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Do these symptoms indicate colon/rectal involvement?

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Posted 8/31/2007 7:33 PM (GMT -6)
Hi everyone,

I have a question for ya'll.

Do these symptoms indicate colon/rectal involvement? I have been having pain in the LLQ as well as the LRQ and overall crampiness everywhere especially after eating. Also, (prepare yourself for the grossness.......) Butt leakage? Sorry, I know it's gross but who else can I ask about this? Ok ladies, you know around the middle of the month you have discharge from the girly parts, well I am having a little funky discharge from the OTHER part. It is not real heavy or anything but still alarming to me since I had not had this before. It is very light yellowish and sometimes looks a little mucousy but sometimes a little like clear pus. YUK! I am so embarrased as I type this! Anyway, it seems to occur more after a BM. Also, I sometimes get a wierd bubbly feeling in the inner rectal area. Like maybe gas or something but it doesn't escape the rear, it just seems to stay inside. After a BM, the rectum continues to spasm for lack of a better word. I have not had a colonoscopy in 2 years and am currently going to Charity's GI clinic for treatment so I can't really just call up the GI and ask these questions. I do have an appt. on the 10th but will have to change it as it falls on one of the few days that I absolutely cannot take off of work. Additionally, my right side has been hurting all below my ribcage. My hips were even hurting earlier today. I am off the prednisone as of last Wednesday and these symptoms have worsened ever since. More frequent BM's and more of a feeling of urgency than before. A little history, I was off the Imuran for three weeks in July which set off this flare to begin with. The prednisone was helping but I think the taper may have been too fast. The one colonoscopy only showed a stricture in the terminal ilieum that was so bad they couldn't get past it. Okay, that is all I can think of at the moment. Please offer any input or ask questions for better information. I realize my descriptions aren't the best but I don't really know how to describe it and as I said this part of my illness is really new to me. Thanks in advance for your help.

Posted 9/1/2007 12:55 AM (GMT -6)
Browneye Girl, you just listed some of my very own problems too. The feeling of spasms and you have to go more and nothing there is very painful. I will wait and see if someone can help us here. Susie

Oh, June of last yr scope revealed UC-cd in small bowel has resection 7-4-02.
Posted 9/1/2007 6:02 AM (GMT -6)
Hi Not saying it is but I had a little leakage going down from pred. but since my Rem. treatment Tues. I haven't had that problem because I got a good cleaning out and air flowing good .lol gail
Posted 9/1/2007 1:19 PM (GMT -6)
Bump!
Posted 9/1/2007 2:24 PM (GMT -6)
It does sound like you're having colon involvement, especially rectal with tenesmus (the spasming feeling of still needing "to go" even when you don't). A lot of the time when we reduce and get off prednisone, the disease kicks back up, but this sounds like new symptoms for you since you're asking. Call as soon as possible to change your appointment and tell them that you're having new symptoms with what appears to be pus leakage (they're used to this stuff so don't be embarrassed). They may get you in earlier than the scheduled appointment, but regardless you need to call ASAP. If they can't, the doctor might call in something like suppositories or enemas that will treat this area.
Posted 9/1/2007 3:40 PM (GMT -6)
Thanks straydog, gachrons, and JaSanne for your responses. I was starting to feel kind of alone in this. I will call the clinic on Tuesday and try to reschedule my appt.

straydog, I hope one of us gets some answers soon. Then we can share what we find out.

Please keep the replies coming everyone.
Posted 9/1/2007 5:50 PM (GMT -6)
Hi-My disease is only in my rectal area. I don't usually leak anything liquidy, but every once in a while there is little dots of stool,I guess. I think it is coming from my fistula or my drain,though. I do get more liquidy drainage when I use suppositories....Do you normally have D or constipation or fairly normal BMs?

I also have swelling in the rectal area and the feeling that you describe of needing to go more is common for me. It feels like if I push too hard though, something will break or get stuck,sometimes. I know what you mean about the rectal gas getting stuck,too.

I can't really say if that is symptoms of rectal involvement only because all I have is rectal involvement. It is possible, I suppose, that a person could show those symptoms if the disease was active higher in the digestive tract. Again, I am no expert on other types of crohn's. I just know more than the average person about perianal crohn's. Lucky me. :-)

Hope you get some answers soon. Let us know.....

Ginger

Posted 9/1/2007 8:41 PM (GMT -6)
The biggest symptoms I get when dealing with proctitis (inflammation of the rectom) is incomplete evacuation and the feeling of having to go in which most cases would produce some mucus but not stool.

Rectal meds cure me of proctitis, sometimes I have it bad enough that I have to use rectal meds (cortifoam works best for me) for a yr.

:)
Posted 9/2/2007 6:02 AM (GMT -6)
You mentioned your hip. Is the pain in the front of back portion of your hip? Lay down and then lift your right knee towards your chest as far as it will go. Rotate the hip joint (and knee) gently to the outside and up towards the armpit and back.

How does it feel? Is there pain? Is there a seat or focus of the pain? How does the pain feel. Does it jab or is it tender all over?

These are very important observations that might help the clinic evaluate what is going on. Prior to my first surgery I developed a lot of pain in my right hip. It came on quite suddenly at a time when I was already sick and on steroids. Docs knew I had a significant stricture in my TI and I would eventually need surgery. During the examination the above palpations were done by the GI. He said it was very significant and (along with my high white blood cell count) was an indication of infection/abscess. It turned out the abscesses broke through to my sigmoid colon via a fistulous tract. They found all this mess when they opened me up for a resection. Ended up being a double resection -- nasty.

By the way, when my disease is active, I have tenesmus frequently and my involvement is limited to the TI.
Posted 9/2/2007 4:09 PM (GMT -6)

ginger71 said...
Hi-My disease is only in my rectal area. I don't usually leak anything liquidy, but every once in a while there is little dots of stool,I guess. I think it is coming from my fistula or my drain,though. I do get more liquidy drainage when I use suppositories....Do you normally have D or constipation or fairly normal BMs?

I also have swelling in the rectal area and the feeling that you describe of needing to go more is common for me. It feels like if I push too hard though, something will break or get stuck,sometimes. I know what you mean about the rectal gas getting stuck,too.

Ginger

Hey Ginger,

My bm's are usually sort of pasty? for lack of a better word. Not quite water diarrhea but not really formed either. I find the spasming will eventually subside if I go a few hours without a bm. Which for some reason I will go 3-6 times in the morning and the rest of the day get cramps after eating but nothing else happening. Even when I go sit down and try. I will usually go again in the evening though. I guess from eating throughout the day. The weird thing is I usually don't have to push or anything to go but now, after the 3rd or 4th time I will feel the need to strain. I don't really know what the hell is going on. I just know that I feel pretty crappy (no pun intended). I'll just be glad when I can see the GI.

Posted 9/2/2007 4:13 PM (GMT -6)

pb4 said...
The biggest symptoms I get when dealing with proctitis (inflammation of the rectom) is incomplete evacuation and the feeling of having to go in which most cases would produce some mucus but not stool.

Rectal meds cure me of proctitis, sometimes I have it bad enough that I have to use rectal meds (cortifoam works best for me) for a yr.

:)

pb4,

I have never had any rectal issues until now so I am completely inexperienced in that department. When you have the mucus, is it in the form of a bm or just a little on the tissue or your undies. Mine is usually on the tissue and sometimes on the undies, some days more than others. Either way it makes me feel funky. When I see the GI I will ask if he thinks I need rectal meds.

Posted 9/2/2007 4:26 PM (GMT -6)

belleenstein said...
You mentioned your hip. Is the pain in the front of back portion of your hip? Lay down and then lift your right knee towards your chest as far as it will go. Rotate the hip joint (and knee) gently to the outside and up towards the armpit and back.

How does it feel? Is there pain? Is there a seat or focus of the pain? How does the pain feel. Does it jab or is it tender all over?

These are very important observations that might help the clinic evaluate what is going on. Prior to my first surgery I developed a lot of pain in my right hip. It came on quite suddenly at a time when I was already sick and on steroids. Docs knew I had a significant stricture in my TI and I would eventually need surgery. During the examination the above palpations were done by the GI. He said it was very significant and (along with my high white blood cell count) was an indication of infection/abscess. It turned out the abscesses broke through to my sigmoid colon via a fistulous tract. They found all this mess when they opened me up for a resection. Ended up being a double resection -- nasty.

By the way, when my disease is active, I have tenesmus frequently and my involvement is limited to the TI.

Hi belleenstien,

After reading your post, I went lay down in the bed and did the test you described. First, I should note that the hip pain is not constant. It seems to come on after eating or when I start going to the bathroom. And it comes with the abdominal cramping. Anyway, upon raising my leg up I immediately have pain in the TI area. When the hip pain begins it does seem to radiate from the TI area. I don't know if this description is helpful to you so let me know if it's not. Secondly, I am exactly like you in that the GI told me after the colonoscopy that I had a severe stricture in the TI that would eventually need to come out and that he would try to prolong surgery as long as possible by treating it with the Imuran. I don't know if maybe the Imuran is no longer doing its job with that or not. In any case, my meds are not working as well as they once were. And finally, as for the tenesmus, this is somewhat a new development for me and I would assume coupled with my other sx's that my disease is definitely active right now. I should also mention that the entire right side of my abdomen is tender to palpations, from right below the ribcage down and also directly above the belly button all the way across.

Posted 9/2/2007 4:30 PM (GMT -6)
Tenesmus blows chunks -- one of my biggest problem symptoms during my first ride on the Crohn's-go-round. Ack. One thing that helped that was cortisone -- only its in enema form, so that you use it before bed and you can let the medication sit overnight. Problem with me was, my gut was so spazzy that I could only hang on to it for a few hours at the most before I jumped outta bed and ran for the bathroom. But even that little bit seemed to help. You might also look into Rowasa, which is an similar enema form of asacol.

Prednisone sucks, but if my experience tells me anything, they'll probably put you back on it. It's not unusual for things to get grumpy when you finally go off the stuff. Hopefully they start you back on a small dose and just taper it a little longer.

One of the best investments I ever made was baby wipes. And now Cottonelle makes these ones that you can flush. They smell fresh and clean, and I keep a box on the back of the toilet at all times. Even though I'm not having CD problems at the moment, when it's that time of the month, it's great not to have to feel all funky and nasty. On really hot days, I can sort of wash up with them. After a BM, if I still feel funky, they fix it right up. AND, what's best of all, the package they come in doesn't let them all pull up in a huge chunk like others. Nice and one at a time. And no pinching fingers getting a fresh pile of them going, either. These things are awesome. I got them at Walgreens for like 2.50 or something.

Also -- spoil yourself a little. Get a detachable shower head. Not to be indelicate, when you're in the shower, you can take the shower head and use it to make sure things get good and cleaned out. And get some shower gel that you really like. I got some Caress -- one is Japanese and the other is Morrocan, and they're really heavy on the moisturizers -- plus not too expensive. If you wanna go even cheaper, the Caress that smells like Orchids is really good, too. I've found that it does my mental state wonders when I feel and smell clean.

Another handy dandy thing? THe Olay daily facial cloths -- the ones with the cleanser in them. I get a package and cut them into fourths or even sixths, because that's all a person really needs to scrub their face. Then, if I'm travelling, or even just having a busy day, I can pop into a restroom and use a whole one to wash up completely. No fuss, no mess from carrying around lotions and potions.

I'm also something of a perfume person. If you wanna get into that, it's probably a whole other thread, but it's one of those things that makes me feel better about life.
Posted 9/2/2007 4:43 PM (GMT -6)

gardenlady said...
Tenesmus blows chunks -- one of my biggest problem symptoms during my first ride on the Crohn's-go-round. Ack.


Prednisone sucks, but if my experience tells me anything, they'll probably put you back on it. It's not unusual for things to get grumpy when you finally go off the stuff. Hopefully they start you back on a small dose and just taper it a little longer.

One of the best investments I ever made was baby wipes. And now Cottonelle makes these ones that you can flush. They smell fresh and clean, and I keep a box on the back of the toilet at all times. Even though I'm not having CD problems at the moment, when it's that time of the month, it's great not to have to feel all funky and nasty. On really hot days, I can sort of wash up with them. After a BM, if I still feel funky, they fix it right up. AND, what's best of all, the package they come in doesn't let them all pull up in a huge chunk like others. Nice and one at a time. And no pinching fingers getting a fresh pile of them going, either. These things are awesome. I got them at Walgreens for like 2.50 or something.

Also -- spoil yourself a little. Get a detachable shower head. Not to be indelicate, when you're in the shower, you can take the shower head and use it to make sure things get good and cleaned out. And get some shower gel that you really like. I got some Caress -- one is Japanese and the other is Morrocan, and they're really heavy on the moisturizers -- plus not too expensive. If you wanna go even cheaper, the Caress that smells like Orchids is really good, too. I've found that it does my mental state wonders when I feel and smell clean.

Hey gardenlady,

You are right on about the tenesmus. A real pain in the a##, hahaha! Anyway, I agree that the first step will probably be prednisone until they get this all figured out. I will actually be glad to be back on it because even with all the sucky side effects I still felt a hell of a lot better and had so much energy. Right now, I could sleep for days and still feel tired. Evidently, either I am not absorbing the b-12 or I am not taking enough cause I feel completely drained.

As far the other tips, I am already on to all those things. Baby wipes are a crohnies best friend, I even keep some in my purse and I use them religously. The hand held shower is a real blessing. I can't imagine life without it. It washes all the downtown parts quite nicely. And my favorite body wash is Dove Energy Glow. I use both the wash and the lotion and my skin is silky soft. As for the downtown area, I use Summer's Eve for sensitive skin, it smells great and is non-irritating.

Thanks to everyone for replying and please keep them coming. I need all the suggestions, thoughts, and support I can get. You guys are really the only ones I can talk to about this and ya'll REALLY just get it.

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