Polyp found 4mm - I'm only 31 years old!

Hi Gem

Firstly I must congratulate you for having a flexi and an endoscopy without sedation. I have had quite a few colonscopies and flexis and only once had no sedation and swore from that moment, I would also have it.

Secondly, I am sorry to hear that you are suffering with quite a lot of symptoms and have been passed from one person to another.

I had 75% of your symptoms but a colonscopy and flexi confirmed that I had ulcerated colitis.  Obviously your recent test would have shown this, if you had it.

I haven't had a polyp but I know if they do find one (in a patient with my condition) they take a quick biopsy and then burn them off or the like.  I was told that these polyps are very rarely a cause of concern but I am going on what I have been told by my IBD Nurse.

I hope your pain stops soon and your results come back clear.

 

Hi Gem.

I had a small polyp removed that they found by chance on colonoscopy last year, they biopsied it along with more tissue samples taken, the polyp was hyperplastic which are the most common type of polyp. these types rarely cause any problem, but they tend to remove any polyps found as a matter of course anyway. like you, it did worry me though, & waiting for results doesn't help the worrying. I have colitis, suspected ibs, & have just been diagnosed with bile salt malabsorption & fructose malabsorption too. Don't know if you remember our conversations on this site with "busabasher" a month or so ago, we were talking about how some foods go straight through us, stomach ache, diarhhea etc, well bile salt malabsorption can cause all those symptoms, so may be worth you asking for the same test myself & busabasher had - the sehcat test. you swallow a capsule & then have 2 scans a week apart to see if you are losing bile salt through your colon. I have started treatment 4days ago & so far all the strange noises, gurgling, & fizzing & bubbling sensations in my abdomen have almost totally stopped, no diarrhhea yesterday or today so far, so somethings changing, waiting for more progress/relief. You said you have thin stools - so do I, & it is very painful having a bm as I have a chronic fissure(tear) at tail end of rectum due to ongoing symptoms which bleeds at least once a day when doing a bm. It feels like you have glass in your rectum when you do a bm. I have been told by specialist that the muscle spasming in rectum causes the stools to be thin. When the muscle spasms when i go, it often feels like i haven't finished going to toilet. I just wondered Gem if your stools are thin do you get any of the same symptoms when you do a bm? I am using gtn ointment(prescription) to help the tear heal, but it's very painful still at present, although i'm hoping with bile salt problem being addressed will reduce my frequent bm's & diarrhea & that will then allow the tear to heal. take care, will follow your progress.

Hi Gem, glad to hear your reply, was wondering if you were ok as you hadn't posted on here for a while. When are you having your colonoscopy? I would see what your biopsies come back with from the sigmoidoscopy & colonoscopy, as they may well diagnose something like colitis. If they come back clear & your consultant is still saying you have ibs, ask him to do sehcat test then to exclude bile acid malabsorption, as you have read that it is common for people with ibs to actually have bile acid problem-it mimics the symptoms of ibs. As many as 1 in 3 ibs sufferers have this problem which can be easily treated/corrected with capsules or sachet drink daily. These facts make it justified for you to ask. Try not to worry, & deal with 1 issue at a time as it comes without thinking too far ahead & what if's; it's frustrating & all the time it takes, & I totally get what you say "so what do i do now - live in pain?" but to stop you getting really down,stressed & upset by it, it really does help if you can program yourself to take tests, results, next steps one thing at a time. take care & good luck with your appt on 12/5.