HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Rectal irritation

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/22/2010 11:38 PM (GMT 0)
I have a case of rectal irritation that doesn't want to go away. sad  I'm on sulfasalazine, plus:

Back in January, I started using Canasa supps 2x/daily to get rid of bleeding. The bleeding stopped after about 2 weeks of the Canasa, but I continued to have rectal irritation that wouldn't go away.

I started using Canasa 1x and Cortifoam 1x daily in mid-February, which helped, although it still didn't go away 100%. about a month ago, I started weaning and went to Canasa one day, Cortifoam the next.  After a couple of weeks, I stopped the Cortifoam and kept using Canasa, but the irritation started coming back. I also tried using proctocream, but I'm not sure it reaches far enough.

I'm scheduled to see a new GI tomorrow and would like to be armed with some ideas for what to try next. My issues are:

1. Cortifoam is too expensive for me to keep using ($250 for 30 doses).

2. I don't want to take any new oral meds because other than this stupid irritation, my bowel habits are 100% - perfectly formed stools once or maybe twice a day.

3. I'm also concerned about using the rectal steriods for too long. But how long is too long with rectals?

Would steriod suppositories be a good option? They are cheap with my insurance ($9 for 30 of the 25MG), so that's what I'm thinking.

Rowasa is also really expensive for me - $320 for 30 doses.

Any advice is appreciated.

Kathy

Posted 3/22/2010 11:41 PM (GMT 0)
Each has its job to do, benefits and drawbacks....finding how to use each effectively is a crap (pun) shoot.

What do you mean by irritation? Is it external? During a bm?

Have you taken a look-see (yes, squatting over a mirror) to see if it might be a hemmie or a fissure?

q
Posted 3/22/2010 11:49 PM (GMT 0)
It's not a hemmie or fissure. I had a doctor do an anuscope in December (I was bleeding at the time) and he said, "no hemmie, just an area of inflammation right above the anus". It's actually fine after my usual BM in the morning, and tends to get more irritated later in the day. I can tell it's on my left side in just this small area.

I cut out alcohol and coffee a couple of weeks ago because I wondered if there was a connection to the afternoon irritation. That also happens to be when I'm craving sweets - but what I'm eating/drinking doesn't seem to change a thing (outside of the fact that I'm strict SCD so I'm already pretty clean with my food).
Posted 3/22/2010 11:55 PM (GMT 0)
I think you could maybe try proctocedyl suppositories or ointment in conjunction.

Are you taking any fibre supplements as well as probiotics? Maybe that's what you might need as well.

The coffee might cause some increased activity, but I can't see that it would encourage rectal irritation unless it caused you to go more.

The proctocedyl has a small amount of steroid in it, but I find they work well for my irritation or hemmies, etc.

Are you taking any fish oil?

What other supplements are you taking?

Are you not on any oral 5ASA?

q
Posted 3/22/2010 11:56 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor prescribed Cortifoam for rectal ulcers followed by Anusol suppositories - he said to get the very last irritation above the anus!  I did both 3 times a day for short time and then twice a day and when better - tapered to now about once to twice a week if I feel irritation coming on.

ElaineNY

Posted 3/23/2010 12:06 AM (GMT 0)
quincy - I'm taking sulfasalazine, SCD yogurt & acidophilus. No fish oil supps. No fiber supps because most of them are SCD-illegal - and I get plenty of fiber with all the veggies and fruit I eat.

I can't find the med proctocedyl on my insurance drug list, so it's not covered.

ElaineNY - thanks for the info. I was wondering whether trying to do it gradually was backfiring - maybe I should have blasted it with Cortifoam multiple times a day to start with. It's just so expensive, I was trying to conserve it.
Posted 3/23/2010 12:18 AM (GMT 0)
Have you tried using the vitamin e enemas nightly?
Posted 3/23/2010 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
I tried those back in November-December and it actually stopped the bleeding I was having then. I had to stop them to do the Genova stool test, though, and I haven't resumed them. I read somewhere that you have to do them for at least 3 months straight. At that time I thought "well, that's just too long." Of course, if I'd kept it up, I'd be past the 3 month mark by now - and I've been sticking God-knows-what-else up there the whole time. LOL

It's probably worth trying again. I'm just sort of panicking because my Cortifoam is about to run out.
Posted 3/30/2010 1:43 AM (GMT 0)

Update:

I had a flex sig done on Friday (with no anesthesia, and it was not a walk in the park but not as bad as I feared).

The doctor said all my colon tissue looked great with no signs of irritation. She said if my chart didn't say I'd been diagnosed with UC, she wouldn't know I had it.

She did find a small hemmie that she couldn't see until she turned the scope around to look back towards the entrance. So, I'm tapering off the Cortifoam and Canasa and going to see what happens. I guess some minor irritation may just be my companion for the foreseeable future.

Kathy

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply