Hi,
I've been reading the posts here for a month or so and have decided to join because of the positive impact this site is having on me and others. Here's my story if you feel like reading: I had my first colonoscopy and upper GI in 1996 because of extreme weight loss and bright red blood in the stool. The GI said I had acid reflux, hiatal hernia, internal hemorrhoids, gastritis, and ulcers in the ileum. I was put on Omeprazole 20mg and Pentasa. I took the Pentasa for a couple of years and I still take the Omeprazole because I get some serious heartburn if I don't. I have always had what I call "Stomach Attacks" that would be triggered by certain foods which would cause occasional bouts of D. My bowel business has always been a little abnormal, but I never thought anything was wrong. I just chalked it up to bad eating habits. It was like this until April of 2010, and that's when I started noticing mucous in my stools and I actually had a couple accidents while trying to pass gas that was nothing but mucous. I was freaking out. My family doc sent me in for a colonoscopy in July of 2010. I was then told 10cm of my rectum was inflamed and that I had proctitis/ulcerative colitis (there were no ulcers in the ileum). A biopsy was also done and it came back negative for cancer. I was put on Asacol 400mg 2 pills/ 2 times a day and hydrocortisone enemas ( a surgeon did my scope and my family doc prescribed the meds, no GI was involved yet). After 3 weeks on the Asacol and enemas I started to have blood & mucous in the stool, along with D, and my bm's started to increase. I called the doc and he said to increase the Asacol by 2 more pills. It didn't work- I got sicker and was on the pot between 6-10 times a day. The doc then put me on Flagyl just in case i had an infection (but he never had me get a stool sample). This also did not work. Finally, I asked the doc to refer me to a specialist and he did but his personality was so uncomforting and fake and he actually walked out while my wife was still asking questions - we have since changed family docters. I met with my GI at the end of Oct. and he had me give stool samples, blood and urine. Since all my tests came back fine (except my liver enzymes were high), he recommended that he personally give me another colonoscopy and that he follow through with my treatment because he felt my family doc dropped the ball the first time around. So, I'm having my 3rd scope done Nov. 15 and hopefully I will be given something to treat this and put it in remission, and let me know exactly what's going on in my colon. I'm currently on no prescription meds for UC except for vitamins, probiotics, spinach diet, metamucil, and aloe juice. Things have been getting better since I last saw the GI on Oct. 25. I am still having some blood and mucous, but after the little bit of blood and mucous comes out, there is generally a couple solid bm's that follow. I generally go #2 between 1-4 times a day. Today, I did have D today after I ate some quiche and I'm wondering if that was the culprit - no blood that I could see which is weird for me - usually there's a little. Well thanks for listening and I welcome any advice. If it wasn't for this forum, I would be a train wreck. Glad to be here.