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Hi,
I followed your advice and called him this morning, told him about the mucus and blood in my stool and increased D, he said he wanted me in his office today. Did his examine, confirmed what I was saying. Sooo he now suspects chrons,( sp?) he is sending me for blood work to confirm. Can you have both MC and chrons. He is keeping me on the entocort and has added Lialda but said he will probably start me on prednisone in a week or two.
Thank you again for all the advice and especially the sympathy
Hugs,
KK
Emergency Gasto Doctor visit
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
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Joefnh
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- Location: Southern New Hampshire
Hi Kitty I'm glad you made it in to see our GI doc. Yes you can have both MC and Crohns...thats what I'm dealing with and it does add a few twists to the diagnostic and management routine.
You will most likely need blood tests and to have the biopsies from your colonoscopy checked again, assuming your doctor took them and enough of them. The same treatments apply to both MC and Crohns
You will most likely need blood tests and to have the biopsies from your colonoscopy checked again, assuming your doctor took them and enough of them. The same treatments apply to both MC and Crohns
Joe
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Joefnh
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 2478
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:25 pm
- Location: Southern New Hampshire
Hi Kitty, hopefully you will be able to manage this with diet alone as that really does help the most, but you do need to eliminate all of the foods that are bothering you. Have you done the MRT or Enterolab testing? Removing problem foods is the best treatment for Crohns or MC
With that said even with the diet addressed you may need in conjunction with it some meds. After working with my GI doc we decided on Imuran, which is one of the immune suppressants. Hopefully you will be able to avoid meds, but if you do need them they do work. I have found that even with Imuran, occasionally I do get into a flare that requires entocort for a while....I just spoke woth my GI doc today and given the recent issues I'm dealing with, I have restarted entocort for a while.
I hope all goes well, feel free to ask any questions.
With that said even with the diet addressed you may need in conjunction with it some meds. After working with my GI doc we decided on Imuran, which is one of the immune suppressants. Hopefully you will be able to avoid meds, but if you do need them they do work. I have found that even with Imuran, occasionally I do get into a flare that requires entocort for a while....I just spoke woth my GI doc today and given the recent issues I'm dealing with, I have restarted entocort for a while.
I hope all goes well, feel free to ask any questions.
Joe
Thank you again Joe I will google Imuran later. Sorry you are having a set back. I haven't done any testing yet but it is in my plan. Right now I'm still in the denial phase of this Im sure I will come around soon to acceptance lol It's just that a year ago I was fine eating going out then .....
thank you again for the answers and support,
K
thank you again for the answers and support,
K
So sorry Kitty, to hear that you may also have Crohn's. Joe should know a lot about this one, but since it is "damaging" to the intestines, it's a good idea not to eat aggravating foods. I know it's a tough one to swallow and I totally get the denial. I still get upset that my husband and I can no longer enjoy a meal out. But feeling well eventually wins out and we do the things we need to do.
Leah
Leah
Hi Kitty,
Sorry you are going through all of this and at least you have a good support group. My Human Resources lady...I guess the professional term is manager....has Crohns she is cute as a button and was very nice to me throughout the whole MC thing. Her comment was more people than you think have these diseases but it is not talked about because of the bathroom issues. Feel free to lean on us, Brandy
Sorry you are going through all of this and at least you have a good support group. My Human Resources lady...I guess the professional term is manager....has Crohns she is cute as a button and was very nice to me throughout the whole MC thing. Her comment was more people than you think have these diseases but it is not talked about because of the bathroom issues. Feel free to lean on us, Brandy
I was on Imuran last year for a while but it did not seem to help and all the blood tests had me afraid for my liver. So after a few months the doctor took me off them. Waiting now for my A +C panel results from Entero lab to see what, if any, problems I have beyond gluten and casein. Not on any meds not except Lomotil which helps with the timing but nothing but watery D for me. It is about time for an annual Dr. visit so I am going to bring up Entocort as the Sulphasalazine I used to take for flares I found out is not helpful.
Kitty,
I have no idea whether or not you have Crohn's disease in addition to MC, but please don't assume that you have it, just because your doctor "suspects" it. Looking at your first post on this board, you were apparently diagnosed roughly a month ago, suggesting that you had a colonoscopy in either February or March. Cellular pathology conditions inside the intestines are somewhat slow to change, so it is very unlikely that anything has changed in the few weeks since your last colonoscopy. If you have Crohn's disease, that should have been apparent to the gastroenterologist, when he performed the colonoscopy, and it should have been obvious to the pathologist when he examined your biopsy slides. If the markers of Crohn's disease were present, that would have been clearly noted on the pathology report. If your colonoscopy had been done at least 3 or 4 years ago, then yes, something might have changed since then, but no significant histological changes are likely to have taken place in just a few months.
Your GI doc isn't the first to become flustered when a patient doesn't respond to treatment, and tried to convince the patient that they have something else wrong with them, and they need further testing, (usually, another colonoscopy), to try to figure out what was missed, the first time. We see that somewhat regularly on this board, with this disease. Trust me, nothing was missed. Unless the pathologist is totally incompetent, (which is highly unlikely), your pathology report accurately reflects the findings of your biopsy sample analyses. Your doctor is just flustered, and embarrassed, that his recommendations aren't resolving your symptoms.
That said, it's certainly not impossible that you might have Crohn's disease, (in addition to MC), but if you do, then you need to change doctors, (both the gastroenterologist and the pathologist), because they are both unfit to be masquerading as medical specialists, if they missed Crohn's disease only a month ago. It's not easy to miss a diagnosis of Crohn's disease - a GI specialist, (and a pathologist), would have to ignore some pretty obvious markers, to miss a Chron's diagnosis.
That's just my opinion - and as you know, I'm not a doctor, but diagnosing Crohn's disease is not exactly rocket science. It's not something that is easily overlooked. If I were in your shoes, I would proceed as if I had MC, (and I would assume that my doctor is lost).
If you can get a copy of the original pathology report, (not your GI doc's interpretation of it), it will clearly state, (well, not "clearly" in layman's terms, but it will clearly state in "doctorspeak"), whether or not you have any markers of Crohn's disease in your biopsy samples. If I were in your shoes, I would look at that, before going on a fishing trip, trying to discover an additional diagnosis.
Love,
Tex
I have no idea whether or not you have Crohn's disease in addition to MC, but please don't assume that you have it, just because your doctor "suspects" it. Looking at your first post on this board, you were apparently diagnosed roughly a month ago, suggesting that you had a colonoscopy in either February or March. Cellular pathology conditions inside the intestines are somewhat slow to change, so it is very unlikely that anything has changed in the few weeks since your last colonoscopy. If you have Crohn's disease, that should have been apparent to the gastroenterologist, when he performed the colonoscopy, and it should have been obvious to the pathologist when he examined your biopsy slides. If the markers of Crohn's disease were present, that would have been clearly noted on the pathology report. If your colonoscopy had been done at least 3 or 4 years ago, then yes, something might have changed since then, but no significant histological changes are likely to have taken place in just a few months.
Your GI doc isn't the first to become flustered when a patient doesn't respond to treatment, and tried to convince the patient that they have something else wrong with them, and they need further testing, (usually, another colonoscopy), to try to figure out what was missed, the first time. We see that somewhat regularly on this board, with this disease. Trust me, nothing was missed. Unless the pathologist is totally incompetent, (which is highly unlikely), your pathology report accurately reflects the findings of your biopsy sample analyses. Your doctor is just flustered, and embarrassed, that his recommendations aren't resolving your symptoms.
That said, it's certainly not impossible that you might have Crohn's disease, (in addition to MC), but if you do, then you need to change doctors, (both the gastroenterologist and the pathologist), because they are both unfit to be masquerading as medical specialists, if they missed Crohn's disease only a month ago. It's not easy to miss a diagnosis of Crohn's disease - a GI specialist, (and a pathologist), would have to ignore some pretty obvious markers, to miss a Chron's diagnosis.
That's just my opinion - and as you know, I'm not a doctor, but diagnosing Crohn's disease is not exactly rocket science. It's not something that is easily overlooked. If I were in your shoes, I would proceed as if I had MC, (and I would assume that my doctor is lost).
If you can get a copy of the original pathology report, (not your GI doc's interpretation of it), it will clearly state, (well, not "clearly" in layman's terms, but it will clearly state in "doctorspeak"), whether or not you have any markers of Crohn's disease in your biopsy samples. If I were in your shoes, I would look at that, before going on a fishing trip, trying to discover an additional diagnosis.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Thanks Tex,
I have to say I do have my doubts about crohn's being in my picture. I had my colonoscopy in August 2011 and it was perfect, see you in 5 years perfect , but I continued to have pain and D so in January, my now gastro doc, did a sig. and saw inflamation and ulcers and biopsy gave us the MC diagnosis. He has all the films from the colonoscopy. Now this week with the extreme pain, bloody mucus and D he is concerned. He looked right into my eyes and said you are getting sicker by the day. I have to go for blood work since I'm due anyway so I will let them draw for the crohn's test. I have not ruled out finding a new doctor #3 but Im going to take this one day at a time for now.
Thanks for caring and I appreciate you advice.
Hugs,
KK
I have to say I do have my doubts about crohn's being in my picture. I had my colonoscopy in August 2011 and it was perfect, see you in 5 years perfect , but I continued to have pain and D so in January, my now gastro doc, did a sig. and saw inflamation and ulcers and biopsy gave us the MC diagnosis. He has all the films from the colonoscopy. Now this week with the extreme pain, bloody mucus and D he is concerned. He looked right into my eyes and said you are getting sicker by the day. I have to go for blood work since I'm due anyway so I will let them draw for the crohn's test. I have not ruled out finding a new doctor #3 but Im going to take this one day at a time for now.
Thanks for caring and I appreciate you advice.
Hugs,
KK
kitty,
if you have ulcers visible with a sigmoidoscope, you may have ulcerative colitis, rather than Crohn's. The blood tests should be able to distinguish any differences, provided that they use up-to-date tests. It's possible that the cleanout solution used for your colonoscopy may have triggered inflammation that lead to the development of the disease. It's happened before, (that's why we're always opposed to unnecessary colonoscopy exams, on this board). Those cleanout solutions are very caustic, and can lead to unexpected consequences, unfortunately.
Hugs,
Tex
if you have ulcers visible with a sigmoidoscope, you may have ulcerative colitis, rather than Crohn's. The blood tests should be able to distinguish any differences, provided that they use up-to-date tests. It's possible that the cleanout solution used for your colonoscopy may have triggered inflammation that lead to the development of the disease. It's happened before, (that's why we're always opposed to unnecessary colonoscopy exams, on this board). Those cleanout solutions are very caustic, and can lead to unexpected consequences, unfortunately.
Hugs,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.