A new diagnosis

Hello Fibro Friends,

I have been gone for a while and I apologize. I continue to "care" for my mom, who is in a nursing home very close to my house, in her 10th year of Alzheimer's. She is becoming more and more needy, more insecure, declining cognitively, although her physical health is excellent. I find myself either running there to bring her something she wants/needs (chocolate, Sprite, cookies), picking up laundry, or bringing clean laundry. I have also had my very best friend, my beloved golden retriever Cheyenne, had surgery to remove some lumps and found two to be malignant. Spending so much time talking to doctors and seeing what can be done to maintain a good quality of life for him.

My question is...anyone here dealing with collagenous colitis? I saw a gastro doctor today and he believes I have this. I am going for a colonoscopy next week to confirm. My symptoms are classic for it he says. I have been dealing with the "symptoms" (no sense describing it) for about five months, hoping it would just go away as quickly as it came on. Also wondering if someone here has it and is being treated, have you tried holistic treatment as opposed to going on steroids and other meds?

Thanks so much for any information you have,

Miriam

Hi, Miriam! Well. I haven't had collagenous colitis but sure have dealt with Crohn's disease. These have many of the same symptoms. And stress made things worse for me. Let's face it, your life is very stressful right now so that could be playing into this. Really try to relax as much as possible. I use breathing techniques to help me when I'm really stressed.

I did check and saw this can be caused by a virus or bacteria. There are other causes too but am wondering if you were sick when this first came on. I always try to figure out what is causing my problems.

When I was flaring with Crohn's I had to stay away from a lot of fiber. I couldn't eat fresh veggies...had to be cooked soft...and I had to get my fruit from canned fruits. Salad was a no-no!

I avoided prednisone as much as possible. My doctor and I found that sulfasalazine (a sulfa antibiotic) and a drug called Librax, which helped relax the colon, worked for me...along with the diet restrictions. But, these things might not be suggested for collagenous colitis since it is different than Crohn's.

I'm glad you are having the colonoscopy. They will really find out what is going on with you and then you will get appropriate treatment. No one wants to take medications but sometimes we have to. I really don't know of anything holistic to take for this. You are losing a lot of nutrients that your body needs so it's important to get this under control. The good news is that collagenous colitis can get better and go away...at least that's what the Mayo Clinic site said. Here is the link.


http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/microscopic-colitis/basics/definition/con-20026232

I hope you start to feel better soon! Let us know what you find out because we do care about you.

Sherrine

Debbie, thanks for your concern. No, Cheyenne does not have hemangiosarcoma, but I did have a beloved golden die of that about 1-1/2 years' ago. Cheyenne has been diagnosed with a mast cell tumor, grade 2, and it had clean wide margins which is a very good thing. Vets (have seen 3, one being a board certified internist) feel a very good chance of no recurrence. The other tumor not so good, a soft tissue sarcoma, but the good news is it was very small, less than a cm in size, also grade 2, which is good, but did not get clean margins. Soft tissue sarcomas more often than not do return, to the same site, rarely metastasize. So, we will be watchful of that area.
Luvsmimi and Sherrine, thanks for your input. Before the D started, I came down with the flu (after getting a flu shot) for about two weeks and then suddenly this began, so I really thought it was the bug traveling down to my GI that would eventually find its way out of my system. After three months, I went for a epidural steroid injection, because I was also dealing with intense lower back/sciatic nerve pain (an ongoing issue for me for years and years) and the very next day after the steroid injection, the D stopped...for three weeks, and then suddenly began again and has not stopped. Never have a normal BM, never ever. Have BMs 6-12x a day, making it difficult to live a normal life. Thankfully I don't work so I can adjust my schedule accordingly. I plan my eating around this, knowing that in about two hours after eating, I better be very close to a bathroom. My mother has IBS as well as my sister, but neither have what I have, to this extreme. Stool cultures showed white blood count as "many"...which I thought some lab person was too lazy to figure out the count, but the GI doc said no, it means it was so high they couldn't count it, so I do have some kind of inflammation going on. My husband and I began a low carb, low glycemic lifestyle about 7 months' ago, to lose weight and to eat healthfully. This began about two months' later. The GI doc is telling me NO MORE fresh veggies, MUST be cooked, along with cooked fruit, bland diet which consists mainly of high carb foods. I have lost 45 lbs, feel I need to lose at least 20 more and I do not want to go back to that kind of eating. I believe I am a carb addict. Keeping it out of the house is working for me. I think I will wait for the colonoscopy, which is next week, to see what it confirms. I know they will be taking biopsies of the colon that should confirm or not whether this is what he thinks it is.
much love
Miriam...PS and yes, talk about stress...ten years watching my mother fade away with Alzheimer's, caring for her in my home for a year, having two sisters, one that hasn't talked to me in ten years and barely helps and the other that was helping lost her son a year ago and is still very deep in her grief and can only handle her loss (which is understandable), but it puts everything on my shoulders. I see a therapist weekly and a psychiatrist to manage meds...I am trying my best