Trouble dealing with symptoms

So Colitis runs in the family, my father has it and my sister was diagnosed with it as well.

Around christmas/new years i started to pass large amount of blood and was getting really bad cramps right before id go to the bathroom. This continued for a few weeks until i got in to see the GI. He didnt prescribe me prednisone or asacol but i was taking both and they were helping out wonderfully. He advised i come off them until he did a colonoscopy so i did and the symptoms were back almost the next day. I had my colonoscopy on monday and he said he didnt see anything to abnormal, he saw one spot that had "increased vascular structure" as he called it and said he got plenty of biopsies. However no more than 5 minutes after i got home from my colonoscopy i was having terrible cramps and diarrhea and started passing black stool (i havent eaten in like 36 hours at this point). That continued for the rest of the day into tuesday, so they sent me to the ER. While i was there they did a CT scan which came back fine, but i went thru 3 IV bags and left still feeling dehydrated. Yesterday and today have been no different, im not bleeding anymore which is nice but my abdominal area still feels really crampy and no matter how much water i drink i still feel incredibly dehydrated, which brings with it crazy headaches and im feeling really nauseous.

Are these common symptoms of UC? Since its not official yet they havent given to many meds, the ER sent me home with percocet and zofram but thats all ive taken since he asked me to ween off the asacol and prednisone.

That is really weird it didn't show up in colonoscopy!

iPoop said...
Black stool sounds more like food poisoning (I.e., salmonella) than uc.

Even though i hadnt eaten in 36 hours?

For those curious, when they diagnosed my sister her colonoscopy showed absolutely nothing, the doctor actually said she had the cleanest colon he'd seen, but the biopsies came back and it turns out she had pan colitis (which i think is colitis in all 4 parts of the colon?) so who knows.

DMC2011 said...
I know this sounds strange but did you take dome peptones bismol? That will turn it black. I hope you find answers soon.

I did not, good thought though. No i prepped all day sunday, had my colonoscopy at 9am monday morning, got home around 11, and by 11:10 i was having the black diarrhea. I think what was weird was how it looked, i can only describe it as looking at coffee grounds or something...

iPoop said...
Do you take iron supplements? Those can turn stool black.

Otherwise, my suspicion is upper gastrointestinal bleeding, either in the stomach or small intestine. The cayse could be food poisoning, a stomach ulcer or other related things... you might want an upper gastrointestinal scope if it persists... I did some searches on coffee grain black stool and many pointed to stomach ulcers.

Nope i had to stop taking supplements 5 days prior to the colonoscopy. The CT Scan at the hospital didnt show anything, idk if an ulcer would show up though. It hasnt persisted since i was in the ER, only lasted 2 days. The bleeding seems to have subsided for now which is nice since i looked like i was hemorrhaging since around christmas. Scheduled my follow up appointment for wednesday, hopefully the biopsies can provide answers.

dstinso3 said...
no matter how much water i drink i still feel incredibly dehydrated, which brings with it crazy headaches and im feeling really nauseous. Are these common symptoms of UC?

Getting a crazy headache and feeling really nauseous could be many things.

Could easily be a reaction to the UC drugs.

But can also actually be a sign of drinking too much water. Or drinking too much too quickly. Or drinking the wrong kind of water.

That is because water helps to flush toxins from your liver, kidneys and body. If lots of toxins are suddenly being stirred up and are swirling around your body........they are going to manifest somewhere (not just in your wee and poo) - it is generally known as DETOXING.

If this is the case, I can only suggest sipping room-temperature water slowly over the day. It is better to sip slowly and avoid cold water anyway; as helps digestion and cell hydration.

Also, the quality of water could be to blame somewhat. Are you drinking good filtered water? Or are you drinking plain bad water from the tap?

dstinso3 said...
Even though i hadnt eaten in 36 hours?

Yes, food poisoning can show up many hours and even days later.

The crampiness may be aftereffects of the colonoscopy. My husband had pain and gas for days after his (and got little sympathy from me since I always wake up from my scopes rarin' to go!)

How did you start taking Asacol and prednisone before seeing the GI? While you're waiting for results, you could go back on the drugs and see what happens.