HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Colitis?? Newly diagnosed...questions.

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 10/31/2013 12:14 PM (GMT 0)
I had to got the ER a few days ago.  Stomach pain woke me up in the middle of the night.  Didn't know if I had to vomit or go poo.  Couldn't do either.  Pain got worse to where I was laying on the floor twisting and turning.  Finally felt like I could go poo.  It was diarrhea and I had it about six or eight times for the next hour.  A couple times, I thought I saw blood on the paper.  Eventually there was no doubt.  Then there was more blood.  Went to ER.  They asked for a stool sample, and it was just a small cup of blood.  Was put on IV, had pain med, and had CT Scan with contrast.  Diagnosed with Colitis.  I had just finished a 10 day course of antibiotics.  They thought I might have something called C-Diff, but after the CT and stool sample, they said no C-Diff.  They told me that this usually happens to people who have had Crohn's disease.  I've never had this to my knowledge.  I was given antibiotics, antifungal, pain meds and anti nausea meds, and was told to follow up with my doctor in 1 week.  My questions are:

If you have sudden attack like this out of no where, is this condition permanent?

All I see on-line is "Ulcerative" colitis.  My ER papers just said Colitis??

Will my doctor want additional tests even though I had a CT Scan already?

I'm assuming the blood loss is not something to be too concerned about??

The pain meds got me feeling better after about two days.  The bleeding stopped after about a day or so, but the diarreah is still here.  It's not constant like it was when this started, but when I do go, it's diarrhea.  Is this just a one time thing?? from what I'm reading, it could come back.  When it happened, I had gone to bed at 2, and the pain woke me up at 4.  I was perfectly fine when I went to bed.  Never had this before in my life.  I am 52 and female.  Any answers?  I will see my doc, but mainly just curious.  Thanks.

 

Posted 10/31/2013 12:33 PM (GMT 0)
Good morning, Anniebella. I'm sorry you've been so ill.

Coliltis is any inflammation of the colon, or large intestine. I can be caused by infection, by irritation from things such as food poisoning or by an inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn's disease or Ulcerative Colitis. Pain, bleeding and diarrhea are common symptoms of IBD, but also occur with other forms of colitis.

Your doctor will possibly want to do some more stool samples and likely will refer you to a gastroenterologist for further diagnosis. The GI will almost certainly want to do a colonoscopy, where they insert a small tube into your colon so they can see what the inside of the colon looks like. That is really the best way to diagnose your symptoms.

Colitis from infection or irritation is usually fairly easily cured, although it may take a bit of time to get back to normal. Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis are chronic diseases for which there are numerous treatments available but no cure at this time.

Please do keep posting with your questions and let us know how things go for you.
Posted 10/31/2013 11:24 PM (GMT 0)
It also could be ischemic colitis. As one gets older, it is more common. The description you gave fit the episode exactly as it happened to me. Ischemic colitis is when the blood flow to a part of the colon is interrupted by a clot or trauma.

After re-reading your post, I am betting this is what happened since you had no previous symptoms. It took me a week to 10 days for the stools to firm up. I had to be very careful of my diet as insoluble fiber foods caused more continued irritation to the part of the colon that had been damaged.

You need to follow-up with your GP and also see a GI.
Posted 11/3/2013 4:25 PM (GMT 0)
You are 52, never ever had anything like this happen before?

Colitis simply means you have an inflamed colon -- it is actually a symptom, not a diagnosis. There are plenty of things that can inflame a colon which are not autoimmune diseases. Vital infection, bacterial infection, toxins from food poisoning, a pub crawl with too much booze & spicy food---also food sensitivities such as celiac (to gluten) or lactose intolerance (dairy). A bit early to be making any assumptions about an autoimmune disease. In fact from your description--going to bed at 2 & waking at 4, sounds like something you ate or drank the evening before was disagreeing with you. Maybe you had been exposed to food that had passed through dirty hands.

In the meantime be kind to your gut & keep the diet gentle & mild for a while. No raw veggies & fruits -- stay with mild chicken, rice, applesauce, bananas, canned fruits. No booze, spicy foods, fried stuff. If you are having D, drink plenty of water to replace what you are losing.

Hope all goes well & it was just a bout of germy food!
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply