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hello Im from UC board with a strange question

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 3/26/2008 4:16 PM (GMT 0)
I have Ulcerative Colitis but my doctor says he thinks I might have IBS also. I am guessing that a doctor wouldn't prescribe steroids for IBS but I thought maybe someone here has taken prednisone for something else. Does anyone else who has been diagnosed with IBS have no IBS symptoms when you are one pred or Entorcort? Or do you know if they help IBS also? I am just trying to figure out if I have it or not. Sorry if this seems jumbled.
Posted 3/26/2008 5:48 PM (GMT 0)
I know this has nothing to do with UC or IBS really but I think it fits somehow. My cousin's wife was diagnoses with Crohn's a few years ago and was put on steroids for that. And it worked. There were still times that the meds needs to be tweaked but it was working for the most part. Then recently she had what she thought was another flare-up and since her regular GI guy was out of town and she needed to get a prescription for more meds she had to see the guy's partner. Well the partner want to do a couple a tests before she got the new meds to make sure everything was ok and it turned out that she never had Crohn's. She had diverticulo-something( where you get the pockets in your intestine that get infected) and all she needed was some anti- biotics. But the Crohn's meds did work for her during the periods of infection. I don't see why something similar couldn't be the same with you. People are given meds all the time for one thing and it helps something else they have too.
Posted 3/26/2008 7:01 PM (GMT 0)
Lady Frog is referring to diverticulosis, my MIL has that, infact a few yrs back she suffered with a bowel perforation due to her diverticulosis and almost died from feces poisoning because the stupid hospital kept sending her home telling her she had a stomach flu.

Prednisone is used for inflammation diseases, like IBD (CD or UC) asthma, ect, it would not likely do anything at all for IBS because IBS is a functional disorder not and inflammatory disease...

There are meds specifically for IBS though, you should talk to your doc about your options.

Same with Entocort, it's not likely going to help with IBS specifically, there's no inflammation involved...

Many docs will also say that IBS (for the most part, not all cases) can be controlled with diet and exercise on a regular basis, fibre intake and even plenty of walking can make a huge difference, avoiding certain foods is also included in that, greasy, processed/fast-foods/beverages, carbinated drinks, caffeine, artificial sweeneters, sugar and sugar alcohols which are anything ending in "tol" sorbitol xylitol, ect...this also holds true in aiding with IBD as well.

I have both crohns and IBS...I eat right and take natural anti-inflammatories for my crohns, as well as fibre supplements to aid both my CD and my IBS and exercise reguarly and avoid the above mentioned avoidance foods/drinks.

I also take a good probiotic daily which is beneficial for BOTH IBS and IBD.

Fibre, probiotics, exercise and eating healthy can do wonders for both IBD and IBS.

:)
Posted 3/26/2008 7:21 PM (GMT 0)
pb4 - I guess I am just trying to find out if I have IBS as well as UC. I am kindof frustrated because the more research I do the more contradictions I find. When I was on Entorcort and also when I was on Prednisone my stools were perfect and what I ate didn't affect me at all. I could drink wine and coffee and eat anything. This makes me think maybe I don't have IBS and I am flaring some with my UC but it is just mild. Then maybe I need to call my doctor. On the other hand if it is IBS then I don't want to call the doctor and get on Remicade when it is IBS. I remember you from the other board. I think what I have is similar to what you have. The doctor swears its UC but I have no imflamation in my rectum and it is patchy in my colon. I also tested negative for markers for UC and for chrones which 5-10% of people with IBD do I guess. It is so frustrating because I don't know for sure what is wrong with me.
I think I just need to seriously go over my diet and eliminate anything that bothers me and see if I can control my symptoms on my own with just asacol. It is going to be difficult but I would rather eat chicken and rice every day and not be sick...
Posted 3/27/2008 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
Yikes, if it's patchy in your colon (with skipped patterns of healthy tissues) AND there is no rectal inflammation or disease then that does point towards CD and NOT UC.

It can be funny with IBS as well as IBD, I'd say if the meds are helping you then it's controlling your IBD (which I now believe is likely CD), if while on meds and you have specific issues of bloating/gas, the feeling of incomplete BM's then that can lean towards IBS symptoms.

Good luck!

:)
Posted 3/27/2008 6:01 AM (GMT 0)

hana24 said...
I have Ulcerative Colitis but my doctor says he thinks I might have IBS also. I am guessing that a doctor wouldn't prescribe steroids for IBS but I thought maybe someone here has taken prednisone for something else. Does anyone else who has been diagnosed with IBS have no IBS symptoms when you are one pred or Entorcort? Or do you know if they help IBS also? I am just trying to figure out if I have it or not. Sorry if this seems jumbled.

I was prescribed prednisone for my back and voila - instant relief of my severe IBS symptoms.  So in my case, it was extremely helpful. 

Posted 3/27/2008 5:09 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the impute - It has been hard for me to find very many people with IBS who have taken prednisone even though it has such a wide variety of uses. It is hard for me to tell the difference between my IBS symptoms and IBD as they are very similar.
Posted 4/22/2008 3:50 PM (GMT 0)
Hana24, I also have Crohn's and IBS (as well as several other problems!) and I am with you in that it is very hard to tell the difference sometimes.  If my stomach hurts, I really don't know what problem is causing it.  I've taken prednisone in the past for the Crohn's, but didn't notice it helping the IBS any.  I was only on it long enough to gain a little weight and to start Remicade, then came off of it, though.  My stomach had really been bothering me lately, so I just had an endoscopy that showed 3 ulcers...not sure yet if arthritis meds for the "Crohn's-Related Arthritis" have caused the ulcers or one of my many other drugs.  So, what's helping one problem is making the other worse...we just have to pick our poison, I guess.  Just talk to your GI about any problems...he should be able to better distinguish what is causing them (Crohn's or IBS).  Good luck.   
Posted 4/22/2008 3:51 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry...just re-read your post and noticed it said UC, not Crohn's.  Either way, GI should be of help in determining the culprit.

Posted 4/23/2008 12:37 AM (GMT 0)
My GI says that IBD should not be affected be what you eat or drink. I just don't know if I agree with him. So I guess that is his was of telling the difference. I was just told that I have gerd and I didn't believe the doctor but I took the prilosec anyway and it got better. I guess it is from the 18 pills I have to take every day. I have learned the hard way not to take pills on an empty stomach. Is the Remicade working for you?
Posted 4/23/2008 3:10 AM (GMT 0)
I don't agree with him, simply because 1) researchers don't have proof yet one way or the other but are suspicious that there could possibly be involvement with food(s) being a culprit for triggering disease (US or CD)...secondly, the way I see it, you eat/drink inflammatory type things (sugar being a huge one) then your body will have a negative response to it...you are what you eat afterall.

:)
Posted 4/23/2008 5:24 PM (GMT 0)
I think food affects me one way or another(if it is ibs or ibd) so I am trying to be careful what I eat. My main concern is how I should be treating my body with medicine. If I get sick after this course of steriods should I consider Remicade or not. I don't eat sugar very much at all besides fruit. I have always ate pretty healthy though. Now that I am on the Entorcout again I don't have any D but I still go 4-5 times a day. It is still better than have D 8-10 times a day. Sometimes I forget what it was like to not have stomach problems.
I just can't shake the feeling that something else is wrong with me and the colitis is a symptom. I don't have any evidence for this so it is probably just in my head.
Posted 4/25/2008 4:56 PM (GMT 0)
hana24, sorry, just now saw your reply to me.  Remicade did help some but less and less as time went on, as I developed antibodies.  I ended up having allergic reactions to it and had to stop it.  I ended up starting a clinical trial for the drug Cimzia a little over a year ago.  It's very similar to Humira.  It seems to help with the joint pain and stomach pain, but I still go through periods of time where my stomach spasms really bother me.  Just had a scope last week and they found 3 ulcers, possibly caused by arthritis meds.  I also understand about the many pills...at one time, I was up to 30-something a day (and was 24 or 25 at the time).  Now I'm down to about 13 a day, only because of having to stop a couple of the meds due to side effects.  It seems like a lot of the drugs help some, but nothing helps as much as I would like for it to.

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