What's going on with my digestive system

That was brave of you to have an Indian!! I'd love a tandoori tikka masala right now! 

IBS seems to be an ideal get out clause for Drs, I would rather they say they didn't have a clue, than fob me off with IBS, which I can pretty much guarantee that I don't have after my Sigmoidoscopy (explain in a mo). Stomach Ulcer is a more likely cause of our symptoms than IBS, and I am sure that is what I have been suffering with for most of the time I've had my symptoms. I wouldn't be surprised if having the ulcer(s) had caused me to develop gastritis, or something like that. Try not to spend so much time worrying, I've found that it doesn't help our symptoms fretting so much about what is going on. It is easy for me to say that, I know, but when I look at the situation I see that we're still here, and able to function somewhat, which are positive signs. I do hope for your sake the other tests you are to have show up something, or nothing, whichever is your preference.

Now for Sigmoidoscopy results. Bowel prep was not what I was expecting. I had hardly any discomfort, and had 6 bouts of diarrhoea. I thought I hadn't gone to the loo enough, but the nurse said that sounded fine. The procedure was ok, a bit intrusive, but the pros outweigh the cons. I had some sharp pain when they tried to turn the corner, there were a few 'ouch's' then, as did when the biopsy was taken, but none of it unbearable and no after effects to worry about as yet. When finished the surgeon said they found a couple of issues but none looked serious. Polyps were found, 4 in total. 3 were normal, however one didn't look good and will need to be removed, as it had the look of it possibly developing a tumor. Interestingly though, the surgeon said that I had inflammation, which was showing signs of blood. He then explained that there was a good chance that this inflammation was giving me the general unwell feeling that I have been getting for last few months. He was unsure why, but has now put me in for a full Colonoscopy as he feels his findings today deserve further investigation, and it will give them a chance to trim up all the polyps they find. Don't know when to expect any results for the biopsy, but I'll be harrassing my GP until I know, any results I will report on here.

So there it is, they may have found why I feel so groggy all the time, strange that an inflammation in lower bowel could cause so much grief in my stomach, but then again, anythings possible I suppose.

Please take care of yourself Gem, I know you're worried, I am too, but I also try to enjoy as much of my time, that I am well, as possible. I will update this as soon as I have some more news, but that probably won't be until I have my next scope. Get in touch through this discussion if you need to, and keep me informed of how you're getting on.

Above all, enjoy your holiday, hope you're off to somewhere nice!

Paul

Thanks great news that they've found something! Finally you may have some answers! Sounds like the Dr is on the ball too with booking a colonoscopy aswell. I hope your biopsy results come back all ok.

I agree with trying to enjoy life. I felt like I've been worrying the past 8 months and missed my little baby grow up! I've been worrying a lot less recently and since seeing the consultant, I've calmed alot more. Althou I'm not convinced I am having more tests and hopefully they will find out what is causing everything!

I'm off to Spain for holiday first with my little family and will be flying with 3 young kids! That will be fun! Lol!

All the best paul!

Take care and keep me updated

One of the first blood tests I had done about 4 - 5 months ago was for Coeliac Disease, and that was fine. Do you know if Coeliac Disease is something that can occur and/or develop rapidly? If so, then perhaps I might have developed it within the last few months, and it might be worth getting another test done.

After looking up symptoms, one cause that seems to be linked with a lot of my symptoms is IBD. I get odd bouts of diarrhoea, but generally my stools are soft, but solid. I suffer with fatigue and now and again get fever type symptoms, but I've always shrugged these off as the effects of my stomach problems. I get abdominal pain and cramping, and often have red blood present when I have a bowel movement. I have been loosing weight lately, which I have put down to the change in diet and cutting out all bad stuff, but I'm not active really, and can't see why I should be loosing weight. I don't have as huge an appetite as I did before all my symptoms started, I used to polish off my main meal easily, but sometimes now, I leave bits on my plate, and my meals are at least a third less in size than they were.

Inflammation, that showed signs of bleeding, was found during my Sigmoidoscopy, which again, could imply that I have IBD, but I'm hoping that the Colonoscopy will provide a more conclusive diagnosis. The consultant doing the Sigmoidoscopy looked at me a bit puzzled when he mentioned the inflammation in the bowel, as if to say 'I don't know why you have inflammation', but I guess its early days as for diagnosing my condition, but he did say the inflammation could well be the cause of my general unwell feeling.

Thank you for taking the time to come up with ideas Gale, I do appreciate any input on this.

I had my sigmoidscopy and endoscooy yesterday. They found a polyp on my lower colon (removed it) they also took biopsies of my colon and stomach. They were for celiac disease, h pylori and inflamation.

I will have the results in 2 weeks.

Spoke to my dr last night as polyps at 31 arent common. Was told not to worry and speak to consultant in clinic in 6-8 weeks (next app). I'm wondering if im gonna need a full colonoscopy? Surely they need to check the full colon now? The majority of my pain in my lower abdomen was on the right side. 6-8 weeks seems such a long time to wait

Procedures were horrible so the thought of another doesn't thrill me! Lol

Feel a bit down now thou. Was expecting something to be wrong so could explain pains! But back to the drawing board with a not very supportive consultant I'm hoping I can get my GP on side to help me a bit more (she's been very good so far)

How are things with you? Anymore developments?

All the best,

Gem

Nice to hear from you. Had your holiday yet? Hope you had a good one, if you have had it!

I did read your post about your scopes, brave thing you! Well done! No way would I do it without sedation, they are gonna have to pump me full of sedative for it to be done. Although there are too many sad smileys on your message, I know how you feel, it is rather demoralising, we should be able to enjoy life, not wake up dreading the day and worrying whats going to happen today. Keep your chin up Gem! I'm sort of getting to the point where I really cannot be bothered to get so worried and stressed about it anymore. I'm breathing, my hearts pumping well, I can move about a bit without too much grief, my biopsy and other test results were clear. Its just the time scales involved in getting treatment that annoy me more than anything, other than a flare up, then I do worry.

Polyps are an odd topic, you were told that it wasn't common at your age, yet I've been told that at my age, 40, polyps are quite common. I stressed to the consultant who performed my sigmoidoscopy that my pains were centred more on the right side. In light of this and the inflammation and signs of bleeding found, he said that it was evidence enough to perform a full colonoscopy. I guess I'm lucky in the fact that the bleeding and inflammation were likely to be the causes for all my symptoms, just need to find out whats causing it now. Biopsy results were all clear, thankfully. I was quite worried about those results coming back, a huge weight lifted from me when they gave me the all clear. I'm still waiting for my Endoscopy appointment, which has been referred for at least 5 weeks now. I called the unit at the hospital I'm having it done at, and I am still on the waiting list for a date.

I would suggest a full colonoscopy if I were you, just as a matter of precaution and investigation. Although waiting 6 - 8 weeks just to discuss it with the consultant seems rather a long time. What about getting your GP to refer you anyway? I know its not fun, I was a mess having just the sigmoidoscopy done, but it wasn't as bad as I thought and it has left me more determined to have the other scopes done asap.

Over last one and a half weeks I have been feeling good, I'd even managed to put on weight, hardly any probs at all, until yesterday!!! I don't know why it all decided to flare up again, but I got the usual dizziness, bloating, burping, found it hard to breath at points, sharp pains like there were razors in my stomach, dull, harsh pains in my lower abdomen, I felt awful. Today, however, after a good 8 hour sleep, I feel a lot better. Wierd or what! I can't explain it. It can't be anything I'm eating cause my weekly diet stays pretty much the same. I did get a couple of apple turnovers which I had over last couple of days, maybe it was that. I've given up trying to work it all out, if I can eat it, great, if not I have to just deal with the consequences. Got to say it has been nice being able to eat some naughty foods, I really look forward to my oat and chocolate chip bars!! Highlight of my day, how sad!  Next step is dairy!

Keep us informed of how you are getting on Gem, and any new developments. Stay strong and battle on. And if you haven't had your hols yet, try to enjoy it, you deserve it!

Many thanks for your input, its really appreciated.

I have read that back problems can cause a lot of issues that you wouldn't normally think it would cause, and as my issues seemed to stem from my initial back injury, it does seem like its a possible reason for my symptoms. Leading up to my back injury, my lower back was almost always aching, since I've not been able to work my back pain slowly wore off and now the only pain I get is in my lower back, and only when I bend over as far as I can. I've had a lifetime of physically hard work and I think my back has been telling me its had enough for some time. I will look into Osteopathy, problem is I live out in the sticks and there aren't any close to me, plus after loosing my job, money is now tight. But it is something to look into, as I said, I am wondering if the back injury caused all this, if it did then I have more ammunition to throw at my employer concerning my compensation claim, they were the one's that overworked me and didn't listen to my requests for help. I'm a totally different person to who I was before this happened, I used to have so much get up and go, now I can hardly do a 30 minute walk without being in pain, and it my kids and partner that are having to plan stuff around me. I feel so useless and low, I just hope I can get to a point where I'm able to enjoy life again.

Thank you again for your comments, I am always happy to receive ideas and thank you all for your helpful hints and advice up to now.

Sorry to hear your problems are still on-going, I have been taking a product called Udo's Choice - they are digestive enzymes and break down the food in your intestines. I don't know if they would help you, but sometimes it's just worth trying something that's is natural. I tried to come off Lansoprazole myself, but the effects were dreadful. Acid coming back into my throat and nearly unable to eat again. I don't know the answer - wish I did. Good luck with your colonoscopy/Gastroscopy.

I just had my colonoscopy and gastroscopy, prelim results is that there were no great nasties (bowel/stomach cancers etc) but awaiting biopsy results for other tests. (coeliac etc).

My advice for the endoscopy tests is buy (as advised by my specilaist) is drink gatorade (no red/purple colours) preferably the clear ones, to drink in between because it helps with dehydration etc. I made sure I drank one 250ml of water every hour and mouthfuls sips of gatorade, increasing the amount after the prep starts to work. I drank the picoprep warm and it wasn't as hideous tasting as I'd been warned.

I was was told I would be heavily sedated for the procedures and wouldn't feel/remember anything, which was quite true.  The many, many trips to the toilet was the worst part :-)

I'm frustrated as anything, because I told nursing staff at the time I felt this was gall/liver related due to the pain/bowel motions and passed this on to the specialist in his brief post procedure visit.  I'm now having yellow brown to orange stools and almost chronic like pain under my right ribcage extending to my back/shoulderblades. I had one bad bout where I was nauseous and vomited, a day later my stools where a gray-yellow before turning back to the brown/yellow/orange combo. I mentioned it to the specialist who said he would speak in depth about it in two and half weeks time, but I honestly don't think I can last that long atm.

If I present to ER, I  feel  be classified non urgent due to no obvious stones, wait five hours, given pain relief and sent home, because I have no temp; u/a is clear; BP is okay etc.

I'm absolutely fed up, because while  I know  from the past bloodwork, ct with contrast; plus ultrasound that I don't have any tumours or obviously larger stones,  but there is obviously (well I think) something going on with my liver/gallbladder despite those diagnostic tests being clear in the past.  I've always been (somewhat irritionally)  terrified of it being c/a of the pancreas, but have been assured that it is not cancer.

But if anybody can give me their thoughts, I would appreciate it, I don't think it would be unheard of for smaller stones blocking the bile duct or causing issues that can't be seen? 

I haven't googled (because I terrify and depress myself with life threatening illnesses when I do), but surely there can be issues like gallbladder problems without being seen diagnostically?

 I've another Doctor's appointment tomorrow morning (this is a newer one) who seems to be a a bit more proactive, so hopefully I am going to get this resolved promptly.

I honestly have so much empathy now for people going through digestive/abdominal issues! So my heartfelt sympathies going out to you Paul and all other suffering souls. I think you have to experience it for  yourself to appreciate how awful it can be.

Paul, the bright blood...did the Doctor give you any idea of what he thought the bleeding was from at all? Bright blood usually indicates haemorrhoids or fissure and since you are having bouts of constipation, perhaps it's exacerbating things. I honestly wouldn't presume the worse in this, because I have had in the past bright blood, pain, constipation etc. and it turned out not to be anything sinister.

You probably do, but make sure you drink plenty of water, do some walking and have plenty of lettuce/veges plus fibre foods do get things going naturally. I meant to say that I read in my old medical notes that while on PPI's like omeprazole that pathology bloodwork to be done to check on things such as Vit D levels, magnesium etc which can have flow on effects in other areas if low in them. Very low magnesium can worsen depression, cause lethargy etc and low vit D may cause fatigue. Have you had screenings for these?

I'm sure you will feel mentally relieved after your colonoscopy too.

Good luck with it and if you want, post how you went.  all the best :-)

Thats great news that your scopes went ok, and that nothing serious was discovered, but I can also understand your frustrations in not finding out whats causing your probs, I would be just the same, and I have this feeling that they won't find anything from doing my scopes, find out in a couple of weeks I suppose.

I was due to come off Omeprazole on Tuesday as part of my prep for scopes, but I have caught a real bad cough and cold, so I called my doctor and she told me that with all I've been through lately, having to deal with a rebound effect from stopping Omeprazole and the cough / cold would be too much to deal with. She said that even if I could come off Omeprazole for just a week it would be a help. So I'm doing all I can to clear to cough asap, then off the Omeprazole. But I'll be calling the hospital to tell them this, and find out their views.

I had a blood test a couple of weeks ago, and more borderline results were found so had to have bloods retested yesterday. I asked the nurse why I needed a retest and she said she didn't know, all that was said on my notes was retest needed, bit strange if you ask me, have they found something?

As for the red blood, I do have haemorrhoids, but also there were signs of bleeding found in my colon whilst having my sigmoidoscopy. I have had no reason given to me why this is happening, although my movements are a bit easier now, and my stools this morning had little red go faster stripes  [lol]  I was told not to worry to much about this, and that further, more thorough examinations should give a clearer indication of why the bleeding is happening. My stools are quite pale still, which from what I've researched is an indication of lack of bile. Could this be caused by a blockage? If so then why hasn't it showed up ultrasound? This to me, supports your ideas that maybe somethings aren't able to be seen using normal diagnostic tests. I'm like you in the fact that all tests done on me show no signs of any problems, heart rate, BP, etc all ok, the only issues I get are borderline blood tests every now and again.

I haven't had screening for magnesium or vit D levels as yet, I think thats more of a case of checking after my scopes, should they prove to be unsuccessful in finding anything. I have been getting dry, itchy skin lately, which I think means I'm lacking in certain fats in my diet. Not sure if thats correct though, like I said before in this  discussion, I'm getting fed up and bored trying to research everything I'm going through, and when I do, I can't be sure I've diagnosed myself properly, so whats the point, I might as well just wait to hear the results of all the tests I have had, and will have done. Can't be bothered to waste more time, worrying myself about whats going on. My weight loss seems to have come to a halt or slowed right down now, no weight loss in 3 weeks, which is a nice feeling and a positive to focus on.

I hope your doctors appointment goes well today, although you must be wondering what more can they do for you, or what other tests can they do. It is frustrating and demoralising, I share those feelings with you. But now I try to focus on the fact that even though there is something wrong, I'm still here, I'm able to eat, drink, get about, my body still functions as normal (with a few issues), so I try to put my worrys and fears to one side to try and enjoy a bit of life for a change. My probs aren't going to heal overnight, so why should I spend everyday worrying about them.

I'll keep updating this discussion as soon as I get any new developments, which will probably be news of my blood retest results followed by scopes.

Take care Jay and I do hope you, and all suffering with abdominal problems, get better soon.