Could amoebic colitis be mistaken for ulcerative colitis for 3 years?

Hello everybody. I am a 30 year old male diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in march 2011. 11 months prior to my diagnosis I was having severe lower abdominal pains, feeling pressure under the ribcage on the left sign, and pain in my lower back and both collar bones. All medical exams showed nothing unusual, until I started having large quantities of blood in my stools in march 2011 for two weeks. I was ordered to do a colonoscopy during which many ulcers were visible spreading from the rectum to my descending colon. Two samples were taken for biopsy, which confirmed the diagnosis for chronic ulcerative colitis. My doctor put me on a therapy with mesalazine 3 x 2 pills a day and 1000mg administrated rectally before sleep which led to a great relief of the symptoms for the following 3-4 months. Then I started flaring up really bad again, and was put on a high dose of steroids and metronidazole for the following 2 months which put me in remission. In the beginning of 2013, I started flaring up again, and wasnt be able to achieve any kind of relieve ever since. Recently I changed my GI, had another colonoscopy, and the results came out identical as the first one. The doctor also noticed my sigmoid colon is so hardened, you could easily feel it with your hand if you touch my abdomen. After every other medication failed to help me, my doctor said he believes its time for me to try Imuran. However, he ordered me to have a stool exam first for presence of intestinal amoeba, something no other doctor ordered me to do before. I have two questions, and hope somebody could answer. 1. Is it possible that all this time I actually had a curable amoebic colitis which was mistaken for ulcerative colitis even after I had two separate 10 day treatments with metronidazole? 2. Why is it necessary for me to be hospitalized for the first five days of starting my therapy with Imuran? My blood works are ok, except for the elevated CRP (8), and I never suffered from anemia during my illness even when I was losing blood in large quantities. I frequently had either elevated WBC count, or normal count, but elevated sedimentation in the past. Some times my ALT and AST would be very high, but are ok now. Right now I am not bleeding, but can hardly eat anything at all, and have 3-5 undigested stools per day with mucous present. I am following the SCD diet and have lost 44lbs in the past year. The biggest problem I am facing in this period is the excruciating pain which is so great that I am unbearable to be around because I am nervous and screaming all the time. :( I cant take this much pain anymore. I am literally slowly going crazy because of it. I have a very stressful life, but unfortunately I have no influence on that. Please, anyone help me... I don't think I can take this pain for much longer. It exhausted me to the point I cry like a child every day. Thank you, and I wish you all great health.

What country are you in? Your case seems a little bit on the not normal side. I think the answer to your first question is possibly yes. Not sure about the answer to your second question but normally you don't get hospitalized when starting Imuran but since your case is a little different it is probably best to follow doctors orders.

I am doubtful that you'd be diagnosed with ulcerative colitis if it was in fact amoebic colitis. My colonoscopy showed all the physical signs of ulcerative colitis but my biopsy didnt have the right auto immune markers to indicate UC so they won't diagnose me as such....yet. One of their theories is my ulcers/inflammation was caused by an infection of some kind. What I'm saying is, it's easy to say what it is when you have the right markers etc. if you had biopsies taken and they said UC I'd tend to believe it.

Got the coproculture results from my GI. They are negative to amoebas, parasites etc. He informed me I will be hospitalized in the next few days and start my Imuran therapy. These are the best holidays ever... I hope the side effects will be minimal.

Katmom said...
Good luck to you. Sorry for your pain. Perhaps they will get your pain under control at the hospital. If Remicade is available,it should be considered. Keep reading on this site, many options exist.

Remicade could be an option as soon as I fix some things with my health insurance, and I am working on it, otherwise I would have to pay thousands for it, and frankly I cant afford that right now. I will fix my insurance before I go to hospital for sure. Could you please explain what are the advantages of Remicade over Imuran? Are there less side effects? I am definitely staying on this forum. :)

PathogenKiller said...
Yes, it could.

Get back on flagyl or take an herbal anti amoebic. See how you respond.

One question about your sigmoid. Hardened as in: filled, constipated or the walls have thickened and hardened?

Well I got my results today and they are negative to any kind of parasites, so the amoebic colitis is ruled out. The walls of my sigmoid are hardened. Even I could feel it as my doctor was applying pressure on my abdomen.

Would a 10 day course of Flagyl solve the problem if it was an amoeba, or would I need 20, because I know they put you on 20 to treat some conditions? I was on Flagyl for 10 days, 2x1 400mg in the beginning of 2012, and another 10 days 3x1 500mg in June this year. Not a big fan of antibiotics, trying to avoid them as much as I can.

Thanks embersglow1... I have accepted my illness, and I am very aware its a life long condition, but somehow there is some kind of hope hovering above my head that it will go away.

Aside from my dog, I don't think Ive been exposed to any source of possible parasitic infection. The doctor completely ruled out any kind of parasitic infection once all my tests turned out to be negative. I moved to Bosnia seven months ago, so I am still not completely familiar with how things work here when it comes to health care. I am being treated in a private clinic, and they have limitations when it comes to prescribing drugs such as imuran. They can prescribe it, but it has to be confirmed by a doctor from a public hospital. That combined with my present health condition are the reasons for my hospitalization. I was surprised and scared when I started this topic, but now that I had a few days to cool my head down, I can't wait to finally start resolving my problem. I had enough suffering in the past year, and I am not planning to spend 2014 in pain and misery. I am pretty much alone here with no friends or family, and I really appreciate all of you taking time to answer my questions. I love how things work on this forum, and all the great advices and kindness. Thank you all folks for lifting my spirits 'cause I really needed it. You are all great.