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Please help me with this crap!!!

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/10/2013 8:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all,

Just joined this group for some support and hopefully to be there for others as well.  Started having rectal bleeding 3 months ago and mucous, etc.  Had a colonoscopy in Dec of 2012, couple of polyps removed, one rather big and they biopsied the inflammed tissue in my rectum.  Diagnosed with ulcerative proctitis due to colitis.  I tried some stupid suppository the doctor gave me, didn't work.  Now using the mesalimine enemas nightly.  Althought the mucous and bleeding are much better, the tenesmus is horrible.  I want to scream, I want to cry all day long.  This straining and feeling that I need to empty my bowels even when I don't  is driving me nuts.  I think I'm gonna try an enema bag tomorrow (like my grandma!).  Any sugguestions.

I wont' go back to doctor....just don't like to see doctors at all.  Had 2 grandpas with colon cancer, one was rectal.  I'm loosing my mind with this "crap."

Thanks for letting me vent.

God bless you all

Posted 2/10/2013 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi smj
Welcome to the forum.
For starters, are you taking a good probiotic?
Initially, the thing that stopped the feeling of urgency for me was slippery elm powder mixed with probiotics and a little water and honey. Now I mix it in cranberry juice to make it palatable and take it every night before bed.

You can use the search function under the Join Healingwell tab at the top right to get more info from past posts on slippery elm and probiotics.

You could also check out the website cureforulcerativecolitis.com to get more info on alternative supplements like slippery elm and I think marshmallow root is also mentioned. One woman in a health store told me that marshmallow root worked for her.

You might also want to think about diet restrictions like eliminating lactose and, possibly, gluten. Lots of people have issues with those 2 in particular.

Are you also taking oral meds? I have been on generic Colazal (a mesalamine) capsules for years with no side effects.
The enemas will take care of the rectum and left side but to treat the whole colon, you need the oral meds to "treat from both ends".

Hope this info is helpful. :-)
Posted 2/11/2013 3:27 AM (GMT 0)
I'm currently struggling with tenesmus myself. Tylenol and warm baths several times a day seem to help me. You might give those a try and see if they do you any good.

The mesalamine enemas did seem to help me a little with the rectal pressure but I'm at the point now to where I can't retain them for any amount of time for them to be useful.
Posted 2/11/2013 5:17 AM (GMT 0)
Welcome to HW. I hate to say this but you should probably try to keep the line of communication open with your doctor - as much as you hate it. I hate going too but it's good to have someone who is on your side when things get bad and in my case, they have, and having a doctor I trust and feel comfortable with has been extremely helpful. With the history of colon cancer and the polyps, I don't see any way around getting seen somewhat often.

I hate that feeling of having to go too. It's something we all deal with and you could never explain it to a person without UC without them thinking you are a lunatic. You could try oral medication and it may be helpful but with the inflammation mostly in the rectum, your best bet is probably rectal meds. If the rowasa aren't working for you, you may be able to try cortenemas or cortifoam.
Posted 2/11/2013 5:56 AM (GMT 0)
Welcome to Healing Well! Feel free to vent anytime. Although we do try to keep it PG here as much as possible.

How many times are you going a day? Have you updated your diet to a more UC friendly one? Check the RESOURCES thread for lotsa great info.
Posted 2/11/2013 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the forum.

You've been given good advice.

There is a homeopathic remedy which is very good for tenesmus, it's called: Mercurious Corr - it comes in various potencies, I would suggest: 30C, and all you need is a few pellets ( these are tiny sugar coated pellets the size of coarse salt) take 2-3 pellets every 15 minutes, and within 1 hour you should feel some great relief of the tenesmus.

If you get the recurring feeling take more pellets.

It's quite remarkable how effective this remedy is for this problem.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Posted 2/11/2013 2:11 PM (GMT 0)
Tenesmus is the worst, I agree. Sorry you are struggling. I wonder if you don't have some IBS stuff happening along with your other troubles. If that's the case it may have something to do with your diet and foods that you may be intolerant of. One way to check out this possibility would be to go on an elimination diet where you only eat one or two "safe foods" like chicken or rice and add in new foods every few days so you can tell what is bothering you. If you google FODMAP diet there are some foods listed that bother a lot of people. Onions, garlic, gluten and lactose are the usual suspects, along with beans and some fruits high in fructose. Total bummer, I know. You could also have a type of delayed allergy, (IGG antibodies) to many other foods. There are tests for this, but you get them at a naturopath.

If you want a quick and dirty way to see if foods are contributing to your misery and don't want to deal with the elimination diet or testing up front you can try just drinking Ensure for a week or so and see what happens. (If you are allergic to milk or soy protein this won't help.)

Good luck, hope you feel better soon.
Posted 2/11/2013 4:58 PM (GMT 0)
I highly reccommend Boswellia and Curcumin, they are powerful but natural anti-inflammatories and agree with what others have said about a good probiotic. Best of luck to you!
Posted 2/12/2013 12:46 AM (GMT 0)
Hemmorice is the thing that best helps my tenesmus and proctitis. AND squatting to poop.
Posted 2/12/2013 11:46 AM (GMT 0)
Squatting, squatting, squatting to poop. Cannot emphasise this enough. It's the most natural way to defecate and reduces the friction and pressure on your anal canal. Also try vitamin E enemas. You just use vitamin E oil (make sure it's the type you can take orally) and mix it with some previously boiled water. Make sure it does not contain sulphite as a preservative.
You sound like me when i was on mesalamine enemas. They gave me this unbelievable feeling of rectal pressure and eventually i couldn't tolerate them (they began to make me bleed more after using them). My suspicion was that i was allergic to the sodium metabisulphite preservative in them. We do not have sulphate-free enemas here in Australia. But you can ask your GI for sulphite-free Rowasa. It may help.
Posted 2/12/2013 4:07 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all so very much
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