UTI/Adhesion?

[gracifer]

Not sure if this is the right forum, so apologies if not. And apologies at the length..

Basically I have crohns of my terminal Ilieum (when i was diagnosed which was Feb) and have just got of steriods. However, the steriods although worked seemingly gave me an endless list of other infections. About 6 months ago I got a UTI and the anti-biotics that they gave me seemed to worked, then 2 weeks later it was back, so i was given the same ab's again and then again, as it didn't work. I was then given stronger ab's however although it did work on the UTI it started to make my crohns come back and then milder ones which started to work on the UTI only made me violently sick, so after about 2 days I had to stop both of them.
The thing is, having recently come off the steriods (last saturday) i had another go at the weaker anti-biotics which made me feel generally better but didn't get rid of it totally, so now the doctor has sent me to a uringyno who i see tomorrow.
However, I the same doctor is now going on about how it could be an adhesion? I feel really scared/worried because what would be the symptoms? She kept saying that I must feel pain, which I don't, the area that I assume my bladder is about feels really tender, my pee is often cloudy, it hurts like h*ll to pee at times, I often have to go, but surely if it was an adhesion the ab's that I just finished taking wouldn't have overall made me feel better?! I guess its different for everyone but what are the symptoms of a bladder adhesion?! I so just want to get better and get on with my life, its so wearing all of this and i'm only 21!
Thank you!

Argh sorry just realised it was in the wrong part of the forum! apols!

 

[tinkerbella]

Hi gracifer,

An adhesion is a length of gristle which forms outside your bowel and is either attatched to another bit of bowel or another organ. So for example, if you had an adhesion connecting two parts of bowel, it affects the peristalsis mechanism by which food is pushed through your gut; if one part is contracting, it can't contract properly because its movement is restricted by the adhesion and it will then pull on the bit of bowel at the other end of the adhesion, casuing pain.

I have considerable experience in the field of adhesions. I have had bowel obstrucions caused by them and have lost my right ovary and fallopean tube. They usually form a few months after surgery; have you had surgery? My surgeon told me that people with crohn's have 'sticky' bowels i.e. the outside of the bowel wall is sticky, and they are therefore more at risk of developing adhesions after surgery. I've not encountered adhesions forming where there has been no surgery though. Sometimes doctors say that the problem is caused by ahdhesions when they have no idea what's going on as it is an easy answer.

The recurrent UNI could be a result of having been on the steroids, it could be to do with your crohn's, or nothing at all to do with either! Is your disease anywhere other than the termil-ilem? People with crohn's can get fistulas which do connect to other organs and one early symptom of those is recurrent infection. I don't want to worry you too much about that, but I think it's worth asking your consultant about them.

My suggestion is do you have a stricture of the ureatha (pee tube)? My sister had that and it caused her the same problems that you are descibing. The infection damaged and scarred the ureatha meaning that she couldn't empty her bladder properly and she then got recurrent infections because of that. She had to self catherterise for a while but is now sorted. You should definitely ask your consultant about that.
In the meantime drink plenty of water and cranberry juice!

It's really rubbish for you to be having to deal with all this now, but don't worry things will get sorted and you'll soon be on the mend!

Angela x

 

[Paddy Holmes]

Adhesions...scar tisssue formed from surgery. Many thanks to Tinkerbella for her knowledgable reply. I've been told that I have so many adhesions that further surgery is out of the question unless life threatening. It's caused a kink in the bowel which sometimes traps undigested food and causes blackages. I live on mostly carbs now with bland fish and chicken. Stock cubes help to add a bit of flavour...my message is, if you can, avoid surgery. It leaves behind damage we can't see!