the other one was primarily pain. If I just stuck to eating completely safe low-residue foods all the time then I'm sure I'd feel great and wouldn't go through stuff like this, but I'd also be totally bored diet-wise. I'm trying to enjoy eating in remission, but it's still a learning curve so I still end up paying for my dietary choices sometimes. This just happens to be a particularly bad time! Yes, I am on meds to maintain my remission - specifically, Asacol. It's working well, but it's mild and it can't help me if I eat the wrong thing.

Interesting that you're being checked for diabetes. Have you been checked for any other autoimmune illnesses, such as Lupus or Addison's? I know that both can mimic IBD symptoms. I tested negative for both. Addison's in particular is rare and not a lot of doctors think to test for it, but it can cause abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, etc. Lupus can cause those symptoms too - just ask Allie, she either has Lupus or something very much like Lupus. There are blood tests to check for both of those, so if you come to a dead end with everything else then you might want to ask to be checked for those. Have your ANA checked for Lupus and have your cortisol/ACTH checked for Addison's.
 
ANA was checked on earlier bloodwork, but if nothing else comes back I can take another crack at it. I will bring Addison's up, I do have alot of muscle weakness the last few days so it is something to consider. Like I said, I requested diabetes as a matter of completeness.

Ok, I thought I had read you had a few lately, but I was mistaken then. That's good! I hear ya on the not eating safe. I am lucky that way, I like tame things. Rice is life for me xD.

I'm reading more on celiac and it doesn't really fit my symptoms. I ate a whole large breadsticks with cheese the day I decided to go on gluten free, definite no no for celiac, and haven't had any real increase in symptoms since then. I don't really have the after-dinner issues. I just have constant issues.

But, I must continue. Worth a try anyways. I'll try anything now if there's a chance! :thumleft:
 
*sigh* I feel so defeated right now :( i posted this in another thread so i hope it's not redundant but needed to vent again i guess. i went to the ob again today, per what the er said to follow up in 1-2 days. i saw a different ob than i've seen before (it's a very large practice for all of the army post...they see over 300 patients every day and have well over 30 obs, midwives, etc) but who happened to be the husband of the woman who keeps giving me problems when I go there.

he basically asked why i was there because there isn't anything he can do for me. he asked why i didnt follow up with my urologist (i also have kidney stones) and i told him i saw the urologist a week and a half ago to get the stent out and he cleared me until after delivery...and why would i go to him for a gi problem? so then i retold him why i was there...that i had gone to the er last night and they told me to follow up so that way my gi consult could be speeded up because i'm in a flare. he said he couldn't do anything about that.

so then i asked him about the prednisone because the er just gave me 5 days worth of 40 mg...no taper...just 5 days. and i told him i've never had such a short dose and never not tapered. he said oh thats fine the er gave you the prednisone and antibiotic which is the treatment for a flare so youshould be feeling better if it is a flare up. (really? one dose of prednisone should cure me? uh!) i told him i wasnt feeling better and found that the pain is much worse particularily after eating.

i asked if i should go on a special diet or something in the mean time and he said "just eat whatever you want." ok so at this point i'm just starting to get annoyed and asked if there was another medicine he could add to tide me over to help with the pain and explained that i'm still throwing up blood and now since yesterday been going D 10-20+ times per day.

He then took this time to basically tell me I was lying because my urine/blood work they took last night didn't show I was dehydrated and if I was going that much I'd be dehydrated. My vitals looked good so I can't possibly be that sick. So at this point I became upset. Here I was sitting in a doctors office with a 8 to 9 on a 1-10 pain scale and he was telling me I'm lying and there's nothing he can do for me. He said he would add zantac and maybe that'd help and he could try to call the gi to get me an appointment but i don't believe him that he's going to do that.

i had previously called the referral office and they said the referral was approved and gave me the number to the gi but they hadnt recieved anything so they couldnt make me an appointment. Basically I feel really lost in the system and helpless.

The doctors at the ER took me seriously and were great but I really cannot go to them every day! I don't understand what is wrong with this couple (the woman and now the man i saw today) and why they're so....rude!! Why do they place so much value on vitals rather than the patient in front of them?

My husband said I needed to put in a complaint on them. But I was so upset and hurting I just wanted to go home :( I'm just praying I get into the GI soon and that this mini dose of prednisone can tide me over but I am honestly scared. I'm scared of the pain that comes in waves that has me unable to move, talk, in a sweat, feeling like i'm dying...thinking I need to call an ambulance because there's no way i could even get into and sit in a car to go to the ER. I'm afraid of that pain especially being home with my two year old while hubby is at work. I'm in such a funk tonight...it's hard hurting so bad all the time! Much less when a select few doctors try to down play what you're going through.
 
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Hi there, sorry to interrupt! Undiagnosed person checking in. I have a Gastroscopy(?) next Wednesday, so scared!
Also, a question, I'm not on any meds for pain abd other symptoms( barring thyroxine), is this normal? My gp tried mebeverine and buscopan, but no dice. Should I ask for anything harder strength, or is it better to wait to see if I have anything first?
 
Hi Chell, sorry you have to join our club, and welcome :ghug:

I won't lie to you, the gastroscopy isn't nice (I had a choice of light sedation or a numbing spray- went for the latter- wish they offered both!) but it is a very quick procedure which is a blessing.

The meds you've been tried on are standard IBS ones, so reading your other post, it's not surprising that they didn't work!

I would try and hold off until the tests are over before you ask for anything, you could ask for a codiene based pain relief (as ibuprofen and other NSAID's are not recommended with IBD) but they can cause constipation is some people. That shouldn't alter any test results and might make you more comfortable in the meantime.

You could also try some natural remedies for nausea such as peppermint or ginger.

For mouth ulcers I was recommended on here a product called Gengigel. I find it works for me, and the best part is you can apply as much as you want, as often as you want.I was using twice the amount of Bonjela advised and wanting more 5 mins later- honest unvarnished truth!


Good luck with your tests and do come back to let us know how you get on.
 
Cat, I'm sorry you still aren't feeling better!

TXArmyWife, I am so sorry you were being treated like that. :( There are so many doctors out there that rely on tests, not the patient....you have to find the good ones out there that know that tests aren't everything. Try and let the mean stuff they have said to you kind of roll off of you....it won't do you any good being upset over it. :( If I were you I would be doing everything in my power to get an appt with a GI!

Chell, welcome to the club! I have had the procedure you are about to do twice. It is actually really not that bad compared to most GI tests. I was sedated for both of mine. I hope they figure out what is going on with you soon!

As for me, the fever backed off last night. I've been using a high dose of naproxen to try and help my pain to keep my tramadol use low, and that probably helped bring the fever down. So far today it is a little high, but no where near it being called a fever. I've been strictly resting today and will be resting the rest of the day so that this can get better...Stuart wants to go to the german hospital to visit one of his soldiers tomorrow (terrible situation, baby born two months early and both mom and baby are in ICU) and I desperately want to go with him as support, so I'm hoping I will feel up to it.
 
Thanks all :) The test can't be too bad, my bf's sister had it and she was fine, and she's a wimp and a drama queen, haha!
Thanks for the sugesstions of the gengigel, is that OTC or prescription? Amen to the bonjella, it makes me drool like a crazy person! Plus it tastes awful.
On an amusing note, i had a dream where I just kept pulling spoons out of nowhere! I wish that's how it could be all the time in real life!
Chell
 
Wow this thread has been super busy last few days. Hi, everyone. Sorry so many are doing poorly.
Txarmywife, that is awful how you were treated! I hope you can do something about it. Mostly I hope you feel better.
Cat, I am okay, but my daughter is sick throwing up every few hours. As far as I am concerned, I have to admit I've been having loose bowels almost every day. I usually go anywhere from 2-4 times in the mornings. Except when I am on my period - then I was constipated to the point of pain. I had my yearly physical last week with my GP, and mentioned that the loose bowels had been going on for several weeks. She recommended probiotics. I wonder if they'll give me heartburn like they did you. Hmmmm...I've yet to go out and buy them. She said to take the refrigerated kind, but wasn't any more specific than that. And if that didn't help she suggested giving my GI a buzz. It's weird b/c I have pretty much no cramping at all. Urgency and frequency, but no pain, so that's a good thing...it's not at all like before, with the acute attacks. I just know that my GI is going to throw more Xifaxan at me.

Alright, well I have to get some cleaning done. I have been really lazy lately.
 
Called and got a GI appointment Monday!! Was on the phone all morning with the insurance company. Originally they told me I couldn't get in until July or August! I told them I was pregnant and had serious symptoms so this was an emergency situation and I could not wait that long. So my insurance company must have worked their magic for me and the GI called back with an appointment on Monday :) I'm so thankful. I also set up a 3D ultrasound as my Mother's Day gift and we are going down to visit family so both grandmas will be able to attend Saturday when we find out the sex of our little miracle. I'm happy! Something positive to focus on during this difficult time. AND did I mention we are having a crab boil for Mother's Day?! Oh how I can't wait. Even if I'm sick it'll be worth it haha
 
Hi Chell, you can get it over the counter in Boots, in fact I buy mine in the dental aisle. It is pricey but it works well I find. Always been fine with Bonjela in the past but the ulcers I get now are too bad for it to work.
 
Hi Everyone

I have not been well and I kept thinking it would get better but no. Sorry this is a bit gross but has anyone else passed a jelly its not mucus but jelly really weird and my toilet trips have escalated as has the pain, my joint really ache and ulcers keep popping up in my mouth. My husband called my GI today and I am having a urgent colonoscopy on Monday.
Has anyone else had jelly in their bowel movements? I am scared :(
 
So my doc's office called to tell me my urine culture is positive for a group b strep infection. That explains my near constant backache and cramping last week, in excess of my normal period cramping. Wonder what fun antibx i'll have to take - they already tried to call in one i'm allergic to. Ugh.
 
I don't know whether to thank the gluten free diet, or just the fact that I'm not eating so much the last few days because of it, or if I'm just having a good week. After the pain peaked a few days ago, to where I could scarce think, it has for the most part subsided to a dull 'there' feeling, with aches and jolts an burns, but for the most part, not too bothersome. All the same I'm still clogged and achy joints, but you can't have it all.

Been keeping busy too, can't let your guts tie you up.

Happy Mother's day to you all that are celebrating it!

Nathan
 
So, I just had a huge breakdown, have never felt like that before. Could not stop crying for nearly an hour, feeling so sick and shaky. I think I'm just stressed for my hospital on Weds, and my situation at work ( posted in another thread).
I'm so fed up of feeling like this now :(
 
I want to wish txarmywife and Sunny Days good luck on your aappointments tomorrow. I hope you will be taken seriously and get relief soon.

As for me, I celebrate my first evening in a while without bad cramps/nausea. Does anyone else get worse pain in the evenings? Anyway, fingers crossed that the pain will stay away.
 
Astrid said:
I want to wish txarmywife and Sunny Days good luck on your aappointments tomorrow. I hope you will be taken seriously and get relief soon.

As for me, I celebrate my first evening in a while without bad cramps/nausea. Does anyone else get worse pain in the evenings? Anyway, fingers crossed that the pain will stay away.
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Thank you :) I'm hoping the GI (which is a female nurse practitioner) tomorrow takes me seriously and is willing to help. Last day of Pred is tomorrow so I feel like I'll need something just to say out the hospital. I had a great weekend though despite this nasty flare. Had a 3D ultrasound which my hubby, 2 yr old son, mother and mother in law got to go with me...found out we are having another boy :) yay!! Then got a snow cone which is the most amazing thing for this preggo flaring chick. Today we had a crab and shrimp boil which did not agree with me...been real sick since puking blood and D with blood. BUT it was worth it!! Just looking forward to one day feeling better so I can really enjoy this pregnancy.

As for your question my pain is always worse in the evening also. I think it's the combination of activity and food that by night time my body is just screaming "Help me!"
 
After two months of constant pain I can finally say it! I'm feeling alright! For the last few days I've actually been feeling fine! Sure I'm in pain, but I don't feel like shit! I'm throwing gluten back in the mix to see if that's it, but I doubt it because I've been gluten free for less than two weeks.

Maybe I'm looking a gift horse in the mouse, but this of course does put a damper on any more testing. Honestly I'm more bothered by it now than I was at the worst of it because now I know I'll probably have to wait for months for any worthwhile progress.

That said. I'm glad I'm feeling better. It's just bittersweet that I feel there is an expiry date on it.
 
I'm back! Hectic few days. Felt very ill Wed & Thurs, finally started feeling better Fri and managed to go on my little road trip. I think I got a touch of food poisoning Tues evening and that's what made me ill on Wed & Thurs. Hubby had made turkey stroganoff for dinner on Tues, but he used frozen ground turkey and he sometimes doesn't thaw frozen meat properly - he'll just put it in the sink and forget about it and let it sit there. He said he felt a little off as well after eating the stroganoff (he's got a cast iron stomach so he only felt "a little off" for a short time, whereas I felt awful for 2 days, ha ha), so I think it must have been food poisoning as we both ate the same thing and both felt ill afterwards. From now on I will insist he be safer about our food - don't want to get food poisoning again! He always cooks meat to a proper temperature, but from what I've read, if bacteria were already growing in improperly thawed meat then they have released some toxins. Cooking food to a proper temperature kills the bacteria, but the toxins are still present and can still make you ill, so I'm guessing that's what happened with me last week. Yuck! My trip was fun though and I made it through and am glad I went. :) Can't let a little bad turkey get me down too much, ha ha. I'm doing mostly better today, still a bit crampy and feeling just a tad unwell, but the nausea is gone and I don't feel nearly as yucky as I did a few days ago.

Nathan, from what I've heard, sometimes going gluten-free can indeed have such a quick impact on how you feel. So be prepared to feel pretty awful pretty quickly if you do add gluten back into your diet! And of course keep in mind that a GF diet may help with some of your symptoms but you may not feel 100% better - sometimes, things like Crohn's and celiac go hand in hand unfortunately. Anyway, I'm glad to hear you're doing better! For what it's worth, I hope adding gluten back in makes you feel awful and going gluten-free again eventually alleviates all your issues - if it were just celiac, that would be so much better than if it were something like Crohn's. At least celiac can be essentially "cured" by diet alone and no harsh meds needed. So, I hope it's that!

Txarmywife, good luck with the GI appointment! I hope they can get you feeling better. Puking blood is obviously not a good thing! I have read that shellfish/shrimp can be a trigger food for many Crohnies, and it sounds like that might be one of your trigger foods too. Have you ever tried keeping a food diary to see what affects you and what doesn't? It sounds like you've had IBD for quite awhile so I'm guessing you already have a good idea of what your triggers are, but if not you might want to think about keeping a journal of what you eat and what symptoms you have, to look for patterns. Just a thought. Best of luck today!

Sunny days, good luck to you today as well! Please keep us posted on how it goes!

Allie, hope you're feeling better today? How are the kidneys feeling? I see you've been crocheting up a storm lately, good for you! I've got a few skiens of yarn ready to go myself, I'm going to start on a baby blanket for a friend of mine who is pregnant. I couldn't wait to find out the gender of her baby so I just got some gender-neutral bright yellow and tangerine-colored yarn. It's very bright and happy, I'm excited to start working on it! :)

May, that stinks, I've never heard of a strep infection in urine - I have heard of strep throat but that's it! How odd, I wonder how you got an infection like that. Hope your daughter is feeling better and I hope they can get you some effective antibiotics that you're not allergic to! Feel better soon.

Star, hope you're doing okay today? Only 2 more weeks until your appointment - hopefully you'll get the test results sooner than that. If not, I hope the next 2 weeks go by quickly and that the results are worth the wait!

I hope everyone else is doing okay. I see that Sunshine is either back in the hospital or still in the hospital, the poor dear. It sounds like she's starting a new treatment so hopefully that works for her. Sunshine, if you see this - we're all thinking of you and sending you big hugs!
 
gculk just as a heads up. I was tired of being shoved around by my GI so I finally went to a dietitian. She informed me that many people are gluten intolerant particularly if they have IBD or IBS. This is different from celiac in that intolerance doesn't cause intestinal damage. Intolerance though can be sensitive to time of day and amount of food that you intake to which youa re intolerant.

For example I have discovered that I have lactose, gluten and fructose intolerance. Both gluten and lactose I can do a smidge of anytime of day. Fructose I can't handle after noon.

Something to think about. The dietitian has been a huge help, sure I still have my problems but we figured out that some of my crappy feeling days were caused by what I was eating and not by my condition.
 
So interesting on the dietary intolerances. I've kept a food diary but to be honest have never noticed anything to pinpoint my symptoms. In a flare everything I eat aggravates my symptoms so my motto has always been I mine as well eat what I want and enjoy it. Rather hurt over a hamburger than an Ensure...at least the hamburger tastes yummy the first time :) I've never noticed seafood to be a problem. I'm Cajun so I think we have a resistance jk ;) I do obviously have a lactose intolerance. Haven't really drank milk since a very young kid. I don't do much cheese, yogurt and def no ice cream unless I plan to spend the next two days on the toilet. Only other thing I really notice as a "problem" even when not flaring his high fiber foods...I rarely eat fresh fruits and veggies or whole grains. They cause too much discomfort for me. I guess looking back I've spent the past 12 years following a fairly low residue diet (aside from fast food...I mentioned I like hamburgers)

The GI today asked if I've ever been tested for Celiac which to my knowledge I haven't. I think I'd flip if I had that...like I said I mainly eat white bread and rice. They're staples for me. So I don't think I have Celiac...I pray I don't!! The apt went...ok (I guess.) Said me being pregnant was a "compliaction" and restricted what they could do until after I had the baby. She wasn't comfortable prescribing any meds for me without me consulting with my OB...not even Zofran (which I ran out over the weekend) so needless to say I didn't ask about more Pred or heaven forbid something for pain! She did end up giving a script for Zofran (for 5 days til I can see my OB) and Zantac but I have to call my OB to make sure it's safe which I know it is cuz they've given me both. Also ordered a bunch of Labs and fecal. And want to do a flex sigmoidoscopy? But I have to get permission from my OB. I've never had a sigmoidoscopy so not real sure what it is (like a mini colonoscopy)? Just not thinking it'll show anything as my disease is higher up if I remember correctly. I do still feel a little disappointed they aren't doing more for me. I've had a rough 24 hrs...puking blood and 20+ times of diarrhea (a few with blood...all real mucusy). The pain has been unbearable. I was even crying during the appointment. She at least offered me more answers of what the left sided pain could be...saying it could be my pancreas, referred gallbladder pain (I do have gallstones), referred ulcer pain, my stomach, my colon...lots of things. She didn't make me feel like a faker and I think felt bad she could t do more for me. The OB told me "nothing is right there that could be causing u that much pain". Now if only we could stop the pain...
 
Ai, Cat, hope I do feel terrible too! Better than anything that can't be rid of. Plus I love rice, just haven't got any reason to go through the bother to make it when other stuff is being made around me.

Gluten is back in as of yesterday were going to the restaurant to have a scoff and I figured I'm feeling well, might as well enjoy it. Had a scoff, garlic bread, mozza sticks, burrito thingies, cheesecake, cheese filled potato skins, the whole shebang. Now I'm making sure I have gluten in every meal. See how I'm feeling soon enough.

Thanks space, I'll keep that in mind too. And hope ya feel better soon Cat. I can't stand being sick to my stomach. I'm happy that it rarely happens with my gut troubles! Don't eat no more fowl bird! :ylol:
 
Looking like I will have to wait until Rheumy appointment for my scan results, I am not coping well, there are 2 weeks still to go :(

I did get my steroid test results, totally normal which I am happy about.
 
Cat, I have no idea. I know that some people have group b strep in that area of their body normally, and when I was pregnant I tested positive for it both times. You are tested for it b/c the mom can pass it on to the babe, and those types of infections can be fatal to a baby. So you have to have antibx either before or during labor to protect the baby. But apparently if things get out of whack bacteria-wise when you're not pregnant, then it can cause a UTI, although it doesn't seem to be that often that this happens. Lucky me! I'm just a little annoyed/perplexed b/c I had no normal symptoms of a UTI other than the back pain, which I attributed to something else. So if I hadn't had a routine physical, who knows how long this would have gone on. Yikes!

They called in a cephalosporin antibx which is giving me diarrhea, but nothing else. So that's better than hives or anaphylaxis.

Sorry things are bad for so many. Hang in there, everyone!
 
May, that's interesting. I have had many UTIs over the years but they never told me what specifically was causing them. I had about 6 UTIs in one year when I was in college, and the nurse told me that if I had another one during that year, that they'd run some tests to figure out what was causing them to recur. Well, I didn't have another one that year so I never did get tested! Then I discovered cranberry supplement capsules which prevent my UTIs for the most part and I get an average of about one per year now which is not bad. I don't think my urine was ever tested for strep (or if it was, they never told me). Maybe the next time I get a UTI, I'll ask about it.

Nathan, how are you doing with gluten back into your diet? With that list of things you ate, I would be ill regardless of if there was gluten in it or not! Particularly worrying was the loaded potato skins you mentioned - I don't know if you were aware, but potato skins are particularly notorious for not digesting and causing blockages. So be very careful of potato skins! I love potatoes, but I never eat the skins anymore. Anyway, keep us posted on how your gluten/no gluten experiment is going!

Star, that's good that you got some results back at least. So this means that stuff like Cushing's & Addison's is definitely ruled out then? Even if you don't get a diagnosis from a test result, it's always nice when you can at least cross some possible suspects off the list. Hang in there, not much longer now until your appointment!

I'm doing better today, I feel mostly normal again. I managed to hit the gym yesterday, although I resolved not to push myself very hard and just do an easy workout. I felt like I could have gone harder so that's good, I didn't overdo it my first workout after being ill and I hope to push myself harder tomorrow in the gym. I had fresh veggie juice from my juicer for dinner and that sat so nicely in my stomach, even when I'm feeling a bit iffy, fresh juice is just the best and so easy on me. I went a bit riskier and had oatmeal for my snack this morning and so far that's sitting fine too. I'm having the tiniest amount of cramping but I think that's just because I ate it too quickly, ha ha. I think I'm out of the woods and am feeling pretty well.

I hope everyone else is doing okay! Allie, I saw your post on FB about how your infection is gone, that's wonderful news. :) Poor Sunshine is still in the hospital and it sounds like she won't be leaving anytime soon. :( I hope everyone else is hanging in there and having a good tummy day. Is anyone else having this amazing weather? It's been sunny and warm but breezy enough that it's not opressively hot, it's just lovely and perfect outside!
 
Hi peeps.. got my urodynamics tests in the morning. and my mri scan got pushed back to friday because the scanner is getting serviced tomorrow. theyve said i can take my own cd's too :)
Ive started to feel "not with it" and weak again and my stomach feels like a washing machine :(

Im so glad cat that youre doing ok and not pushing yourself too much.
 
Well, the reason I know what it was is b/c they sent the paperwork to me. I had asked for a copy of my bloodwork, and that was in there as well. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known. But usually they just prescribe cipro for me, which I suggested, but they couldn't this time b/c it was the strep bacteria vs whatever usually causes UTIs.

Glad you're doing better, Cat Oh, wow, didn't know that Sunshine was in the hospital. I hope she can get ahead of her disease finally and get some relief!! That poor girl.
 
Glad to see that some of us are getting some answers and test results, and also sorry that some are feeling ill :(
I'm feeling better than I was in my last post, sorry for venting like that. I have my gastroscopy tomorow, I'm not scared for the actual test, but that they won't find anything or say that it's IBS or something.

Is there any questions that I should ask my doctors or anything about it? I have a bit of a phobia about throat things, they tend to give me panic attacks, so I suppose I could ask them to up the sedation a bit? When I had my colonoscopy, the sedation didn't have much of an effect, I think I have a bit of a tolerance to these things?

Hope everyone has good tummy days :)
 
That's great you're feeling better Cat. I'm feeling great myself. I've still got pain, but it's subsiding slowly, to my mild dismay at not having any answers still.

That said, can't complain about feeling well, especially with the good weather.
 
Chell, good luck tomorrow! As for what to ask your doctors about, I would make sure they know to take lots of biopsies. The more they take, the better the odds are that they'll find something. And biopsies from this procedure will be able to either rule out or confirm Celiac disease, so you'll either get one diagnosis or you'll be able to check something off the list of possibilities. As far as sedation, I think it might be a different type of sedation used in the UK, but personally when I had my scopes I felt like I was completely out, don't remember a thing, it felt like I had a nice nap and woke up and it was all over. If you were awake and aware during your colonoscopy, though, it probably would be a good idea to ask for a higher dose or a better quality of sedation. Best of luck, please keep us posted on how it goes!

Bozzy, good luck on your upcoming tests too! I'm going to have to google urodynamics, I don't know what that is. Hopefully it can help you figure some things out at any rate! And that's great that you'll be able to bring your own music to your MRI. When I had my MRI, they never mentioned anything about me bringing music so I just had to listen to whatever they had available (I think it was Alicia Keys which wasn't bad but not my favorite either). If it were me, I'd burn a mix CD with a variety of nice, relaxing music. I'm not claustrophobic at all, but I did freak out a bit during my MRI when I had a bad reaction to the contrast. I think you said you were nervous about having the MRI too, so calm relaxing music would definitely be best. Good luck with it! I hope these tests can get you some answers or at least point you in the direction of a diagnosis!

May, I've never been prescribed cipro and I've had a zillion UTIs, how funny that they usually prescribe it for you! I usually get Bactrum (not sure if I spelled that right) although the most recent time I got something different - might have been Nitrofuratonin (also not sure how to spell that!). Nowadays when I get UTIs, I always ask for yeast infection antibiotics as well since about 50% of the time I get a yeast infection as a result of the Bactrum. It seems to make my yeast production go haywire and I end up curing one infection but getting another, so I automatically just take the yeast infection antibiotic as a precaution when I get a UTI. I hate taking too many antibiotics, but I also hate getting yeast infections, so it's kind of a toss-up. Anyway, I hope you're feeling better soon! UTIs are miserable, I can say that from lots of experience.

Nathan, so glad to hear you're feeling well! I know just what you mean about mild dismay - when you're feeling good, it's not as annoying that you have no diagnosis. It's still annoying, sure, but not as "banging your head into a wall" endlessly frustrating as it is when you're feeling very ill and have no answers. I hope that, celiac or not, you continue to feel well. It makes such a huge difference to feel good again after being ill for a long time! Enjoy it! :)
 
i think the urodynamics testing means theyre gonna fill my bladder with fluid and check how much it can hold before i need to wee. i think it checks the flow rate and incontinence too. so will see how that goes. i think im going to make some compilation cd's for the MRI. i am claustrophobic - but im not as scared at the minute (lol that'll change when im going in it! haha) im just getting more scared if they find anything :eek:( because i have accepted my IBS diagnosis, and just wanna rule out MS now.
 
Bozzy, so basically they're going to stuff you with liquid until you pee yourself? Doesn't sound like a very fun test! (Although it sounds slightly more fun than colonoscopy prep, I think I'd rather pee myself than pee out my butt, ha ha.) Good luck with it, I hope they figure some things out and can get you relief on that end of things. And really, as far as the MRI goes, it's not bad. They can talk to you the whole time if you need them to, they can hear you if you talk, and they will also give you a "panic button" that you can press if you urgently need to be removed from the machine - I had to press my panic button when I got so dizzy from the contrast. They turned everything off, pulled me out of the machine, calmed me down and got me feeling better. They didn't put me back in the machine until they were sure I was okay. The techs are trained (or at least experienced) in dealing with panicky and/or claustrophobic people, so they know what to do and should be able to do whatever needs to be done to get you calm and get your MRI done. So, try not to worry too much, even though I had a bad experience with mine, it was still definitely one of the easier tests I've done and I would do another one if I had to (obviously I'd request a different contrast for myself, but apparently the reaction I had was pretty rare so you should be fine with whatever contrast they typically use). Anyway, good luck with it! And I hope you don't have MS.
 
Going to hospital now! I really want a cup of tea, curse this no eating or drinking. Much better than that awful prep though!
Thinking of you all :)
 
Good luck Chell! As soon as the procedure is over (and it shouldn't take long) you can eat and drink what you like, so you have that to look forward to at least. I hope everything goes well!

Ugh, my GERD has been going a bit haywire today! I woke up burping acid. I felt a little more reflux-y than usual yesterday and I think it's worse today. A delayed reaction to the food poisoning perhaps? I haven't skipped my reflux meds, I take a Nexium every morning and a Zantac (not sure if they actually do anything or not) every night at bedtime. I also took Prilosec yesterday and today to try to keep things at bay. I've been popping the Tums like crazy too today but I still feel like I'm refluxing. I had sharp chest pains earlier today which were dampened by Tums but haven't totally gone away - usually I don't get actual heartburn, I get the vurps (vomity/acidy burps) and the feeling of stomach contents coming up and sometimes nausea too. Today I've got the vurps and heartburn and stuff trying to come up, but thankfully no nausea. Yuck, I hate when things pop up like this in spite of me faithfully taking my meds! I'm stubbornly still going to try to hit the gym today, although exercise is pretty much my #1 reflux trigger so it might be a short gym visit. Bleah! GERD is no fun! :(

How's everyone else doing? Tummies behaving themselves?
 
Sorry for double post.

I just got back from my gastroscopy, took four hours waiting to be seen. I opted for sedation, but that was no good at all! I swear it just didn't go in!
The test was horrible, it just kept making me be sick, I felt so embarased, but it was horrible.. All of that just to be told everything is normal. I'm so fustrated, how many tests do I have to go through?
Also, I think I'm being referered to my GP again, looks like the hospital are washing their hands of me. Cry...
 
I hate having "vurps" lol.. i go through phases of having bad indigestion/reflux.

my urodynamics went fine this morning. he said my bladder was functioning perfectly :)
So if my MRI results are normal i can have tablets that prevent the kidneys from producing urine at night. its a 3 month course of meds. and hopefully its kicked my kidneys out of their bad habits lol!
So this is all really good news.. providing they dont find anything on the MRI :)
 
Ha ha Chell, I think we posted at the same time so no need to apologize! :p Sorry to hear that the test didn't go well and you didn't get any good results from it. Unfortunately that's a frustration that we know all too well in this club! :( What other tests have you had? You might just have to go back to your GI and demand more tests, or go back to your GP and ask for a referral to a new GI if your current GI is at a dead end. Have you just had the scopes? Have you had any imaging tests like CT/CT-E, MRI/MRE, or barium swallow/barium enema? What about pill cam? I'm presuming you've had all the blood tests like CRP, ESR, and blood tests to check if you're deficient in any vitamins such as B12 or D? If you haven't had any of those, definitely ask about them. Don't let them wash their hands of you without a fight - you know you're ill, and you can't give up looking for answers. Hang in there! Big hugs to you.
 
Im so sorry chell that u had a rubbish time with the gastroscopy. :(
Ive never had that test.. dont really fancy having it either!
What end of the uk are u hailing from?
 
Ha ha Bozzy, now I posted at the same time as you! I'm good at that today apparently. :p Glad to hear everything looked normal on today's test! I hope the MRI goes well too. Those tablets sound promising too, I hope that if you end up taking them that they work really well and fix your urinary issues for good.

For your reflux issues, what do you take? Usually Nexium works really well for me but not today and that's frustrating. I used to take Prilosec daily which worked at some times but not others, and I would have to take a bunch of Tums prior to hitting the gym every time I went. Now that I'm on Nexium, I haven't needed to take Tums nearly as much (I've actually noticed my fingernails break and bend more easily lately and I'm assuming it's because Tums are full of calcium so I'm not getting enough calcium now that I don't take like 6 Tums every day!). I think I've taken about 6 Tums already today and I'm going to take a bunch more before going to the gym. It's just disconcerting because I so rarely get actual heartburn and I had such sharp chest pains earlier today and it's a dull pain now. I got referred pain in my left chest yesteday too which I sometimes get when I reflux (it's like heartburn but it feels like it's in my left lung or left ribcage). Tums took care of that yesterday but today it's like proper heartburn and it won't quite go away. Ugh! Stupid broken digestive tract. I don't think there's any one part of it that works properly! Even in remission it doesn't work right. So annoying!
 
Cat-a-Tonic said:
It's just disconcerting because I so rarely get actual heartburn and I had such sharp chest pains earlier today and it's a dull pain now. I got referred pain in my left chest yesteday too which I sometimes get when I reflux (it's like heartburn but it feels like it's in my left lung or left ribcage)
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OMG - i have suffered with the EXACT same chest pain - feels like a shooting/grabbing pain in my left lung. but this was before i started getting proper indigestion symptoms - had no idea it could've been referred pain from that. as my GP just put it down to inflammation in between my ribs.

I take omeprazole as and when its necessary - ive not had any issues for a couple of weeks now. and my bowels have been fine too.
 
Bozzy, I first noticed the left chest pain (only ever seems to be in the left for some weird reason) when I first started getting GERD symptoms, a couple years ago. It took me awhile to figure out that it was related to GERD. I thought it might be costochondritis, which as you said is inflammation of the chest wall. A way to check to see if it is costochondritis or not, is to press on the painful area in your chest. If it hurts a lot more when you press on it, then it's probably costochondritis. If it doesn't hurt any more when you press on it, then it isn't costochondritis and could very well be related to your reflux/GERD. As long as my GERD is well-controlled, I don't get the left-chest pain. It only occurs when I'm having reflux issues like today & yesterday. Nobody's ever been able to explain why I get referred left-chest pain due to reflux, but I am glad to hear that I'm not alone. Not that I would wish that pain on anyone of course, but it's nice to know I'm not crazy. :) Next time you get that left-chest pain, try taking some reflux meds and see if that makes it go away quicker. It went away almost immediately for me yesterday after I popped a few Tums.
 
I get loads of heartburn type pains (as well as abdominal pains and constant diarrhoea - sorry for TMI) - Zantac helps a little with the heartburn. Whenever I go to my Dr's they just say it's IBS and make me feel like im wasting their time - my fault for never questioning them (as Im too scared of going through the horrid test's you guys have to go through, for them only to laugh at me and say 'I told you it was IBS' and also for some reason am terrified they would want to do a rectal exam). What makes it extra depressing is that I deal with so much of it at home and only go to the Dr's when it is really bad and I can't deal with it anymore - then they just make me feel worse, as they don't take it seriously!

Recently I have been very stressed (one of my kids is ill) so the 'IBS' has been truley awful (I could barely eat or leave the house last week), I had tried over the counter buscopan, immodium, and all sorts and to be honest I think they made it worse! Anyway some of the stress had lessened so the really bad symptoms improved and in an effort to avoid the Dr I started drinking one cup of Fennel and peppermint tea per day - obviously I am not suggesting that this is going to cure any IBD or other serious disease (or that it is even the stupid tea helping!) but all I am saying is that I haven't had to take any zantac for a good few days and the only time in the last 15 years I have passed normal motions has been when I have been pregnant until now...........(actually maybe I should get myself a test!! ha ha).
Anyway I just thought it was interesting - I hope all you guys really get some answers soon, or at least that your symptoms get under control - and I hope you don't all think I am stupid for suggesting that a tea could help!!
 
Cat, glad you were able to enjoy your trip, and welcome back! :)

Chell, I'm sorry your test didn't go as well as you had hoped. :( I didn't tell you this before because I didn't want to scare you, but I actually woke up half-way through my second endoscopy, but they had taped my eyes shut, so all I remember is gagging on the tube, which made spit go all into my hair. I also remember a nurse holding me down and saying to me "everything is going to be ok sweety, just hold on a sec" and I was out again. Mine came back normal as well. So I completely feel your pain! It will all be a really bad memory as time passes, I promise!

I went to one of my GP's at the military clinic yesterday to see how my kidney was doing, and I got the all clear on the nasty infection I had been dealing with. YAY! She said it was one of the nastiest infections she has ever seen, and she pulled up the records and showed me 4 different types of bacteria that were attacking my kidney. I take my last antibiotic tonight, and I feel much better now. It takes about two weeks to feel completely back to normal, but I am really glad the worse is behind me. I have a rheumy appt on the 25th, so I will be telling him what happened and see if it might be related to my autoimmune illness and whatnot. My current meds are not getting me as well as I had hoped...I'm doing much better, but I'm still in pain enough to have to take tramadol, which I don't like. I've been taking them every day for so many months now, it makes me feel really bad. :( I've been trying to get the amount down lately, but then that kidney infection hit. Now that that is behind me I guess I can try again. I would love to get back to 30 every month and a half instead of 90 a month.... :(

I hope everyone else is hanging in there or doing well. Good luck to all those with appointments coming up!
 
SuzySu, I wish I could do peppermint tea, but it's actually contra-indicated for people with GERD. It's lovely because it relaxes the entire digestive tract, so it relaxes all the intestines (that could be why you're having more normal BMs), but unfortunately that means it also relaxes the valve between the stomach & esophagus, so acid is able to reflux up more easily. So, I can't do peppermint since I already have GERD. :( I do miss peppermint tea. If you find your reflux issues worsening, you might want to stop peppermint tea yourself. It's great for the guts but not for GERD.

Allie, do you have any paperwork from your GP indicating how serious & awful the infection was? You might want to get and bring along whatever info you have to show your rheumy so that he knows just how serious it was and that it wasn't caused by a UTI, etc. I just don't want you to hear "it was just a UTI, these things happen" or anything like that. I hope you can get a better dosage or mix of medications, too. I'm glad that you're doing somewhat better but I hope you can feel really and truly well again and join me in the remission club. :) Good luck on the 25th!

I managed to hit the gym on my lunch break, although again I took it easier than I usually do. I did manage to do the abs machine today although I set it to a slightly lighter weight than I normally do as I didn't want to make my tummy angry or more refluxy. I feel okay now so I guess I didn't angry things up. I have probably taken 10 Tums today and still feel a bit heartburnish and refluxy (and I'm making up words now too, ha ha). I have this pillow that helps me sleep while sitting somewhat/mostly upright - I have a feeling I'll be using that tonight so I don't reflux too much in my sleep.

Edited to add: SuzySu, there is nothing that is TMI on this forum! Some of our issues may be embarassing to talk about in public, but on here we can talk about them freely without ridicule. So don't worry about TMI because it's not. :)
 
cat - I had no idea it was CI in GERD, and today I have been feeling a tiny bit of pain and the diarrhoea is back - so I think the tea is maybe not my wonder 'cure' after all!! - Im so sorry you have been feeling so awful recently, Im lucky mine responds so well to zantac, I really hope yours improves soon - it is such an awful type of pain I really feel for you.
 
Cat- Thank you for thinking of me! I've had both the scopes, plus the blood tests. I don't know about the ones you mentioned, but the results that I had were nearly a year ago, so it may be worth mentioning to my GP about it, as I need a thyroid review as well. The results that I got were that I was anaemic, and that I wasn't gluten intolerant, which was good. My (i think) GI Doctor wanted to do a capsule endoscopy, and I was happy for that to go ahead, but I don't know if I'll be seeing the same doctor.
In regard to the imaging tests, I met a girl in the waiting room yesterday who had Chron's, and she said that the pill cam was a waste of time, and to do the barium test, as that was what got her diagnosed?I think I'll mention that to my GP if i get re-referred to her.

Bozzy- I'd recommend not having it unless you really have to! Worst test I've ever done :( I hail from from Cambridge, but I have family in Wakefield, which I think isn't too far from you? Sorry to hear about your reflux issues, I've been getting them a bit recently, but only when I'm hungry, or have nothing in my stomach. Very strange indeed! Hope it gets better for you :)

Allie- I am so glad you didn't tell me that first time around! I apparently have a very senstive throat. As soon as they put the scope down, I just vomited uncontrollably, it was horrible. They did give me sedative and throat spray, but I don't think it went in properly, or just wasn't enough, becuase I felt everything and was fully aware. At least with the colonoscopy I was out for most of it.
I asked if it was over, and the nurse said it was, and if if I couldn't remember it, I was like, of course i ( bad words) remember it! Don't ever want to have that done again!
Sorry you've been so unwell lately, I hope things get better for you too :)

On a plus note, boyfriend took me out to see the Avengers today, so that was nice after hospital. I did eat a bit of popcorn, and missed the middle third of the movie...oops. I guess I'll just rent it, ahaa!
Hope all you lovelies are doing okay, thinking of you! :)
 
Here in the UK we only get twilight sedation for scopes, doesn't even make most sleepy let alone put them out! For mine I was offered throat spray or sedation, not both, and went for the former. As I said before, it's not a nice test to have. If I ever need it to be repeated I will not consent unless I have proper full sedation and the numbing spray!

Celiac blood tests are very unreliable, but the upper endoscopy biopsies are the only way to be sure. Happily you've just had that done- i'm assuming they did do a few biopsies?

Everyone with IBD has different tests that confirm it. That girl is lucky hers was a barium xray. Others have all normal tests until the Pill Cam finds it! I'm glad you're getting it as some NHS PCT's ration it. Sadly I can't get one. Worse still they booked me in before funding approval (which was denied, I don't fit the narrow criteria and GI Dept not willing to make& support special application) so it was cancelled. Made the upset 100 times worse!
 
SuzySu, I tried doing just Zantac for awhile. About 3 weeks, to be exact. After about 3 weeks, my reflux came roaring back horribly, and I had probably the worst reflux attack I've ever had. It happened in the middle of the night, too. I remember that I was having a dream that I was refluxing awfully and I was so nauseous in this dream... then I woke up and realized it wasn't just a dream! Eek! I managed not to vomit, but only by sheer willpower and mental distraction (I sat bolt upright the rest of the night playing the Sims 3 on my computer with a bucket next to me and kept popping Zofrans and Tums). I'm the kind of person who stubbornly refuses to vomit unless there is no choice, ha ha. After that incident, I started taking Prilosec (omeprazole) with the Zantac, and that worked fairly well. More recently I switched from Prilosec to Nexium. The Nexium usually works great, I still take the Zantac at bedtime too but I don't know if it does anything.

Speaking of reflux, I feel better today than I did yesterday. Don't feel refluxy or vurpy or anything like that. But, I've had a backache most of the day. It's an upper backache, like in between my shoulder blades. I'm pretty sure it's another referred pain from my esophagus, as it goes away for a short time when I eat something soothing or drink cool water. (I had oatmeal for my mid-morning snack and the back pain went away for nearly an hour!) So, I'm still having issues with referred pain due to GERD, but everything else seems okay today. Usually my referred heartburn/reflux pain is in the left chest, I've never had it in my upper back before! This is a new one on me. I hope it doesn't stick around, it's uncomfortable. I keep stretching my back because that's what it feels like I should do, but of course the stretching does absolutely nothing.

Chell, I'm with Star, the capsule endoscopy (pill cam) is a very good test. It isn't perfect - no test is, and you're not guaranteed to get a diagnosis from it. But, it is very good. It can see the entirety of the small intestine, although it can't take biopsies. Still, it can see what the scopes can't and it's pretty unique. If you can get it, definitely go for it! If nothing else, your friends will be pretty impressed that you swallowed a robot camera thing. I know my friends all seemed to think it was pretty cool and futuristic, ha ha. (Oh, and don't worry, you won't have to return it once you expel it!)

Oh, and Chell - popcorn, eek! That's one of the most difficult foods to digest if you've got inflamed guts. It's super high in fiber (and I believe it's insoluble fiber which is even harder on the guts than soluble fiber is). And the little hulls seem to scrape and scratch and cause lots of pain all the way through. I'm in remission and I'm still afraid to try popcorn - no way, the risk is not worth the reward! I hope what parts you saw of the Avengers was good, my hubby is taking me to see it tomorrow (he already saw it once with his friends but he wants to see it again and I haven't seen it yet).

I hope everyone else is doing well or at least hanging in there? I'm doing well besides this GERD back pain thing. I hope everyone is having a good tummy day!
 
I have noticed issues when I eat potatoes now, like mash. They hurt my intestines quite a bit (more severe reaction if I have a high quality rough potato chips/crisps). But ain't no way I am giving up potatoes- the pain is quite mild anyway.
I gave up Pineapple
I gave up Doritos
I gave up Cheetos
I am not giving up potatoes!! :eek:
 
Star, that stinks, potatoes are great and I wouldn't want to give them up either! I recently gave up bananas as they were affecting my GERD (I'd get banana-tasting vurps, yuck). I hope that once I'm off them for awhile, maybe later I can re-introduce them to my diet with better results. They were always one of my safest foods and I miss bananas! I am sure I would feel the same if I had to give up potatoes - I love baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, and especially potato chips! They are one of my standard go-to foods in a flare.

And, I really should give up Cheetos. I know I can't eat corn products, they don't do good things to my guts - but, sometimes I just cannot resist Cheetos. I always pay for it later and never feel well after eating Cheetos, but I just love them. *Jingles change in pocket* Hm, on a completely unrelated subject, I'll be right back, I'm off to the snack machine... :p
 
Ooooh I am re-thinking the "not giving up potatoes" stance this morning, alot of intestinal pain and cramping!
I did have a large serving, that may be the issue. As when I had a smaller portion Wednesday night I can't remember having any problems. So next time I will try a small amount and see what happens.
 
Star, that's awful, I hate when a formerly safe food suddenly becomes not safe! (Like my banana situation!) Maybe if you give potatoes up for a few months, then you could try to re-introduce them? Hopefully you don't have to give them up for good. I'm guessing you do remove the skins already. Maybe try different varieties of potato? Do things like yams affect you the same way? At the local farmer's market, vendors sell a ton of different types of potato - I got some once that had purple skins! So maybe different varieties will affect you differently? Hopefully it's not all potatoes. Are you always preparing them the same way? Like, if you always add milk & butter to mashed potatoes, perhaps the issue could be with the dairy rather than the potato itself?

Well, I'm having a crappy Friday. Got rear-ended on my way to work this morning! It was totally the other guy's fault. Fortunately my car is fine, and I am mostly fine (have a headache and a bump on the head, I wrote a longer post about it in Members Only). I'm shaken up and my guts are starting to feel a bit off, they don't like stress and it was definitely a stressful situation! Ugh, not fun. My GERD is feeling better so I guess something else had to come along and shake things up, sheesh! The past couple weeks have been a roller coaster health-wise with the food poisoning, the GERD issues, and now a car accident with a headache and stress-induced grumbly guts. I would really like things to calm down for awhile now! Seriously!

I hope everyone else is okay and having a much better Friday than I am! It's almost the weekend, hopefully everyone has fun or relaxing activities planned. I'm supposed to get together with my parents tomorrow. That should be stressful but fun. We're definitely going to go buy some expensive Swiss chocolates and eat some comfort food at our favorite Italian restaurant, that sounds like just the ticket for me to relax and get over the crappy time I've been having lately.
 
No info when I got my second round of bloodwork back. Still will (eventually) have a GI appointment again, but nothing showed on the bloodwork. In fact, the doctor said my ESR reading was the lowest she'd ever seen. 0. Yeah. My CRP was also a bit lower then normal too. Everything else was perfect.

She also is going to refer me to an allergy doctor to test for food intolerances, but just because she really doesn't know what else to check for.

Nothing. No information, lots of pain. Also noticed I tend to get crampy pain if I happen to eat real veggies, like brocoli or peppers. Always exactly around where I always have pain. Gah. I feel like I could rip my guts open, grab it and show it to them, because it is always that one spot, regardless of what's happening in my guts the center is ALWAYS just to the lower right, about where the appendix would be.

Frustrating. But that's life.

Cat: I'm planning on going catatonic this weekend. :p I'm worn out. This was a long week. :tongue:
 
I use light margarine, the same that I use everyday for snadwiches etc in my mash, so I don't think that's the problem. We just buy the cheapest bag of spuds (potatoes) and they tend to change the variety according to what is cheaper for them. Not willing to give them up just yet, will try a smaller amount first. Because I had them Wednesday night too and I don't recall any issues.
 
So it turns out I have whiplash from my accident this morning. That's great, I've been told to expect to be in pain all weekend. Ugh! That's so not cool, I am not a happy camper. Nathan, I'm going to go catatonic too all weekend (if only because I'll be taking muscle relaxers and Tylenol with codeine, ha ha).

And Nathan, I know that pain spot you describe, my pain spot is there too, in the LRQ right near where the appendix is. I'm sure it's my terminal ileum although nothing has ever been found there on any test. Even in remission, if I eat the wrong thing (such as too much sugar) then I still get pain in that spot. I gorged on candy at Easter and definitely felt the old familiar pain afterwards. Like you said, I could pinpoint it exactly for my doctors. Maybe I'll get a tattoo there - X marks the spot, this is where the IBD is! Ha ha. I can actually feel that spot, it's not really painful, but just a very dull ache right now. I'm sure my guts aren't happy with the stress of today. I just want this day and weekend to be over with!

Star, good luck with doing small amounts of potatoes, I hope that goes okay. And I hope you have lots of other safe foods to fall back on? During my recent food poisoning episode, I went with the old low-res standbys. Plain pasta, crackers, rice, broiled fish, etc. Hopefully you've got some non-potato safe foods you can eat too that won't upset things. Hang in there! There is a life for me without bananas so there's one for you without (or with minimal) potatoes too.
 
Oh jesus! Car accident! I was feeling absolutely awesome :shifty: earlier so just skimmed.

Ouch! How are ya feeling? Remember, don't stress it, but soft tissue: move it. Seriously, or it locks up like something fierce. Keep it moving to keep it from getting too stiff and swollen.

Ouch. Feel better. :eek:
 
Thanks Nathan. I'm feeling really stiff but it's not really pain so far, just stiffness. I talked to my mom on the phone and she said she got whiplash a few years back in a similar rear-end accident and that her neck just felt really stiff for a few days and then felt better. So I hope that's all I end up with too, just a stiff neck instead of a painful neck. I've been moving it around somewhat so hopefully that helps. So far so good, my parents are still coming for a visit tomorrow but I let them know that I might not be able to do much and they understand. They're going to buy me lunch and see if I feel up to doing anything else. So that's good, I'll have a relaxing weekend and a nice meal and will do what I can. I haven't hit the harder pain meds yet but am feeling the need to take more regular Tylenol. I hate taking even that as it's metabolized in the liver and I have some liver issues (focal nodular hyperplasias on the liver) so I don't like to mess with it too much. But I can't take ibuprofen or aspirin as they can cause stomach ulcers and bleeding. It's really no fun having multiple health issues and trying to work around them all! At least this whiplash thing will be over with in a few days, hopefully anyway.

I hope you feel better too, Nathan! Enjoy your catatonic relaxing weekend.
 
Cat, were you told not to take too much tylenol b/c of the liver nodules? I've wondered the same thing b/c of the hemangiomas I have. But I've never done any research or asked the doctor about it. I don't take pain relievers that often but was just curious if you knew something more about it.
 
Star- Sorry you weren't able to get the PC, I'm hoping I can, I don't know if I'll be refered to the doctor who wanted to do it again. That's odd about your safe foods, I've been finding that my safe foods, like bananas and pasta are causing problems as well.

Gculk- I have similar issues to you, but my pain is on the other side, usually. I can point it out exceptionally easily. I think alot of people with hurty guts suffer with the veg peel thing, I think Cat was saying about insoluble fibre? Could that be something to do with it? In regards to intolerance tests, you may need to get biposies to check for coeliac and the like.

Cat- i hope the pill cam will give me answers. I have a suspicion that I'm having problems with my small intestines, but I don't know for sure. The Avengers was very good, I hope you enjoy it when you go to see it :)
So sorry to hear of your accident, my boyfriend had whiplash once from a bad tackle incident, it isn't very fun. Take care, and feel better soon :)

As for me, I don't know if it was the popcorn, but I'm feeling the worst I have ever felt, went to a family dinner tonight, only ate about three mouthfuls of my meal (pasta- everyone else had curry), and then spent the rest of the night on the loo, and I had blood again. Feeling quite scared to eat anything at this point. :(
 
Cat: That's good. That'd be a real pain in the neck, otherwise.

Excuse the bad joke.

I will enjoy the weekend. I might even get out fishing depending on how I feel about it.

Chell- Yeah I know, but it's worth testing now. I eliminated gluten and returned it with no difference, so I've pretty much mentally eliminated Celiac but will of course consider it.
 
May, I was never told anything by doctors with regards to my liver and Tylenol, but it just doesn't seem like a good idea to do too much Tylenol. I believe I've read that overdoing Tylenol can cause liver problems/failure in regular healthy people so I would imagine then that it might be even easier to do damage to a liver like mine (or yours). Just my guess though. Back in 2009 I know I overdid it on ibuprofen (went kayaking a lot and would take a dose prior to and after kayaking to keep the muscle aches down) and now I have probable IBD which could be related to taking too much ibuprofen, so logically I don't want to overdo Tylenol and get a whole new set of chronic health problems, you know? It's part paranoia and part logic I guess.

Chell, I hope you feel better soon! I wouldn't doubt that popcorn could make you feel so unwell, it's a really tough food to digest. I saw the Avengers tonight, just got home from the theater - it was pretty good! I took some Tylenol just before the movie and that surprisingly worked pretty well (Tylenol usually doesn't do much for my arthritis/bursitis or my gut pains) so I was able to sit through the whole movie without being too distracted by my neck. I've been told my whiplash will likely be feeling worse tomorrow but hopefully it won't last long.

Nathan, thanks for the joke. :p I was chatting with a co-worker earlier today, he has UC so we were talking about IBD and also about whiplash and we kept cracking jokes and laughing. I like to laugh about my ailments sometimes because the alternative is crying (I do my fair share of that too so it's good to laugh about it when I can!).

I hope everyone has a good weekend. I'm off to figure out how to sleep to minimize neck pain & stiffness. One pillow? Two? Sleep on my back or on my side? I'm not quite sure. Going to go see what feels comfortable. I know just how to sleep when my stomach is upset (on my side with a pillow against my stomach) or when my stomach is REALLY upset (upright in the fetal position with all the lights on!) and I know how to sleep when I'm bloated and gassy (flat on my stomach with a pillow under my belly) but I have no idea how to sleep for a sore neck. Hmmm...
 
Went out to lunch with my gf today. Shouldn't have had the pasta spicy! Tasted delicious, but came out in the span of about .5 seconds an hour later in the Starbucks bathroom. :rof:

I'm pretty sure it broke the sound barrier.

That said, other than that (which really, I was eating spicy whole wheat pasta, what was I expecting?) it's been a good weekend so far. If I get my homework done tonight I'll take a run out and go fishing tomorrow most likely.
 
Nathan, I don't know if I've ever had a poo that broke the sound barrier, but I have had some where I wished I had handles on my toilet seat as I felt like there was so much coming out of me so fast that I was going to rocket up into space. :p I was naughty yesterday myself, hubby and I went to this improv comedy club that's we like. It's in the basement of a pizza parlor and you can get pizza at your table while you watch the show. They have this thing called spinach cheese bread. It's basically like a pizza except no sauce (they do give you tomato sauce for dipping though so it ends up having all the ingredients of pizza). So yeah, there's spinach on it, not to mention TONS of cheese and it's very greasy. And so, so delicious. And dangerous (did I mention I'm lactose intolerant and cheese is NOT my friend?). I always order it even though I have to take several digestive enzymes and some Tums and sometimes a Zofran just in order to keep it down (and to keep it from immediately shooting out the back end). Fortunately it went okay last night but it was a big risk. And also so delicious. :)

My neck is feeling about 90% better! Some slight stiffness but otherwise I'm feeling good. I've been moving it around to keep it loose, and taking muscle relaxers at bedtime so that it stays loose and doesn't stiffen up while I'm sleeping. I got some Tylenol w/ codeine but haven't had to touch those. I walked the dog yesterday & today and I managed to walk around a bit with my parents yesterday too. My next hurdle is getting my car looked at, hopefully there's no frame damage. If so then things will be looking pretty good! Wish me luck!
 
Oh Cat, I'm drooling! I miss pizza...sounds so good! Glad the neck is feeling better too :)

On topic of food, it's my boyfriend's birthday next week, and he wants Mexican food. Another birthday, another meal of pasta or instant mashed potato :(

My friend, who I haven't seen in about three years invited me out for dinner next week as well. I feel a bit mean in choosing the restaurant, but I'd rather do that than not eat anything, or eat something and be ill.

I'm hoping my situation at work is better this week( see my vent thread!) It's making me worry, and I don't need worry at the mo.

I just re read my papers from the hospital, I don't think any biopsies were taken, should I still expect a follow up appointment, or should I contact my GP?

My boyfriend gave me a lectures on painkillers, and has taken to giving me a disproving look whenever I take some. He's of the school of not taking pills, and thinks everyone else should be as well. I don't wish for him to ever be ill, but I do wish for him to understand. I"ve been the bad guy the last couple of days for not wanting to do things with his family, it's making me feel even more of a burden :(
 
Chell.. maybe your boyfriend needs to get some abdominal pain before he starts disapproving of you taking pain killers. that must be really hard for you. i hate myself when im ill and cant really look afteer my daughter and my hubby has to do it all.

@cat hows your neck?
Ive been feeling so ill the last couple of days. i got woken up early hours this morning.. with what i can only describe as the "bowels from hell" lol!!.. i'd been doing so well until now :-(
My MRI went well too.. and suprisingly i didnt feel claustrophobic at all! Just gotta wait until 13th june for my results.

hope everybody is doing ok?
 
Chell, I so feel for you, my hubby was the same way, not about painkillers but he just didn't get what it meant for me to be ill all the time. In fact, at times he would sometimes insinuate things like I was faking or not as sick as I said I was and he just wasn't a very nice or understanding guy at times. It really put a strain on our relationship. Then, about a year into my illness, my hubby started experiencing LRQ pains and intermittent nausea/vomiting! It turned out to be kidney stones, not IBD, but the initial symptoms were similar to IBD. He went to a urologist who wanted to take a "wait and see" approach to see if hubby would pass the stones on his own. So for 6 months hubby waited and was in pain and vomited a lot and it was just generally a miserable time for him (he eventually had to have surgery to remove the stones). Like with my illness, he could go from feeling fine one minute to feeling miserable the next. He didn't always want to leave the house in case his stones started acting up. During the time he had kidney stones, he really learned what it's like to live with something like my illness and how awful it really can be. Now our relationship is much better since he's had the stones. He "gets it" as much as someone without actual IBD can "get it" and he even apologized for his past behavior. But if he hadn't gotten kidney stones, I honestly don't know if I'd still be married now. So, let's hope your boyfriend gets sick and is miserable for awhile too. :p Just kidding, I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but it really was the thing that turned my relationship around with my hubby. Good luck to you, dear. I hope things get better both with your health and your relationship!

Em, thank you. :) I find out tomorrow about my car. The neck is doing better, still slightly stiff but otherwise fine. I'm going to attempt to hit the gym later today, I won't push myself hard but I really need to exercise! Wish me luck!

Thanks, May. :) I hope all is well with you too? How are you feeling? Is your daughter all better from her vomiting episode?

Bozzy, sorry to hear you're feeling ill. :( Do you think it's a flare? If so, get seen by the doctor ASAP - if it's a flare, hopefully it'll show up on some test. I'm glad to hear the MRI went well, and I hope that one comes back normal as I don't want you to have MS! Keep us posted on the results and how you're doing. Hopefully you're able to take it easy and get some rest. Feel better soon!
 
I dont think im having a flare.. just felt a bit nauseous today. but thats the first time since i had my apppendix out that i got woken up with the urgency to go. Normally its just a day time problem. So will see how things go i guess. my hips have started to hurt these last couple of days too
Im feeling pretty positive about my MRI results.. everything will be fine im sure :)
 
Bozzy, I hope your hips are okay! My right hip has issues, one doctor says it's arthritis and another doc says it's bursitis. These days I'm not quite sure what to believe. Strengthening exercises help with arthritis, and stretching helps with bursitis, so I do some of both and my hip feels pretty good nowadays. If it's arthritis then I'm sure it must be somehow related to my guts - I'm only 32, too young to get wear & tear type arthritis! And it's not a family thing, the only other person in my family that has arthritis is my 80 year old grandfather (oddly enough, he's got it mainly in his right hip as well!). If the hip pain continues, you might want to go to your GP and ask for an x-ray, they can pretty easily diagnose or rule out arthritis with an x-ray (except in cases like mine - I either have mild arthritis or just a natural slight asymmetry in my hips, hence why one doc thinks it's arthritis and another thinks it's natural asymmetry and bursitis!). Bursitis won't show up on an x-ray so if the x-rays of your hips are normal then they'll probably tell you it's bursitis. At any rate, you might want to google some gentle hip stretches and exercises and see if doing those helps you feel any better in the short term.

I just got back from the gym and I feel great! I had been thinking of taking it easy in the gym, but then when I got there I decided to just act like it was a normal day and push myself the usual amount and not baby myself just because I've got a little whiplash. :p I'm glad I pushed myself, I was able to get in a full and proper workout and I feel good now - and my neck feels fine! I would say that during my workout, my neck felt 100%. Now that I'm back sitting in front of a computer and not using my neck muscles as much, I only feel about 90%, the slight amount of stiffness is back. I just need to exercise 24/7 and I'll feel great all the time, ha ha.
 
Gah feeling miserable. I even started to get nauseous today, which is a rare one for me. Almost puked in class and had to slouch over and hold my arms across my guy cause I was in pain.

I feel like I'm getting worse by the day, and I started passing blood/mucus again with my stool.

Calling GI office tomorrow to see if my appointment was made.
 
I hope everyone is doing ok. I am having a hard time right now. Our family is going through a lot of stress right now, add that on top of pregnancy hormones and this awful flare and in just downright exhausted emotionally and physically.

I'm still having the debilitating pain in my upper left quadrant that comes in waves. Im now taking Bentyl 4/day, Zantac 2/day, Zofran 4/day & Tylenol nearly every 4 hrs in hopes of the slight chance it'll help. Nothing seems to help. The Pred was helping but the short 5 day cycle was nothing more than a tease. On the up side my OB approved me for the flex sig but I forgot to get the letter from him for the GI stating he thought it was ok for baby. I haven't thrown up blood in a while which is good...having a lot of mucousy D tho, some with blood. Today I started seeing flashes of light randomly...like bright spots. I mentioned it to my hubby and he said he's gotten it before when he was dehydrated. This is a new symptom for me though...and a confusing one at that. I'm going to see how tomorrow is and then decide on calling the GI about all this. I feel so miserable but don't want to waste my time if they're just going to brush me off again with the "oh not much we can do while you're pregnant." I couldn't imagine another 4 months of this!
 
Yes, Cat, my daughter is better, thanks. It was very short-lived, and thankfully no one else got it.

Still having D every morning, sometimes more than once. I went and looked at the refrigerated pro-biotics that my GP suggested, and I don't know what to get. They all seem different and some of them are pricey. I might check out the supplements section here and see if anyone has any recommendations. It's strange to me that I'm having no pain. That part makes me think, "Oh well, what difference does it make?" The pain was always what made things so bad...

Sorry that a lot of you are doing poorly. Hopefully something positive will happen for everyone who is having a bad go at it right now.
 
Looks like I'm going to have to join the list of people having a lousy time these days!!! Unbearable gas, mucus starting to show up in my stool, crazy increase in diarrhea......I went 18 times yesterday!!! Yesterday I ate two actual meals and boy, am I ever paying for it today.

I have my 2nd GI appointment on Thursday, thank god!!! Hopefully she'll have a better plan of attack now that some lab results are available. This constant feeling like crap (bad pun, I know) has got to stop!!!
 
Estrella, sorry to hear you're not doing very well. I hope your appointment on Thursday goes well. Keep us posted and I hope you get some worthwhile lab results. Going 18 times is definitely not normal and not fun - I hope you're using something like moist wipes or cream as I know firsthand that it's quite painful to go that often! Feel better soon and good luck.

Nathan, sorry to hear you're feeling worse. :( Tell us more about the blood, is it bright red or dark/black/tarry? If it's bright red, it's not as worrisome. Bright red blood usually comes things like fissues, hemorrhoids, etc. Dark/black blood comes from higher up the digestive tract and could be coming from an ulcer and is just generally taken more seriously. But either way, bleeding isn't good. If it keeps up, or if you keep getting worse, you might want to consider going to the ER to get checked out. At the very least, you might be getting anemic from the bleeding and that obviously isn't good. Take care of yourself and keep us posted on how you're doing! (And if your doctor doesn't take the blood seriously, this is gross but you might want to take a photo of the blood in your toilet and show it to the doctor - others on the forum have gotten their doctors to take them more seriously when they showed a photo like that.)

Txarmywife, I'm sorry to hear you're doing poorly too! The flashes could be dehydration or they could be something like a migraine aura. Please do get it checked out if it continues, and if you're that dehydrated then please go get some IV fluids! I've gotten fluids a lot myself in the past and I know it's no fun, but it really does make you feel better afterwards even if it's only something of a temporary fix. Bozzy mentioned that she gets flashes in her vision as well and she's getting that investigated, so hopefully she can let us know more when she gets hers looked at. Anyway, I hope you feel better soon and please do go see the doctor if things don't improve. Big hugs to you!

May, I was always just told general things about probiotics, such as that the refrigerated ones tend to be better, and the liquid (or semi-liquid, it was kind of like yogurt) kind is better than the capsules. And of course that the more billions of bacteria are in there, the better - and it seems that you get what you pay for, the ones with the most good bacteria in it also seem to be the most expensive. I tried the liquid kind for a short time but it tasted awful (like rancid yogurt!) so I stopped that and switched to some refrigerated capsules. They never seemed to help me though and they did seem to make my GERD worse, so I avoid probiotics these days (I do still take them if I'm on antibiotics). It seems that even yogurt doesn't agree with me these days - I tried some Greek Yogurt maybe 6 months ago, and it caused several days' worth of pain and I saw a bit of blood in my stool later, so it definitely didn't agree with me! Good luck with whatever probiotics you end up trying, I hope they work for you (or at the very least I hope they don't cause blood in your stool or pain or reflux issues!).

And as for having d in the morning, mornings were always my worst time as well, particularly before I was in remission. Some mornings I'd get up, have d, brush my teeth, have d, get dressed, have d, pack my lunch, have d... you get the idea. At some point it'd stop or at least slow down and then the rest of the day tended to be better. I used to get up 2 or 3 hours before I had to work so that I would make certain that the d would be over with by the time I had to get in my car and drive to work. I don't know what it is about mornings, but they were the worst for me and it sounds like mornings aren't your friend right now either. :( I hope you can get it sorted out, hopefully without another round of Xifaxan.

Well, I got some pretty good news today. My car does need some repairs, but from what I can tell it's mostly cosmetic. The estimator said my bumper needs to be repainted, but since it's ever so slightly warped from the accident, it'd be cheaper & easier to get a new bumper cover and paint that. But that is the only recommended repair, and there's no frame damage to my car! Woo hoo! I'm still filing an insurance claim for my whiplash medical bills, but - worst case scenario, if both insurance companies refuse to pay one dime for anything, I can certainly live with a scratched bumper, and my medical bills won't be more than a couple hundred bucks. Best case scenario, my medical bills will get paid and I get a shiny new bumper cover. Either way, it won't affect my life a whole lot, and that's a good thing. :) That's some stress off my back. And speaking of that, my neck finally is feeling 100% back to normal again today! It was feeling pretty good yesterday, so I hit the gym and didn't hold back, but after the gym it was quite stiff again and the stiffness was going down my back and through my shoulders too. I was afraid I had overdone it at the gym, but it's feeling great today. I plan on hitting the gym tomorrow and I won't hold back so hopefully my neck can keep up!

I hope everyone feels better soon. Take a hot bath, watch some funny comedy, cuddle up with your pets, do whatever you can to feel a little bit better. I'm sending a big hug to everyone! I'm having a good day and I wish I could share it with you all!
 
Cat: The blood is reddishbrownish and mixed into the mucus. I don't have alot, maybe a few drops, so a picture wouldn't capture it. It comes when I get the mid-left pain. There's probably blood from the right side pain but even before when I'd have it it would only show when a large clot tore off (I would feel a tearing pain one day, then the very next pass a clot the same size/shape, this went on for a month or so, with blackish blood smears/smudges in the stool when I was bleeding without a clot being torn).

For the same reason, anemia probably isn't an issue. Not much blood coming, just enough to say 'Hey look doc, it's not IBS'.

Er- An option, but not a promising one, once they decide you're not dying and you've got a gp to go back to, they are all over you like white on charcoal.

That's great you've not got much damage! Hope they do their duty and pay up. It is their job, ya know!

Nathan
 
Cat...thanks for replying. I'm glad to see you're feeling a bit better. I put a call into the GI office and am waiting a call back from the nurse. I noticed I was running a slight fever sporadically the past few days. That in addition to dizziness, the weird vision spots, horrible pain, and D is a bit concerning. I worry too about becoming dehydrated esp since it can cause contractions and low amneotic fluid for baby. I'm still peeing though and able to drink (as I havent thrown up in a few days thankfully)...I have been excessively thirsty...just start to feel sick to my stomach if I drink too much at one time. Thankfully my hubby didn't have to go to that training so he's home and able to help me when he's off work. I'm just worried they'll tell me to go to the ER which is a real pain in the rear here since everyone has the same insurance and doesn't pay anything for visits...so you have people going to the ER for colds or any little thing. Which means a super long wait and doctors rush you once you are seen. I guess we will see! On another note my followup isn't until June 17th...not really seeing how on earth I'm suppose to wait that long feeling so crummy so hopefully if this nurse ever calls me back she will have some sort of answer for me to help me.

Nathan...I have similar blood/mucous experiences. It's never a lot at one time just enough to be noticeable and know that's not normal. I also throw up blood (dark red). It's never been enough for me either to really have problems with anemia that I'm aware of. Mucous is a different story though...that's generally nearly every bm.
 
Nathan, I know the ER isn't super helpful but they do have their moments at times (rare times). I was actually really impressed with urgent care when I went in on Friday to get checked out after the accident. I was carrying my (very large & heavy) purse and said I was in a car accident and my neck felt tender - they had me in a collar and were carrying my purse for me and got me into a room within about 2 minutes. I've never gotten care like that for IBD-type issues! So maybe go in and say your neck hurts, ha ha. Just kidding of course. If you've seen Astra around the forum, she's quite the character. She said that she once went to the ER and they weren't really taking her seriously or listening, so she threw herself onto the floor and screamed and wouldn't get up or stop screaming until they agreed to actually help her! That's pretty drastic but it's something I've always kept in the back of my mind.

The local ER was actually really helpful too when my hubby had kidney stones. I thought it might be his appendix since he was vomiting and having awful LRQ pain (it turned out to be referred pain from his kidney). If they think you have acute appendicitis, they treat you very seriously. So that's another thing to think about especially if you are prone to LRQ pains anyway - just say you're having awful pains in the area of your appendix - not a total lie and they might do more tests. They did x-rays and a CT scan on my hubby in the ER to see what was going on with him, and immediately after the scan they had him on pain meds with a prescription for more and a referral to a urologist. So, they can be helpful in some cases - just not usually for those of us with probable IBD, ha ha.

I actually just got a call from my insurance agent, she even apologized (I was initially told by her office staff that I needed to get an estimate on my car before they'd start working on the claim - it turns out that's not true, since I was injured they should have started the claim right away - she said she's so sorry and is going to train her staff so that they know better in the future). She said she'll take care of everything and will work with the other guy's insurance company to get my car fixed and my medical bills paid. And I am to call her if anything changes or comes up, if my neck starts hurting again or if I find anything else going on with my car, etc. She sounds really on top of things so that's very good. Hopefully things will calm down in my life now and stay calm for awhile!
 
Tx: I am so glad I don't get stomach sick. Can't stand it. I got really nauseous the other day, and one time when me and my parents were at it, the pain got bad enough that it started making me wretch, but no puking.

Mucus- every non-constipated bowel movement has some mucus when I'm bothered. That's been every non-constipated movement for two months now. :p

TX again- If you're having symptoms like that I would highly suspect dehydration. If you're having problems stomaching it, small drinks, and keep your mouth wet, it'll keep you from getting dehydrated any worse.

If you can stomach it at all, I would just choke it down and see what happens. But you know your body better than I do.

Edit for cat: Can't beat that!

Yeah, I know they tend to take acute appendix seriously. But when I went in both times, they took blood, everything was normal 'oh you're probably constipated, if it keeps up or gets work go to your doctor'. No more ER for me unless I'm desperate, or I can point to something and say 'take a freaking look, if you're not blind you'll see it'.
 

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