Open main menu ☰
HealingWell
Search Close Search
Health Conditions
Allergies Alzheimer's Disease Anxiety & Panic Disorders Arthritis Breast Cancer Chronic Illness Crohn's Disease Depression Diabetes
Fibromyalgia GERD & Acid Reflux Irritable Bowel Syndrome Lupus Lyme Disease Migraine Headache Multiple Sclerosis Prostate Cancer Ulcerative Colitis

View Conditions A to Z »
Support Forums
Anxiety & Panic Disorders Bipolar Disorder Breast Cancer Chronic Pain Crohn's Disease Depression Diabetes Fibromyalgia GERD & Acid Reflux
Hepatitis Irritable Bowel Syndrome Lupus Lyme Disease Multiple Sclerosis Ostomies Prostate Cancer Rheumatoid Arthritis Ulcerative Colitis

View Forums A to Z »
Log In
Join Us
Close main menu ×
  • Home
  • Health Conditions
    • All Conditions
    • Allergies
    • Alzheimer's Disease
    • Anxiety & Panic Disorders
    • Arthritis
    • Breast Cancer
    • Chronic Illness
    • Crohn's Disease
    • Depression
    • Diabetes
    • Fibromyalgia
    • GERD & Acid Reflux
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Lupus
    • Lyme Disease
    • Migraine Headache
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Prostate Cancer
    • Ulcerative Colitis
  • Support Forums
    • All Forums
    • Anxiety & Panic Disorders
    • Bipolar Disorder
    • Breast Cancer
    • Chronic Pain
    • Crohn's Disease
    • Depression
    • Diabetes
    • Fibromyalgia
    • GERD & Acid Reflux
    • Hepatitis
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Lupus
    • Lyme Disease
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Ostomies
    • Prostate Cancer
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Ulcerative Colitis
  • Log In
  • Join Us
Join Us
☰
Forum Home| Forum Rules| Moderators| Active Topics| Help| Log In

Colonoscopy result?

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
profile picture
Sassysback
Regular Member
Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 91
Posted 1/25/2020 8:17 AM (GMT -7)
Hi HW community, this is my lab results, confirming I really have been flaring for a long time.

Good news: mild-moderate active chronic colitis - proctitis-sigmoid....confirmed. no granulomas or dysplasia or malignancy.

Other : some crypt architectural disarray with increased mixed inflammatory infiltrate within the laminar proprio and foci of cryptitis without crypt abscesses.

I take this to mean the disease is slowly eating away inside my rectum, and I need to slow that down! But How? I am currently taking 2.4 grams 5ASA and started back on enemas. However I picked up a horrible flu with vomiting and Diarrhoea lasting a few days. I couldn't eat or drink much and couldn't pick up my enema perscription.

I managed to get out yesterday and used one last night. This morning I woke up to gurgling churning in my sigmoid, then had to evacuate promptly but it was all liquid and mucus. Should I continue the enemas? Are they hurting? And would suppositories be Better? I know this may be too soon to say they don't work. Or I still have a bit of the flu. Thanks for any thoughts....Sassy
profile picture
quincy
Elite Member
Joined : May 2003
Posts : 32560
Posted 1/25/2020 10:44 AM (GMT -7)
Hi...sucks you've been sick with a gastro invader (not called flu which is respiratory). I suggest you take probiotics to help rebalance the gut flora. Fibre supplements are also a good thing to use as a prebiotic and get invaders swept out.

Your pathology isnt unlike mine in the past. It doesn't mean your rectum is being eaten away....it means that chronic inflammation has restructured the cells. Normal in having UC.

You really need to be on the enemas treatment dosage for a much longer period of time and taper to a continual maintenance.
Eventually, the cells will start to restructure as constant inflammation ceases (but with constant med use).

What's the plan for you ?

q
profile picture
Sassysback
Regular Member
Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 91
Posted 1/25/2020 12:37 PM (GMT -7)
Q.....Yes I have been taking probiotics and have added Kefir (store bought) but yummy coconut flavored. As far as the plan, I will find out on Feb 10 when I see the GI Dr. I am hoping the enemas work good enough to cut them down enough to only fill one carry-on suitcase!

I've always tried cutting out chocolate, spice, red meat, raw vegs etc when I am flaring, but can't seem to find out what really, if any, of the food makes my flares worse. Its probably the stress for me. I have lost 15 lbs in the last couple months. 5 from the gastrointestinal bug. I have a history of anorexia and bulimia as a teen, and I am down to that same weight. Only now, it's hanging skin off my bones. Not pretty 😟

I guess that teenage peer pressure has lasted throughout my adult life. I still weigh myself daily. I can fit that extra small or size 5 but have to cover it all up anyway. Sorry...i should vent on the eating disorder page.

Thanks for listening
profile picture
quincy
Elite Member
Joined : May 2003
Posts : 32560
Posted 1/25/2020 9:29 PM (GMT -7)
The foods aren't making your flare worse....it's because you've been undertreated.
The commitment of your meds should help, but it takes time with the rectal route.
Others have been on holidays and brought the enemas. Maybe put out a post asking about that.

Do you have enough enemas till you see your doctor?

Try to eat as balanced as possible....including meat protein sources, eggs, fish, etc.
I've never cut out food, but there were foods I limited in the first few years of diagnosis based on gas discomfort.

q
profile picture
iPoop
Forum Moderator
Joined : Aug 2012
Posts : 16194
Posted 1/26/2020 2:41 PM (GMT -7)
Your colonoscopy report could be mine, very sterotypical for any UC patient. No worries smile

You're mildly flaring on the left side and that's the most important fact from it.
profile picture
Sassysback
Regular Member
Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 91
Posted 1/26/2020 4:17 PM (GMT -7)
Thanks for the support! I have been depressed again...my husband thought I cut down on my happy pills lol But I didn't...probably pooped them out!

Anyhow, the last 2 enema nights haven't been overly successful. They are not absorbed much. I still have that flu like feeling in my butt! Maybe the gastrointestinal bug I had slowed down any progress I made in the rectal area with the enemas. Would foam or suppositories be Better?
profile picture
quincy
Elite Member
Joined : May 2003
Posts : 32560
Posted 1/26/2020 9:41 PM (GMT -7)
The enemas aren't meant to be fully absorbed....the medication is topical and sitting within the rectum and colon will allow it to do its thing.

How long do you retain them?

q
profile picture
iPoop
Forum Moderator
Joined : Aug 2012
Posts : 16194
Posted 1/27/2020 6:30 AM (GMT -7)
I'd try the 2-enemas daily for about 2-weeks before drawing any kind of conclusion on their effectiveness.

If you need faster relief then some form of steroids would be the only answer: be it oral prednisone, delayed-release budesonide oral tablets like Uceris/Entocort EC, or budesonide/hydrocortisone rectal foam, hydrocortisone enemas or suppositories.

Foam 5ASA/Mesalamine is not any faster working or effective than enemas are. Just different means of delivering the medication.
profile picture
Sassysback
Regular Member
Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 91
Posted 1/27/2020 11:07 AM (GMT -7)
I'm almost ready to give up on these enemas. I feel constant ache in the rectum and shooting pain in my private areas for two days now. I can't sleep well, the urge to eject the enemas is almost constant. My sinuses give me a headache, And my brain is foggier than normal.

Is there such thing as too much Mesalamine via oral & rectal route? I'm on 2.4 grams orally currently and 4 grams rectal. Maybe I should stop stressing so much. Its only making things worse. My husband is worried cause I am not doing great. I can't tell him every detail of how I feel. I only have 5.5 weeks to go before our trip and I seem to be getting worse. I think I will email my GI for some advice. I don't see him until the 10th.
profile picture
iPoop
Forum Moderator
Joined : Aug 2012
Posts : 16194
Posted 1/27/2020 11:37 AM (GMT -7)
I'd wager there is a lot of health-anxiety going here, based on reading your posts. I do believe you are blaming a lot on the enemas that is in fact caused by the flare itself. At the top of this post, you say mild to moderate protosigmoiditis. Reading your posts it sounds more like a severe case, based on your struggles described (and on those alone I would say prednisone and a biologic).

The maximum mesalamine dosage I've been prescribed by my gasteroenteroligist was 12.8-grams a day. That's two of the 4.0-gram enemas, and 4.8-grams of oral Lialda pills. I had no side effects from the mesalamine at that dosage, and you cannot overdose at that dose either.

If you really need to kick start the healing before this trip, then steroids are the way to get there. Either oral prednisone or a safer budesonide (uceris or entocort EC). A bit much for a mild though...

There's a small chance that you have a sulfite allergy (less than 5%), mesalamine enemas do contain sulfite as a preservative. You can always skip the enemas for 48-hours and see if your symptoms get dramatically better to test it.
profile picture
Sassysback
Regular Member
Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 91
Posted 1/31/2020 12:28 PM (GMT -7)
iPoop,

I tried skipping the enemas and in 4 days I started getting better almost immediately. I went from 5-6 , unformed, mucus urgent pain in the butt bms a day to 1 "normal" bm today without urgency etc.

OMG! I think I will stay off them, unless I take a turn for the worse and my GI says otherwise. I know I may not be allergic to the sulfite, and it's too soon to just ditch the enemas completely. I have increased Mesalamine oral meds that may be assisting the flare to calm down.

Thanks for helping, it means a lot.
profile picture
iPoop
Forum Moderator
Joined : Aug 2012
Posts : 16194
Posted 1/31/2020 12:39 PM (GMT -7)
Glad you're feeling better! Sounds like a good plan to stay off of them for now.

You very well could have a sulfite allergy then. Note that the oral mesalamine pills do not contain any sulfites (unless you're talking sulfasalazine, which certainly does). The mesalamine enemas do have sulfite as a preservative.

Note that you can get a sulfite-free mesalamine enema, known as sfRowasa, which would be fine for those with sulfite allergies.

Can you drink a glass of wine without troubles, or does it bother you? I ask as wines are also high in sulfites.
profile picture
Sassysback
Regular Member
Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 91
Posted 2/1/2020 8:31 AM (GMT -7)
Nah, I don't drink wine or beer. I only indulge in Irish Cream or Bailys coffees once in a while. Good to know about the sfrowasa.

Another normal bm to report this am! It's what us UCers strive for! Lol
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply

More On Ulcerative Colitis

Living With An Ostomy

Living With An Ostomy

Prebiotics And Probiotics: A Simple Guide

Prebiotics And Probiotics: A Simple Guide



HealingWell

About Us  |   Advertise  |   Subscribe  |   Privacy & Disclaimer
Connect With Us
FacebookFacebook TwitterTwitter InstagramInstagram PinterestPinterest LinkedInLinkedIn
© 1997-2021 HealingWell.com LLC All Rights Reserved. Our website is for informational purposes only. HealingWell.com LLC does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.