New UC/CD Problems

I've recently been diagnosed with UC/Chron's, he's not sure which one after the colonoscopy and biopsies.  So far he started me out with Colazal (9/day) and 10 days of Flagyl (3/day).  The bowel movements and blood immediately started improving, but the Flagyl (I think) gave me food-poisoning-like symptoms.  Didn't eat for 4 days and threw up everything that went down.  If I took a drink of water, 2 minutes later the exact amount of water, nothing else, came right back out.  I only lasted on the Flagyl about 3-4 days because of these symptoms.  If I took one it came right back up anyway.  Once I stopped the Flagyl my food-poisoning symptoms went away, appetite came back but the bowel symptoms returned as well.  A week later the doctor added a 2 month course of Prednisone tapering from 40mg/day (and the 9 Colazal/day).  After the second week I see absolutely no improvement.  In fact I feel worse, but I assume the pred is doing that.  My concern is that I've developed an extreme pain in my left shoulder and the middle of my left rib cage, like there are railroad spikes driven into them.  It usually comes on strongest in the late morning as I am getting up, and is practically unbearable. Especially if I take a deep breath or yawn, which intensifies the pain by 10.  After I take the prednisone in the morning the pain subsides and becomes much more tolerable, but still there.  I've also been running a fever above 99 for about 2 months now.  The last couple days it's been around 100-102.  I called my GI with these concerns and 2 days later his nurse called back and said my symptoms are unrelated and that I should see my primary care physician.  I haven't been sick in 10 years and now that the IBD has come up it's one thing after another and I find it very hard to believe it's not related.  On top of that, the GI gave me basically no information on the disease or what to expect.  He just said it's an incurable disease that is managed with medicine and that most people live completely normal lives, which after reading around here seems very sugar-coated.  He's also given me no instructions about diet or supplements which I see a lot of people here talking about.  Basically I'm not impressed with my experience so far with this doctor and I am wondering if I should see a different GI or is this about normal? 

It seems like the Flagyl was working but you had some kind of allergic reaction to it. I had a reaction to Asacol -- gave me diarrhea, which was hard to figure out from the UC diarrhea. I am surprised the prednisone hasn't kicked in yet. I hope you find some relief soon. Doctors don't think UC has anything to do with diet and don't talk about supplements like fish oil or probiotics, but you may want to give those a try in addition to your dr-prescribed meds.

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- 45 year old; female

Thnaks, I certainly will look into the supplements.

Most definitely look into getting a good probiotic...if you have mostly D you may want to consider fibre supplements too, my GI told me to take fibre supplements daily for the rest of my life and I didn't even have D, just alot of frequency, it sure has helped taking the supplements, now I can even tolerate eating fibreous foods without getting all gassy and bloated.

:)

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My bum is broken....there's a big crack down the middle of it!  LOL  :)

Thanks, I will definitely take the fibre, as now I'm going to the restroom more than 20 times a day.  Hopefully with the fibre and probiotics along with the Rx meds I'll get back down to a more manageable schedule.  Are all fibre supplements the same?  I know some can be mixed with water or juice, some are pills and some are chewables.  Any difference between them or is any one kind preferred for UC/CD? 

I would see another doctor as soon as you can, a fever for that long is not normal.  I did get a fever once for a 24 hour period which ending up to be the start of a flare.

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A low grade fever and extreme fatigue are very common during a moderate to severe flare. Your digestion/absorption has been severely compromised, so you're not getting any nutrition... lack of energy is par for the course.

If I were you, I'd look for a new GI. Unfortunately, it's not at all unusual for a doctor to tell you diet has no effect on IBD. Neither will most of them discuss probiotics, omega-3s or any other kind of natural supplementation. There are a few gems out there that take a more wholistic approach. Lucky for you, you're in the Dallas metro area where you can probably find such a doctor. You may also want to consider a naturopath. I found a listing for one in Dallas:

Stacy Dunn, LAc, ND, MSOM
4230 Avondale Ave ste 100
Dallas,Texas 75219
(P) 214-520-8108
stacy@wellnaturalhealth.com
www.wellnaturalhealth.com

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Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis spring 1999

Thanks for the link princesa, I looked up that website and like the idea and principles behind the natural approach.  I think I'll also be on the lookout for another GI, if nothing else but to get a second opinion on what the first one has done and maybe get some better information, which I've received very little so far besides "ok you have this, take this." 

When I was in the hospital this summer they had me in Flagyl and Cipro. They also gave me an anti-nausea medicine because they made me very nauscious and I couldn't keep ANYTHING down. The Flagyl was given to me for an infection in my intestines. I had a fever ranging from 100-103 which they said was from my body trying to fight off the infection in my intestines. This might be why you have a fever because you have an infection somewhere.....I'd suggest going to another GI and getting a second opinion.

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Diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis: August 7, 2007 at age 24