Eroded mucosa in splenic flexure. Is this IBD?

[_j1971_]

HI all, I am somewhat new to the board. I came here after having gastrointestinal issues since April that I kept thinking were just IBS. I had a colonoscopy last week and am awaiting the pathology results. My doctor went out of her way to tell me two times that I didn't have cancer but there was some mild erosion that she said could be due to the colonoscopy prep.. I go in on August 23 for my follow up. In the meantime I am somewhat nervous about what this all means. I am in the process of trying to figure out what I can and cannot eat. It seems almost everything I eat gives me horrible stomach pan and horrid gas. My doctor said I had IBS and made no mention of IBD.

[Hidden]

Hi here i1971, I've just had a look at IBD on the internet and also looked at your symptoms above which resonate with mine and I have IBS, mainly C. I would also join the IBS part of this forum as there are probably people on there that have been diagnosed with IBD and they may be able to tell you more but on saying that, the symptoms that you suffer with are the same as what I get.

I have found out that I cannot eat raw carrots, raw onions, sweetcorn, very little broccoli, cauliflower and now Lactose (Lactose is a recent one as I didn't seem to have problems with it before). The symptoms I get with eating anything with Lactose is going to the toilet more and nausea; reason that I now know this is I started drinking Lactose free milk a few weeks ago and the past couple of days have had a 'cheeky' ice cream and within about an hour or 2 after the ice cream I am going to the toilet (normally but a fair bit - sorry for the details!!) and feel a little nauseous.

I actually felt the best I have in a very long time when last year in August I had a Colonoscopy and the diet beforehand really agreed with me but I hated it - yukky white bread, now fibre foods. I am really working on my diet and feel that is the only way and to also try and cut out the rubbish i.e. try and eat organic where you can, I can't afford much organic food but have at least some and cook from scratch so you know what's in your food. I am slowly but surely eradicating prepared foods from my cupboard i.e. gravy granules - they have such a huge amount of rubbish in them. I am also going to make my own peanut butter (I found this on the internet and all you have to do is buy peanuts and grind them down in a mixer and hey presto, peanut butter).

Very best of luck with your diet and I hope everything goes well on 23 August.

Alicia

[_j1971_ in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much. My doctor did tell me that I have IBS. Did you also have some erosion? I actually ended up in the ER last night due to horrific diarrhea (sorry TMI). I have called my gastrointerlogist and am awaiting her reply. I am concerned the colonoscopy done last week made me sick. I have seriously never had diarrea this bad. I was told I had IBS in my early 20's and have never had any major issues once I identified my trigger foods.

[Hidden in reply to _j1971_]

You are welcome and I haven't had any kind of erosion but my IBS is certainly different to what it used to be i.e. I don't get as much pain now but get the nausea and sometimes loose stools/go more often but sometimes constipated. I didn't react badly at all to the Colonoscopy but trouble is we are all different.

Iet's hope that you find out more once you have had your appointment on 23 August.

[_j1971_ in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. I also suffer more from constipation than diarrhea. I was able to move my appointment up to this Wednesday I sure hope to get some answers. I'm terrified it's ibd. 😩

[Hidden in reply to _j1971_]

So glad that your appointment has been moved, the sooner the better so that you don't have any longer to wait and worry. I've had a further look at IBD online and from reading your original post I would be very surprised if you have IBD, it sounds more like IBS to me.

Please let me know how you get on.

Take care

Alicia x

[_j1971_ in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much. I was able to talk with my doctor's nurse yesterday and told her about my IBD concerns. I told her I was slightly freaking out about it and she told me point blank that I do not have IBD because she was looking at the pathology results as we spoke. She also said if it were anything serious I would have gotten a call. Needless to say that was fantastic news. However, I have horrible and I mean horrible anxiety and panic disorder. So now, I am freaking out about ovarian cancer. Yes, you read that right. Ovarian cancer. Even though the only symptom I have are digestive issues. Lord help this brain of mine. 😕 Thanks again for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it so much!

[Hidden in reply to _j1971_]

Fantastic news, I am so pleased you do not have IBD. I can certainly understand your anxiety, maybe you could look at some relaxation techniques/look online and see what help there is out there for anxiety. I have Emetophobia which is a fear of being sick/being around people being sick. I know this is a stupid fear as it's not that often that I am sick although I do sometimes get nausea with this condition. I have bought myself a book from the Thrive Programme specifically for Emetophobia and am slowly working my way through it. My mind is starting to work differently already and I'm only on chapter 4. I too have worry about Ovarian Cancer as of course we suffer sometimes with so many different symptoms we start to question.

I hope the appointment has gone/is going well.

Take care

Alicia

[_j1971_ in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much. I just returned from my doctor's office. All the biopsies came back perfectly fine. Thank goodness! My doctor told me to stop allowing my mind to control me. SHe said I am perfectly healthy and do not have an underlying disease like ovarian cancer. I love this doc she is great. I know that when she says these type of things that it is true because she's the type of doc that will tell you when she thinks you need to worry. When I saw her the first time I told her I didn't think I needed a colonoscopy and she disagreed and said she thought it was absolutely necessary. Thankfully I had it done and all is fine now. I won't be scared to have another one in the future now. Thanks again for the support.

[Hidden in reply to _j1971_]

Fantastic news and so glad everything is fine, what a relief for you and so glad you have such a good doctor. Your mind is a very strange thing and I am thinking on ways on how to change my way of thinking by following the Thrive Programme as I mentioned in one of my earlier replies.

Here's to a fantastic future and good health.

Alicia

[_j1971_ in reply to Hidden]

I am checking into the Thrive Programme that you mentioned. Thanks for the info and for the well wishes!

[Hidden in reply to _j1971_]

Glad you are, let's just say it's much better than having to pay by the hour for a therapist and most of us cannot afford that anyway.

Very best of luck to you

[dgu32016 in reply to Hidden]

This is my very first post here, so I don’t know all the ins and outs yet. I know this was a year ago when you first replied, but recently I learned after all these years thinking I had IBS really have UC Ulcerative Colitis. I’m thankful to finally know what all my constipation and diarrhea issues have been about, the final determination was made through a simple Calprotectin fecal stool test that measures White Blood Cells in the stool. My insurance required a Pre-Authorization to run the test, so it’s not a standard stool test that gets run.

With this test to be considered having IBD instead of IBS, the results from Calprotectin test has to be higher than 200; mine was 265. This part is graphic and may fall under area of TMI, but I need to share it because it’s relevant to my situation. The diarrhea I was having is called inflammation diarreah because my colon is so inflammed the only way for stool to get through is by force when accumulated gas releases behind it in colon which can be very painful.

Did you ever get a diagnosis of IBD? If not, and you still are bothered by symptoms including needing to go to bathroom right after you eat; not being able to pass gas normally, maybe only while going to the bathroom and then it’s very forceful and you can sometimes feel pain all the way through your colon; constipation so bad that no matter what you do or try, just keeps backing up to the point the pain is unbearable and when they do MRI or CT scan, results confirm it.

All of these happened to me and more before getting the Calprotectin test and my UC diagnosis. Now I’m trying Budesonide, a cortisone hormone to see if it works to get inflammation down in my colon; which I believe it is because all signs indicate it. I’m very limited to which medications I can take because I also have Stage 3, Chronic Kidney Disease and can’t take any NSAIDs for the rest of my life. Best part of taking Budesonide is I’m getting a secondary benefit from medication, seems to be helping with stiffness associated with Osteoarthritis of hands I have.

[_j1971_ in reply to dgu32016]

Thankfully all is fine now. I had both an endoscopy and colonoscopy. Turns out it was h pylori and gastristis. My symptoms have resolved and I’m back to normal after being treated.

[Hidden in reply to dgu32016]

Oh my goodness, you really have been through it but so glad you have finally been diagnosed. I certainly don't have the same symptoms as you, I have pain but rarely constipated now (think that's because I'm now a Vegan) and most of the time I go to the toilet normally, albeit sometimes I habmve to go several times as I don't evacuate well. I am going to look at the Vegan low fodmap diet. I have also started Probiotics.

I'm so sorry you have kidney disease so unable to take other medication.

[_j1971_ in reply to Hidden]

I do not have kidney disease nor do I need medication. Thank goodness!!

[Hidden in reply to _j1971_]

Thank goodness and sorry thought I had clicked to reply to dgu32016

[_j1971_ in reply to Hidden]

🤣 no worries.

[whyme2000]

try beetroot either home grown and boiled or already cooked then acume packed. 1 side affect is red / pink urine other is that it can relieve constipation. would advise try in small quantity first.