Severe bowel problems - possible IBD?

Hey,

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling so poorly, I've went/going through something very similar. First of all have you had a stool sample taken to find out if you have any infection present?

Back in sept 2015 I fell ill like you, Dr's put it down to a bug but I had never experienced anything like it. I had diarrhoea up to 25 times per day, at times like you said only producing mucous and blood. I was vomiting and had a fever of 39°c to begin with. I kept going to my gp and they kept sending me home telling me to rest and it would pass on its own. This just went real bad real quick, I was only managing 3ish hours per night bc I was up so often, I ended severely dehydrated and fainted. By this point 7 weeks had passed, I lost over a stone in weight. I woke up in hospital and they had said they were keeping me in over night, luckily they did as that was the worst it got. My fever rose to 41°c and my kidneys started shutting down. They finally got bloods and stool samples back and it showed positive for clostridium difficile. I was put on vancomycin for 3 weeks then let out of hospital. Cdiff stools have a very nasty smell, before my bloods came back the nurse told me straight away that's what I had. I relapsed again in January 2016 and was put back on flagyl for another 2 weeks then discharged.

I wouldn't go to the hospital unless you have had a stool sample, they'll just tell you to go to your Dr first thing and order blood results however, if you are getting any severe abdominal pain that comes on all of a sudden or you're not retaining enough fluids I'd phone up out of hours to seek advise. (111 if you're in the UK).

It's good that they're seeing to your investigations fairly quickly, try not to worry too much about it as it'll only make you more anxious (I know this is easier said than done). Instead, try look at it being something to better understand what you're going through and to get you a step closer to relieving yourself of these symptoms.

Have you been on any antibiotics recently? The reason I ask is that's how I got the infection in the first place. I had been on antibiotics pretty much continuously for 4 months, however one course is enough to cause cdiff toxins to take over your gut.

Antibiotics work in a way to kill off bacteria, however that means good and bad. If too many "good" bacteria are killed off, it means they can no longer keep the bad in check, meaning they can overpopulate and cause problems.

It took me a long time to get where I am, but this is what helped me:

My Dr prescribed me codeine phosphate, one of its main side effects is constipation so it relieves me of so many toilet trips. I take just enough to avoid being overly constipated. Plus of course it's pain relief so helps with the abdominal pains. However, this won't be prescribed until they can completely rule out infection etc, diarrhoea is your body's way of trying to rid itself of harm, if you try stopping it with anti diarrhoeal tablets then it can cause more complications, so speak to your Dr. This has changed my life, it's made me able to live a normal life again, I still have the odd problems now and again but I can totally deal with it.

I go for baths every night, it helps me ease my stomach pains and get rested for bed. Using lavender oil is a must for me.

This didn't work personally for me, but I know a few people that swear by probiotics, there isn't any harm in trying it out.

Hot water bottle!!

Exercises, this part is maybe not for right now, but if you're able to then great. As my treatment started to work I was still feeling really lethargic and low, but I started doing yoga. At first I didn't enjoy it and it my stomach still bothered me a lot but in time I learnt how to switch off and no focus on my symptoms as much. You really need to preserve and trust me I struggled, but it really paid off.

I'm still under investigation, I have inflammation in my colon but they're not sure if it's inflamed due to the infection or if it's ibd, so I'm in the same boat as you. It's nerve racking but at least it's leading towards a solution. Sorry for the long post I just really know what you're going through and if someone told me about codeine phosphate 3-4 months ago I wouldn't have had to go through such an awful time. Keep me updated with how you're getting on x

As a former nurse i think you need to have this procedure done more quickly and you should see your Doctor, you will get dehydrated as the weather warms up for summer. You are clearly not well and this should not wait for weeks and weeks.

You need to be checked for UC. Symptoms might match, contact hospital and ask for cancellation, good luck!