HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Polyps

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 11/17/2010 9:30 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all,

Well i've just had my annual colonoscopy. The good news was that the inflammation is apparently relatively calm at the moment according to the docs.

As always, I get told that I have so many polyps that they can't remove them. They take a few for tests, but that's it. Does anyone know of any way to reduce polyps or is this just something that we have to live with?

Thanks

D

Posted 11/19/2010 7:39 AM (GMT 0)
My GI told me the same, I have a huge ammount of polyps like bunches of grapes,far too many to remove.As far as I know they are inflamatory polyps,resulting from previous severe inflamation,I d'ont think there is any way to get rid of them I would sure like to know if there is.
Although they are not a problem in themselves,later on down the line,(after 10years) or when they start checking it makes it incredibly difficult if not impossible for your GI to check forpre- cancerous polyps as he just can't see them amongst all the others.
My GI did'nt dwell too much on this as I think he secretly though I would have had the surgery by then anyway.
Sorry I haven't a more positive answer. Anna
Posted 11/20/2010 8:04 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Anna,
Thanks for replying. That's quite interesting, and although as you say it wasn't maybe the answer i was hoping for, it's always good to know that someone can relate to a situation. By the way, i notice you take Movicol. Does it help you at all? If so, in what way. My Doc said I should take it, but it seemed like that would be something else to add to the long list of meds!!
Thanks
d
Posted 11/20/2010 2:11 PM (GMT 0)
I could've written Anna's post myself! I too have hundreds of polyps, pseudopolyps, caused by past inflammation. Can't get tham all out, can't differentiate between those & "real" polyps, makes cancer detection difficult if not impossible. Yeah, my GI is hoping I'll have surgery prior to that point also. I think it's fairly common in UC patients, at least in those of us who've had serious flares in the past.
Posted 11/20/2010 3:11 PM (GMT 0)
The good news is that aspirin has been shown to reduce polyps.

The bad news is that UCers like us cannot take aspirin without aggravating symptoms. It is a no-no for us.
Posted 11/20/2010 6:44 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,
Davos the movicol,(I'm actually not taking it at the moment,although I probably should be.You basically just mix it in water but I find it quite,digusting,sometimes to the point of retching,its a bit salty/lemoney,not really too bad I'm just a wimp with that sort of thing)Anyway back to the the point,the movicol is an osmotic laxative really,meaning it draws water into the bowel,rather than hurrying things along,which is meant to be more gentle,plus bulking up and softening the stool.I'm meant to take this as when the left-side of my colon gets inflamed stools stop passing down easily because of the inflamation,backed up stool again tends to agravate,and make the inflamation worse,so basically to keep everying moving through as painlessly as possible.
On another note I'm interested that you say you've come off the Azathioprine,I've been on it 3years now,and its worked well,but I would love to be off it,my GI,dosent think that is a good idea and is worried I will flare massively.
Babe,I did'nt know asprin or anything could reduce polyps,is that because of its anti-inflamatory properties?
Posted 11/20/2010 7:05 PM (GMT 0)
You can google 'polyps aspirin' and access tons of info about aspirin reducing polyps. But that will not explain if UCers should take aspirin. I tend to avoid it.
Posted 11/20/2010 8:06 PM (GMT 0)
A salicylate such as 5ASA would help....that's why many of us suggest the mesalamine/5ASA meds regarding UC and the belief in possible future cancer.

There is lots of info regarding 5-ASA and colon/rectal cancer.

q
Posted 11/20/2010 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
you wonder though, if you've already got 100's of pseudopolyps, would the 5ASA's help at all. And you wonder how exactly they help! I mean, I've been on 8-12 Asacol daily for about 9 years now, since my UC was first diagnosed. And I still have the polyps, most of which probably resulted as a consequence from a 2 year horrible flare, from '07-'09. So the 5ASA didn't stop them forming, that's for sure. Maybe the drug prevents them from becoming worse, or helps to keep new ones from growing large, or somethng like that. Who knows! I think the 5ASA helps reduce the cancer risk overall by keeping inflammation at bay- ideally! But for many, the Asacol or other 5ASA's don't seem to help much. So you wonder if it's moot. I've never personally heard of anything reducing polyps.
Posted 11/20/2010 8:37 PM (GMT 0)
Curious...if those who have polyps have all been on prednisone?

q
Posted 11/20/2010 11:17 PM (GMT 0)
Well I've definitely been on Prednisone!! I also have had the polyps for a long time, my first 4 years or so of UC I had really high inflammation, so i guess that's when they started to form. I take 5ASAs so I guess that's a good thing. If from what you're all saying they can't tell whether there are any cancer growths because of all the polyps, it makes you wonder why they insist on giving me a colonoscopy every year.

Anna- thanks for the info on Movicol. My docs were also insisting that I stayed on the Azathioprine. In the end, I SLOWLY weened myself of without telling him. It took me about 2 years to reduce the dose down from 200mg/day (I think, it's a long time ago now) and then after 9 months or so of none and still no noticeable change I told my doc that is what i'd done and that i didn't see that i needed to start again. He reluctantly agreed. I can see that this may have been a bit risky, but it's a decision that i decided to take at time. Maybe i'd be feeling better physically now if i still took it though, it's hard to say. I think though that psychologically, I'm happier not taking it.
d
Posted 11/21/2010 11:23 AM (GMT 0)
Hi again,
I've also been on mega pred doses and IV steriods when things were really bad,but I don't think that relates,the general opinion seems to be that the polyps can form when the inflamation in the body is very high,I remember the Doc's remarking that the inflamortary markers in my body were high at 75 when I was really bad,I don't know what the scale is but I know normal well person would show 0 infamation in the body.
Then it would make alot of sense to stay on anti-inflamatory meds like the 5asa's to keep inflamation at a lower rate and guard against polyps forming,thus reducing likelyhood of pre-canceous polyps.
I was on Asacol and pentasa,when a got really ill,and the polyps still developed,but after when I'd settled down on the azathioprine my GI told me I did,nt need to be on them anymore as they had not worked for me.
Like Eva Lou I've never heard of anything that can actually reduce polyps wnen they are formed,I thought the only way to get rid of them was to have them snipped off when you have the yearly colonoscopy,which is fine if you only have a few but obviously not possible if you've got loads.
Posted 11/21/2010 12:51 PM (GMT 0)
Of course, I've been on pred many times. Orally & intravenously, but I think the IV steroid was a different one, not exactly pred. What do you think the connection is, Quincy? I've never heard of any.... Also, we have to keep in mind that what most UC'ers have are pseudopolyps- not true polyps. I don't know if those "develop" differently than polyps? Know what I mean? If the pseudo ones eventually turn cancerous, like a regular polyp. I don't *think* they necessarily do, but that's the catch- even when they do a scope & take biopsies, there's no way to biopsy every single one. When I found out about mine, I did some research into them, but now prefer to play ostrich & pretend everything is fine! As it stands now, cancer risk is my biggest fear- wouldn't I feel like a chump to have held on to my colon all these years, only for it to go cancerous & kill me? And be surgically removed to boot! Nice.
Posted 11/21/2010 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
I was under the impression that the pseudo or inflamatory polyps do not turn cancerous,they just hide the regular polyps that could turn cancerous, like you say it would be impossible to biospy every single one,my big fear is also the cancer thing,but for the moment I'm just carrying on,I've already turned down surgery twice,because I'm terrified,I supose the the possibility of cancer,would force the situation.
Posted 11/21/2010 5:34 PM (GMT 0)
Interesting you say your Annual colonoscopy.. My GI tells me I am now on a 3 year schedule... I can't find where he gets this information. Last time I had my Colonoscopy he told me it would be every 2 years now (since I have had UC for over 15 years). Anyone have what the American or Canadian Chrohn's and Colitis foundations recommendations are? I have asked them, no answers have been given.
Posted 11/21/2010 5:43 PM (GMT 0)
AnnaG, I think you & I are twins... I too had surgery scheduled 2x, then quit at the last minute! And feel like now, cancer is what would make go ahead with it.
Posted 11/21/2010 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
I don’t know if you will find this helpful but here is an article discussing polyps and colon cancer and the usual suspects such as folic acid , vitamin D, and aspirin. Here they talk about aspirin as a Cox-1 inhibitor but Cox-2 inhibitors are also effective.

The conventional Cox-2’s, Vioxx and Celebrex, are problematic. Vioxx was banned 5 years ago for causing heart deaths and Celebrex, though still on the market, is on probation. The good news is that there are also some natural Cox-2 inhibitors with little side effects, boswellia and turmeric. (Nice to see that science has finally caught up with what we patients have been saying for years.) You need to google boswellia and turmeric separately since they are not discussed in this article.

http://search.lef.org/cgi-src-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=3425&query=polyps&hiword=POLYP%20POLYPA%20polyps
Posted 11/22/2010 5:34 AM (GMT 0)
I know a middle-aged female UCer who has scores of tiny polyps thoughout her colon. She went into remission after her initial flare, and has been taking Colazal daily for the last five yrs. Her gastro does an annual colonoscopy, but otherwise keeps her totally calm about the polyp situation. From what I've read, flat-lesion malignancies in the colon are more alarming to gastros than polyps. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)
Posted 11/22/2010 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
Baconeggsyum...I'm on the 3 year plan as well. My GI said the latest information they had recommended every 3 years after polyp removal. I had 4 removed. I am 33 years old.
Posted 11/22/2010 8:50 PM (GMT 0)
quincy-i had them the first time i had a colonoscopy before i started prednisone
Posted 11/23/2010 4:29 AM (GMT 0)
thanks....just curious
q
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply