Ulcerative colitis and inflammation in small intestine

Hi everyone. I have ulcerative colitis and inflammation in small intestine. I have been also tested for celiac but it came back negative in both blood test and biopsy. I am having rapid hair loss from last 6 months. But my doc. Said its not related to it. But for confirming i have done some blood tests after searching in net. And to my surprise i am suffering from vitamin b12 deficiency, vitamin d deficiency and iron deficiency. I have started b12 injections 7 times in 2 weeks. I want to ask does any one else also had both together? And what could be cause of it? Also all 3 deficiencies would take how much time to come to normal level? And is this type of hair loss is reversible? Please reply if anyone knows. I really need some suggestions.

Post Edited (suyash) : 5/9/2014 4:48:02 PM (GMT-6)

Currently i am taking mesalamine tablets(2 a day) and calcium tablets.

Does i have to do endoscopy and collonoscopy again to make sure for any errors?

You could request the biopsy results and that may give you a better idea of what you're dealing with. It doesn't sound like things were explained very well. How are your symptoms? Are you doing well on 2 tablets? That's a low dose. Were you flaring up when you started the medicine? Usually to combat a flare up you need a higher dose of medication.

With pancolitis (colitis of the entire intestine) its actually not uncommon to get inflammation near the end of the ileum (last section of the small intestine), so if the tests are showing UC, its likely UC.

You should take 3 or 4 tablets of mezavant in order to get your flare under control. 2 is usually for maintenance and I'd go that low only if you're doing really, really well for a long time.

@nicecupoftea is inflammation in backwash ileitis is so severe that it can cause vitamin b12,d and iron deficiency? And is there is any other test to confirm backwash ileitis? Anyone knows any causes other than celiac and chron's for chronic inflammation in intestinal mucosa?

@yash - First things first, do you know where your small bowel inflammation is located? Backwash ileitis only affects the terminal ileum (last few inches of the small bowel); it's caused by the 'backwash' of contents from the caecum. If you don't have UC in your caecum, then it's probably not that.

Here's a guide to non-Crohn's causes of terminal ileum inflammation. Note that some of the causes will be extremely rare, including the cancerous ones. Also note that in a study of nearly 4000 people, 125 had visible changes in the TI, but for 91% of those 125 people, it was idiopathic (i.e. no cause could be found) and seemingly harmless. For the remaining 8%, most had Crohn's disease.

www.annalsgastro.gr/index.php/annalsgastro/article/view/1004/742

Long story short, if you have non-idiopathic small bowel inflammation, the most likely cause is Crohn's. End of the day, though, I'm not a pathologist and even if I was, I don't have access to your medical records. This is a conversation you need to be having with your doctors.

Also, there are various causes of B12 deficiency. Crohn's is one cause, but there are others; I dunno what's caused your B12 deficiency. Holding off on the iron supplements because of possible constipation seems a little bit weird; however, you can wait and see if you want.

Edit: I knew idiopathic small bowel inflammation existed, but not to that extent; still a bit surprised by that study's findings. I'm finding the concept of insignificant inflammation a bit hard to digest as it were. But Crohn's does do a lot of damage to the intestines; that definitely is not harmelss.

Post Edited (NiceCupOfTea) : 5/10/2014 11:05:07 AM (GMT-6)

@bananagirl how long does it take for your nutrients level to came back to normal level? And are you still taking vitamin b12 injections and iron supplements? I know duration varies person to person but it will give me some idea about it.

@nicecupoftea I really appreciate that you gave that much time to solve my queries and i didn't ignore your post at all. I am just worried about nutrients deficiency bcoz due to this i had terrible hair thinning in last 6 month. So i was concerned that how much time my iron, b12 and d will take to come to normal level so that hair thinning stops that's why I asked it again. Hope you will understand this. And thanx for your suggestions again they are really helpful.

@nicecupoftea it's okay. I understand that your aim was to help me about this problem and it was my fault of not replying. Sorry from my side also. hopefully i will get responses from you for my queries in the future also.

And about my hair loss, i was diagnosed with uc 3 months back whereas this hair loss problem is from last 6 months that's why i thought it was may be due nutrients deficiency.

Can you tell me details about iron infusion? And it takes how many infusion to correct it. As I am going to my doc. on day after tomorrow so it will help me.

Post Edited (yash94) : 5/11/2014 3:47:38 PM (GMT-6)

@nicecupoftea thanx alot. That link was really helpful. I think its tropical sprue bcoz it's only cause of type of inflammation in small intestine other than celiac and chron's. Also all symptoms are exactly same as problems I had. But most importantly it's mainly found in india and south Asia, and as i live in india it fits into it also. I am going to my doc. tomorrow and I will discuss it with him. Thanx again.