The noises in my gut are out of control

Yeah I've been pretty lucky with what I can eat on a regular basis.  Protein powder, bananas, eggs, milk, even cookies, cake - all of that I am usually just fine with.  It's funny how everybody's disease reacts differently to different foods.

I was at 12.5mg of Prednisone before I got the stomach flu.  I was able to get an appt with a 'fill-in' doc tomorrow since I guess all the regular ones are out of the office.  So at least I can get tested and see what happens. The Levsin seems to have helped me alot today, at least my 5 hour drive wasn't too bad.  I've been trying to take it every 4 hours.  I'm trying plain noodles again now.  I have to be able to eat eventually or I'll never get my energy back. 

My mom said the most horrible thing to me this morning that ended up upsetting so much I felt sick right away.  She told me that I complain too much about being sick and that is why my ex-bf of 6 years broke up with me a month ago. Oh and that no guy will ever want to be with me when I am like this.  That pretty much depressed me right back to the point I was when the relationship ended a month ago.  So THAT doesn't help my UC at all and certainly doesn't help me feel any better in general!

Thanks quincy.  My dad actually passed away a little over 2 years ago.  He was really more concerned about the fact that I was sick and just didn't want me to ever feel sick.  And he always worried about me being sick.  He didn't, however, really worry about me being alone.

My mom seems to have no filter on what she says. She herself actually complains all the time about her aches and pains. In fact I really never tell her about anything to do with my UC or flare-ups.  Since I had the stomach flu and couldn't eat much all weekend it was harder for me to 'hide' that I didn't feel well.  I guess that's all it took for her to put me down.

On a positive note, my 1 BM today (this morning) wasn't all liquid. It still wasn't really formed but at least not just watery. So far the noodles I ate are just sitting in my stomach but at least it didnt' get upset immediately!

They were just regular noodles not rice. I had just put a little butter on them. I actually had a few marshmallows and 1 cutout cookie and was fine, woohoo! I still feel pain in my lower left by my groin though sobmy colon must be inflamed. Its usually the spot where it turns to the left side colon, i have alotvpf scarring there. All the more reason to slow my pred taper I suppose.

I tried some cereal this morning, we'll see how that goes.

I hope I can actually leave a stool sample at the appt, not that I'm complaining if I can't have a BM.

Well I didn't need to leave a stool sample.  The dr I saw said it sounded like I was starting to improve and that its typical to take up to 2 weeks for your stomach and digestive tract to rebuild the lining it lost from the stomach virus.  She said I'm probably tired just from not eating and getting all the nutrients I need. She said once the lining builds back up your stool starts to be less watery and absorb nutrients slowly, then the stool becomes more formed over time.  So that does sound like what is happening.  She said if it gets watery again or still isn't back to normal in another 7 days I could go back in.  She said to slowly start introducing more normal food back in but for the next week to still stay bland - pasta, soup, bread, etc. Even yogurt she said will be ok since I am not lactose intollerant. The little milk I had in my cereal this morning didn't seem to be an issue.

I was able to eat cereal this morning with no issue.  I didn't even take my Levsin pill today!  My gut is not making as much noise. It does seem like the symptoms are slowly moving 'downward' if that makes sense, like they are becoming more like UC symptoms I am familiar with and leaving my upper GI tract alone.  Been eating more marshmallows today which seems to help me - a little trick I've learned over the past 18 years. My brother used to eat those too when he had his colon and found it helped.  I guess they can be constipating.

I do have scarring right at the corner where the colon turns from the left side to sigmoid.  I've had that for many years. I also have a very 'tight' corner there I guess.  Whenever I am flaring I get a pain down there in that area, so i'm used to it and know it means there is likely inflamation going on there. Hopefully if I stay at 20mg of pred for a week that pain will go away. That's usually how I know I can taper safely too.

On a side note - when I went to Mayo and had to leave a stool sample there, you didn't have to scoop it out. They had this bowl that had a sleeve around it and fit under the toliet seat. You just went right into that bowl, took it out, put the cover on and that's what you left as your sample. Pretty nifty!  I wish they had that everywhere!

Me too!  There is a piece of cake in my frig I brought back from Christmas that is really calling my name!  :)

I also really want to be able to at least eat what I want on New Year's Eve at my sister's house. Plenty of appetizers and goodies to eat then. And at least since I lost weight the last week I won't have to feel too guilty :)

Hi quincy,

Yep his colon was removed due to his UC.  He was diagnosed I think about 20-21 years ago - it was about 1-3 years before I was but I can't quite remember now. I just remember that as soon as I started having symptoms (the bleeding) I knew exactly what it was because he had it.  He had quite a hard time the entire time he had it - he never was in remission.  And back then the strongest thing they had to help was Prednisone so he was on that for over a year.  He finally started going to Mayo and even did a nicotine patch study which he said was the only thing that really ever made him feel better. Then he opted for surgery after the Prednisone just wasn't helping at all anymore.  He often says if he had it now he wouldn't have the surgery, but he has had quite a few pouchitis episodes and infections. Plus he has about 6-8 BMs a day (loose of course with no colon).  But who knows if he would have gotten remission with the drugs that are out today, its hard to say, everybody's disease is so different.

So far no BMs today yet for me, so that is new!  No noises in my gut at all. I suspect the Prednisone might be working now and constipating me a bit - the usual routine when I go back up on it. 

Ah, so UC is in the family already. Didn't realise. Good to have experience in the family, however...sucks, but is still a resource.

Yay on a more formed bm...amazing what we celebrate..lol!

Are you still on the enemas?

Sounds as though it's a positive. Yeah, in part it's the pred...maybe tapering will be faster and easier this time? leaving you with the enemas to help deal with the inflammation should it arise while tapering down.

Here's to a normal New Year's!

q

MNBeachgal said...
Yes, its amazing when I get so excited just to see a formed BM. I'm sure nobody else but the people on here would understand the excitement in that!

I don't care how gross it is, the first time I see a formed BM of my own I'm going to take a PHOTO. Congratulations, glad to hear you're on the mend! :)

G/I tract viruses can really wipe one out! I'm not surprised to read about your setbacks. Maybe you caught a norovirus? Eva Lou & I posted about it on the forum a couple winters ago; it was absolutely the pits-- gave us very strong rumbles in the colon. With the virus attacks it's best to go immediately to liquids, non-fatty chicken soup, & plain boiled white rice, then progress to toast, scrambled egg, mashed potato, broiled fish & resume normal meals gradually. Remember that a noisy gut indicates that you do have peristalsis; the absence of gut sounds for lengthy spells would be a real cause for concern. Wishing you a good recovery in time to enjoy 12/31! / Old Hat (32 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)