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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 6/25/2008 8:31 AM (GMT 0)
I have a constant pain round and above belly button.Been eating mostly mush since Jan. Minor fevers 99.6 or 99.8, My knees, one elbow, shoulder and wrist are inflamed, hot and getting up stairs is hard. It all flares up and down, and when it does it sets of an interperiod bleed, with alternating const. and diar.
Flexible sigmoid scope couldnt get far but all was normal. Stomach scope found nothing, but pain is between them. Ultrasound coming up next. My docs say it is probably IBS. I cant find these symptoms attributed to IBS on any website. My joints are starting to flare again, so here we go.
Any of this familiar or am I in the wrong place.
Posted 6/25/2008 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
You could have IBS and not IBD with the symptoms you're describing but how old are you?

If you're too young to suffer with pain/inflammation in your knees ect and you're having bowel issues (especially with bleeding) then that could point towards a form of IBD (either crohn's or ulcerative colitis)...you'd need a small bowel follow through to rule out crohn's as crohn's can affect the entire GI tract from the mouth to the anus, whereas UC is limited to the colon and rectom.

Why couldn't the flex sigmoid scope get far?

:)
Posted 6/25/2008 4:36 PM (GMT 0)
I reacted badly to the prep stuff. An enema on the day didnt clear as much as they would like. In the UK they dont use pill cameras and everything grinds really slowly.
Posted 6/25/2008 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
I definitely agree with pb4, if you're having joint pain and inflammation AND bleeding with bowel movements, that could be a sign of IBD (crohn's or uc). Your doc should be testing you thoroughly - including asking for a colonoscopy w/biopsies. There are many ways to prep for a scope. On top of an enema, now a days you could use laxative pills, or the Fleet stuff that is only 6 small bottles, or the gallon GoLytely goo.

If, for whatever reason, you are not able to get scoped, there is always Prometheus Labs. I mailed them a few vials of blood and they tested for IBD, Celiac's and Lactose Intolerance. I'm not sure how accurate they are, but it might be worth checking out if all else fails.
Posted 6/25/2008 6:48 PM (GMT 0)
It really doesn't sound like IBS to me, either. It sounds more like some sort of inflammatory problem throughout the body. There are blood tests to check for inflammation but shoulder and wrist and knee, no, not IBS. You may have 2 things going on. You are saying "interperiod bleed" Is it coming from the vaginal area? Have you seen a gynocologist? YOu need an entire workup, colonscopy, blood work, CT scan. They don't use the camera here on a routine basis. They do a colonscopy first. Have you been tested for gout? That can cause inflammation of joints and it is a burning pain. Good luck in finding the answers. This could well be an autoimmune problem. You need very thorough blood work. I would also see a rheumatologist, maybe they can put this together somehow.
Posted 6/25/2008 8:54 PM (GMT 0)
You could also have something like fibromyalgia, which causes muscle pain (can be in joints or feel like it's in the joints; very hard to distinguish from rheumatoid arthritis) and which bowel problems is a secondary symptom.

Also, do you have lyme disease in the UK? It can present some really weird combinations of symtoms.
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