Feeling a little confused

[Vickysponge357]

I’m very sorry in advance for a long post! Please bear with me!

I’ve joined this community as I am re-visiting an old theory from my GP.

I have a year long history now of left sided pelvic and flank pain pain that was originally diagnosed last November as a kidney infection, and then as a kidney stone, both theories quickly proved wrong.

In December last year I had a noticeable change in bowels and a large and frequent amount of rectal bleeding along side the pain that was gradually getting worse. My stool sample came back showing elevated calprotectin and my blood tests showed extremely high inflammatory markers. Along side a gynaecology referral to query endometriosis (disproved 2 weeks ago) my GP sent me to gastroenterologist for a camera test as she strongly suspected I had IBD.

Saw the gastro doctor in March 19 who laughed off my GP’s suspicion and who declined to do the camera test and diagnosed probable ibs and a fissure and sent me on my way with a prescription for rectogesic ointment (horrid stuff with horrid side effects) and a supposed open appointment to come back if the problems persisted. I came out of that appointment in tears because I just felt fobbed off.

The bowel habits balanced out when the GP prescribed macrogol and I had a lot more control over everything with this but still not really normal. But my bleeding was getting worse so I called gastro for an appointment and they declined and wrote to my GP saying it is my fissure and to try another ointment and if that doesn’t work then to refer me to colorectal surgery. Alas... that did not work, and it got to the point that I was having blood dripping out my back passage even when I wasn’t opening bowels.

Yesterday I saw the colorectal surgeons and he confirmed my suspicions from months ago that my symptoms were not due to a fissure, on exam there was absolutely no fissure there and he said it was likely I just happened to have a fissure at the time of my gastro appointment and they fobbed everything off on that when actually they should have been doing the camera test to find the source of all of my pain and rectal bleeding. I am going to be having a sigmoidoscopy in 6-8 to find out a bit more.

Now I have spent the last 24 hours pondering all of this and wondering if it is possible that my GPS suspicions of me having IBD might actually be true.

Has any one been through a similar agonising experience?

Does it sound possible that this could be the diagnosis I’ve been waiting for?

[FRreedman]

I must confess, I thought these monstrous stories had finished about thirty years ago. I was 9, and diagnosed with appendicitis, then my parents were told it is all in my mind, and I remember saying quite clearly, No, my head doesn't hurt it's my belly. For the next two years, I didn't tell anyone about the pains, theblood, the diarrhoea, because, as a kid, I didn't want to be mad. Thankfully, my mum found me one day, rolled up, in agony, on the kitchen floor. From that moment on, my parents went to everyone, everywhere, driving them nuts with questions and scenarios. Eventually my GP got fed up and sent me to see a consultant at St Bartholomews Hospital. Those days the GP had to put down the reason for requesting specialist intervention, my parents steamed the letter open, and it said "Please see this patient as his mother is driving me mad". After a few months of drugs and tests, I was told I had inflamed intestines, and on pressing the consultant was told it was also known as Crohn's disease, after the doctor who first diagnosed it. My GP became my parents best friend, and couldn't do enough for me or them until he died. So yes, this has happened to others but this is the first time in about twenty years that I have heard of consultants robbing off a patient. I hope you don't have IBD, but if you have, you will be better off with this consultant than with the Muppet you saw before. Good luck