should i still go for my colonoscopy

If you're seeing blood in your BMs then you should absolutely still go for your colonoscopy. How else would they see/explain/treat what's happening?

People with UC should be getting colonoscopies once every year or two, even while in remission. We need to make sure everything internal is okay, even if we feel fine.

I'm a little confused, but maybe this is just based on my own personal experience. When you get a colonoscopy, you need to do a dietary cleanse so your bowel is all or mostly empty. Unless your flare is so bad that you can't even sleep without feeling urgency, I don't see how being sick would prevent a GI doctor from examining you.

I've gotten like 5 colonoscopies in my life, and 3 of them took place while I was flaring. I'd think your doctor would want to take a look at what's happening so he could effectively treat the disease. Not sure how he'd help you get "better" without knowing what exactly needs to be addressed.

bananagirl said...
now that's my kind of GI. i have never understood doing colonoscopies during flares. what are you gonna find?? UC!!!! no way!!!!! doesn't change how you treat it if you've had a colonoscopy before. he already knows that you have inflammation and ulcers.

i've had 8 colonoscopies and they've all been doing while flaring. makes me so miserable every time.

I disagree.

I think more than 1/year would have to have a good reason. But having one every 1-2 years makes sense - even if you have active UC.

There are many questions to be answered besides UC yes/no. For instance, where is the UC? Or, Does it appear to have gotten milder or more severe?

I was pretty bad after 18 months, and my GI said we could do a scoping "if I was feeling better". I said HELL NO. I want to know if I got any benefit from the 18 months of Lialda. I want to know more about where I am bleeding. So he did a scoping.

I found out that Lialda had cleared my right colon and transverse colon. I had mild/moderate pancolitis, and after 18 months of therapy, I had moderate left sided colitis. It was like a sharp line right at the top of the left colon. I also found out that my sigmoid colon was bleeding a lot more when touched that it had been originally.

This led to a prescription for rectal medications. There was clear evidence that Lialda was not reaching into my left colon, although it had worked well in the rest of my colon.

It was very useful for me to know this. I am at 3 years now, and sometime in 2013, I plan to have another scoping to "see" what is going on and make further decisions.

I haven't had a scope in almost 4 years. I am going for one in January even though I have been feeling good. My GI wants to make sure things look good too. Lack of symptoms doesn't mean all is well I guess. I too am curious how things look. However, I am hoping it doesn't cause problems/flare.