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anyone had a pill cam endoscopy?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/16/2013 3:15 AM (GMT 0)
http://www.givenimaging.com/en-us/Pages/default.aspx

basically, you fast the night before and show up at your doctor's office in the morning. they gave you a belt to wear with a recorder that corresponds to the camera. the camera is in a capsule that you swallow. the camera sends images to the recorder and you bring it back to the doctor so he can look at it. you end up pooping the camera out naturally after 24-72 hours (or it gets stuck in less than 2% of patients).

seems pretty cool and way better than a colonoscopy/endoscopy. i'm gonna BEG my doctor to do one of these for me. doubt he will since he's pretty old school, but i will beg profusely.

there is a patient testimonial on the site about a dude with anemia and they couldn't find where he was bleeding with traditional scopes. he ended up doing a pill cam and they found a lesion in is jejunum. pretty cool.

Posted 3/16/2013 3:19 AM (GMT 0)
I was supposed to have one when I was vomiting and no one could figure out why. At the last minute they changed it though and did an endoscopy and colonoscopy. I thought it would be cool too
Posted 3/16/2013 3:29 AM (GMT 0)
After reading that, i would rather do that then a endoscopy/colonoscopy lol. Very interesting. Hope your doctor listens to you and gives it a try. Sorry to hear of your bleeding issues (diff thread). Maybe this could get to the bottom of it
Posted 3/16/2013 4:11 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah I wish they had given me the choice but my doctor said he was consulting with another doctor who thought they wold know more by doing biopsies.
Posted 3/16/2013 7:23 AM (GMT 0)
I read about these years ago. Was wondering why they dont use them more often.
Posted 3/16/2013 8:15 AM (GMT 0)
I did that procedure about a year ago when my GI was checking every inch of the digestive track for bleeding. Wore the device to work in the AM and returned it in the PM. No big deal. Didn't find anything out of order. I don't think it's a substitute for a endo or colonoscopy.
Posted 3/16/2013 11:43 AM (GMT 0)
My second GI loved them when she didn't need any more biopsies. She has a couple of pill cam posters in her office. They will want to do a traditional procedure if they see anything though. Just can't not snip at things :)

I think it sounds like an excellent idea to try to find your bleeding. Good luck!
Posted 3/16/2013 1:25 PM (GMT 0)
Yes my daughter did this. Not eating was the only issue, otherwise it was easy. I'd find someone who was going do this and and MRE if I were in your situation.
Posted 3/16/2013 1:30 PM (GMT 0)
Do you have to swallow that thing on your own? I wouldn't be able to haha

Joanna, I hope you will get to the bottom of this and get it fixed.
Posted 3/16/2013 5:59 PM (GMT 0)
yeah, you are right, sean. it's just like an "added" procedure to see the whole small intestine.

i don't have trouble swallowing so if kids can do it, then i think i can. from what i read on the site, there is no bowel prep- just not eating.
Posted 3/16/2013 6:01 PM (GMT 0)
Make sure they give you a test pill first so you know you can pass the pillcam
Posted 3/16/2013 6:36 PM (GMT 0)
Wouldn't a test pill waste time? May as well go through the process...at least the info will be recorded. If it gets stuck (seems it would from a stricture or blockage), surgery might be needed anyway?)
q
Posted 3/16/2013 6:39 PM (GMT 0)
I did this test a few years. My doc thought I might have crohn's so he wanted to use the pill cam to check my small intestine. Inside the pill is a small camera that takes a pic every so often... like every 10 seconds. The battery dies after 8 hours and it stops taking pictures at that point. This is about the time it reaches your large intestine. So it isn't used to check the large intestine, it's only for the small intestine. Or at least that's how it was when I did the test.
Posted 3/16/2013 6:42 PM (GMT 0)
The test pill dissolves if there is a blockage so surgery isn't necessary. I did ask for the dummy but they refused (!) as they didn't believe stricturing was an issue for my daughter. Luckily they were right but I'd try to get it too. It's pretty hard to get some of these things in Canada - I had to fight for it.
Posted 3/16/2013 8:15 PM (GMT 0)
if the cam gets stuck in banana's intestines, they are going to operate and do a j pouch while they are there..

when banana wakes up...she's going to go "DUH!" like Homer.
Posted 3/16/2013 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
Exactly what Somedude said.

If that pill gets stuck she will wake up missing her intestines. Id rather do the test pill then find myself acute, personally.
Posted 3/16/2013 9:15 PM (GMT 0)
i won't even request a test pill. it would be a miracle for my doctor to even agree to just doing the test. i'll do it however he wants.

i know if you don't see the capsule in the toilet after two weeks, the doctor is supposed to do an x ray. it'll still show up if it's inside you. they said it should come out in 24 to 72 hours. i poop everything else out so i don't see why i wouldn't poop a camera pill out.

somedude, i'd get millions for suing my doctor after that surgery. might be worth the j pouch haha
Posted 3/17/2013 3:22 AM (GMT 0)
I did the pill cam test when I was younger; I believe it was right before New Year's in 2006 or 2007. about a week and a half later, I got ill and vomitted a foreign object. The test had shown that the pill camera did not make it through the whole digestive tract and tests on the foreign object showed that it was a partially digested pill camera. X-rays showed another pill-sized object stuck in the digestive tract as well, which they assumed was the other half.

It's a painless test, but if the pill does get stuck, it sucks. Be aware, you will be swallowing a pill with a flashing light (which freaked me out a little bit) and the equipment is not exactly inconspicuous (so I hid inside all day, even though the doctor had said I could go to the mall or a movie or something to pass the time). If the doctor does do the test, (and i know this sounds gross but...) check your stools for the pill. If it doesn't pass within a week or two, go in for an xray to make sure the pill isn't stuck like mine was.

good luck!
Posted 3/17/2013 5:58 AM (GMT 0)
My daughter did this as well to check for inflammation in the small bowel. She said she never really saw the camera in her poop afterwards but she probably forgot to look. That was a while ago so I'm sure it's out of her system. That does sound horrible to have it get stuck!
Posted 3/17/2013 10:16 AM (GMT 0)
According to my surgical consultants, it is next to worthless by comparison with a CT or MRI of the small bowel, because the radiology of the organ can identify not just active inflammation but also prior inactive inflammation by way of wall thickening. Additionally, minor Knicks and ulcerations are present in the small bowel of anyone starting in middle age that are not associated with IBD and can't be filtered out minus a CT/MRI for more meaning- so I was told. Can't see what harm it can do though, ESP as kill colitis says, in combo with radiology. Good idea to do a safe, dissolvable dummy pillcam first then, to ensure the real thing won't get stuck.
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