New here, newly diagnosed, no symptoms

[misswillow]

Hi there,

I'm new here, I found the site after googling microscopic colitis. I was recently diagnosed with lymphocytic colitis after a colonoscopy that I had due to a family history of colon cancer. The colitis diagnosis was quite a shock, especially when I've looked up the symptoms of it. While I've always had what I considered a "nervous stomach," I've never really had any incidents of frequent diarrhea (except for when I've been sick). I do go to the bathroom a lot, especially when anxious, and I sometimes have problems with gas, but that's about it for symptoms. I also pretty much can eat anything I want with not too many problems. So I'm wondering if I should eventually expect that this is going to be something that will cause me more problems? Or is it possible that I may never become symptomatic. I'm a 39 year old woman, and my doctor said I'm a little young for this. Does this mean it will become worse as I get older?

Thanks for any information you can offer. I will definitely peruse the site for more information!

[grannyh]

Your past history reminds me of myself.. As a guess, my family doc says that I might have lived out my life with the colitis never becoming a major problem.. but a stress to the system made it rear it's ugly head.

Your doctor must have been checking some very old information about your colitis. When I was first diagnosed about 8 years ago.. I did a google search that said the disease only hit the elderly..usually women.. and that were were less than 1000 known cases in the world... The doctor who diagnosed me was a teaching doctor..he had taught about the disease for years but had never seen a case.. he was thrilled...LOL

Soooo... your colitis may or may not ever become severe... every one of us is different... the treatment each of us finds is somewhat different as well.

Welcome Aboard... there is so much information on the various sections of this site!
grannyh

[tex]

Hi,

Welcome to the board. I agree with GrannyH. Only time will tell whether or not your case will become a chronic problem, such as most of us have to deal with. Try to avoid stress as much as you can, because stress can definitely trigger a major flare of the disease.

MC is a disease of all ages. Our youngest member was 2 and a half years old, when first diagnosed, (obviously, her mother joined on her behalf), but she is doing fine, and she controls her symptoms by diet, alone.

Again, welcome aboard, and please feel free to ask anything.

Tex

[JLH]

Tex, would it help her to research the known causes of MC and avoid them if she is already diagnosed? I'm thinking of aspirin, Zoloft and other antidepressants, PPIs etc.

[Linda in BC]

Hi there Miss Willow and Welcome;

From what I have read written by others, many of us experienced a sudden onset of symptoms (non-stop diarreaha) after a particularly stressful period or event in our lives, either physically stressful, like an illness, surgery or reaction to a drug or shot, or emotionally, like a divorce or trauma. It would have been interesting if we had had a colonoscopy before that time , to find out if there was actually inflammation present, as is in your case, before the start of symptoms, but I don't think anyone did, though. In any case, we know that most of us who develop the disease have the genes for gluten sensitivity, but they are inactive for most of our lives and these stressful events seem to trigger those genes into expressing themselves. Once triggered, apparently they cannot be "turned off".

So I am thinking that if I were you, knowing this, I would go easy on the gluten, and really try to find ways of coping with stress now , so that you don't get hit hard by it later in life.

Linda

[Robbie]

Welcome misswillow! I'm with Linda - I see your diagnosis as an opportunity to do all you can to prevent further problems down the road. That's what we're all doing, of course, but maybe you have a better chance since your current situation sounds mild.

My two sisters and their daughters (three between them) are all like me (I'm the oldest at 53). I am doing all I can to encourage them to pay closer attention to their diet, medication and lifestyle so they don't end up like me later on. Especially the 17 year old who used Accutane last year. I begged her mother not to let her go on it, having been on antibiotics for over 7 years for acne as a teen, which I fully believe contributed to all my health problems. She would not listen and this child now has even worse bowel problems than ever before. (And they still won't listen!)

[ant]

Welcome Miswillow,

I agree, do all you can to prevent chronic symptoms from being triggered. You might think about getting a gene test for susceptibility to celiac. There seems to be a high correlation between diagnosed Celiacs and MC and even higher between gluten intolerance and MC.

All best, ant

[JoAnn]

Welcome, you are fortunate to have found this board so early in your diagnosis. Many of us didn't find it until we were very sick. You have a great opportunity to manage your health and hopefully keep things from progressing. JoAnn

[takef586]

Hi, your situation reminds me of mine a year ago... I think a wise step would be to make the Entero Lab test, covering Gluten, Casein, Yeast and Soy, so that you can figure out if you have some sensitivities present. Personally, I've always had yeast sensitivity, but my LC problems begun only after a massive dose of stress. If you find sensitivities, you are still in time to eliminate these elements from your diet and heal the intestine before you get serious problems.
Best of luck.
Marek

[Zizzle]

Welcome!
I am 36 years old and was diagnosed a year ago. Before the sudden onset of diarrhea (4-10/day), I only had mild IBS and bloating for 8 years and experienced most of my stress in my stomach. You should avoid triggers like antibiotics, NSAIDS (Ibuprofen), SSRI Antidepressants, stomach acid blockers (Prevacid, Nexium, etc), even vaccines. Any changes to your gut or immune system could trigger your LC to suddenly flare. Find out if any autoimmune diseases run in your family, especially celiac disease/gluten intolerance or thyroid disease, which often occur along with MC. Make sure your doctor at least does bloodwork for celiac disease, since 30% of celiac patients have MC and we have learned that our MC only improves on a gluten-free diet. Undiagnosed celiac could also explain your family's colon cancer history. If you don't try a food elimination diet, at least eat a healthy diet of low-inflammatory foods (less starches, more vegetables and fruit, more Omega-3's, less processed food, less dairy). I'm sure you know this is also the way to combat your family risk of colon cancer anyway. Now you have double the reasons to eat right and stay healthy.

Wishing you continued symptom-free health!

[Ginny]

WELCOME I also agree with the above that you are very fortunate to maybe have some control of your LC from getting a worse. It is an opportunity to know your body and start making adjustments now in regards to gluten and possibly dairy. Stress seems to affect a lot of us and would also recommend some kind of stress management. This board has great information and you can spend days-weeks searching the archives to find all sorts of helpful information. Feel free to ask questions. Ginny

[tex]

Tex, would it help her to research the known causes of MC and avoid them if she is already diagnosed? I'm thinking of aspirin, Zoloft and other antidepressants, PPIs etc.

Yes, I agree with everyone else, that's probably an excellent idea, but it's not nearly as easy to be inspired about preemptive solutions, when you're not chained to the bathroom. Also, many people in the general population show the histologic markers of MC, but they are not even aware that they have the disease. No one knows if this is a state where activation may be imminent, or if they are past the threat. These are uncharted waters, and research is sorely needed.

Of 100 random biopsy specimens from asymptomatic patients undergoing polyp surveillance, 26 revealed LC (paucicellular or classic).

IOW 26% of the subjects had LC, even though they were free of symptoms.

One recent study found that 20 of 50 routinely biopsied patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis had LC.[27] Only 5 of 20 patients with LC had diarrhea; the other 15 patients were asymptomatic.

In that study, 40% had LC, but only a fourth of them had D.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/487838_4

Tex

[Zizzle]

Of 100 random biopsy specimens from asymptomatic patients undergoing polyp surveillance, 26 revealed LC (paucicellular or classic).

IOW 26% of the subjects had LC, even though they were free of symptoms.

That study also says "Of 100 asymptomatic patients, 26 (26%) had LC and 43 (43%) used NSAIDs
daily. Of these 43 patients, 14 (33%) had P-LC or CLC. Daily NSAID ingestion was associated significantly with LC (P = .024).

I suspect there are thousands, if not millions, of regular NSAID users out there with LC brewing.

Have we reached concensus on this board that LC and CC are on the same disease spectrum and LC is simply the earlier, (perhaps milder), form of the disease?

[tex]

I suspect there are thousands, if not millions, of regular NSAID users out there with LC brewing.

Right. That's why the medical community was able to make the NSAID connection early on, because the connection is so obvious that no one could overlook it, (and yet they continue to recommend NSAID use for virtually everything that ails ya.

Have we reached concensus on this board that LC and CC are on the same disease spectrum and LC is simply the earlier, (perhaps milder), form of the disease?

If we are to assume that they are indeed a disease, (and not just a symptom of a disease), then obviously they are the same disease. They are caused by the same "agents", (or triggers), the symptoms are the same, and the treatment is the same. And, they are not necessarily representative of "stages". The two "phases" often segue back and forth in some patients, for no apparent reason. To date, there are at least a dozen different "types" of MC, but they all fit the criteria described above. If it quacks like a duck . . .

At least that's how I see it.

Tex

[Zizzle]

Hmmm...I was beginnning to think that LC was an early stage and that CC developed after a long time of LC inflammation finally causing the layer of collagen to thicken. It seems the younger crowd here is more prone to LC compared to CC, and folks with CC tend to have more severe symptoms. So I was beginnning to view CC as a cumulative effect of long-term, untreated LC.