Colitis rookie

I'm extremely new to this colitis thing, like less than a week. I was really sick a week ago and then a few days later I thought I had to use the bathroom but I couldn't go, I thought for sure I had a tumor or something blockage and was seconds away from calling 911. I went to the ER and come to find out the cat scan showed ulcers, which shocked me. I was also kind of relieved because I was thinking the worst, the C word. But now that I read these forums it is a scary thing. I'm sure like a lot of people here, I ate everything under the sun my whole life, I mean ANYTHING. I loved all food (and it's kind of ironic because I used to make fun of my aunt who was a very picky eater). I'm honestly not even sure what the diagnosis is going to be yet, according to the ER doctor. They are starting me on antibiotics to see if that works, if not, move to the next step. I'm going to ask my doctor also but is colitis something that comes out of the blue? And what causes it? Is it the way I ate during my life? I obviously have ulcers but is this something that could clear up and go away? Or should I expect to just deal with it the rest of my life?

The tricky thing is that I'm a paraplegic and my sensation ends at about mid chest, so I can't really "feel" my stomach but I can feel "Deep" stomach pain. Plus my body tells me in other ways like headaches and sweating. So I still feel major discomfort. With all of this I really feel for the folks that can feel normally because with the pain I am having I can't image what they are going thru.

While I wait for antibiotics to see what's going to happened I'm trying to figure out what to eat. I've pretty much been in pain for a week but one food that seemed to really make me feel totally normal was Salmon. I had baked Salmon with whole grain rice and I felt great afterwards. I'm just going by what I read on the net. I'm staying away from dairy and meat, I did have lean chicken tonight but I'm not feeling that great from it. Bananas seemed to be really good too. One thing i'm having a hard time with is drinks, I'm about to try tea. Just thought I'd ask those questions and tell my story. Thanks for the forum, its nice to have all the info available.

David

Welcome to the forum, but I'm sorry you have to come here as bowel disorders are the absolute worst. As they gave you antibiotics, I'm guessing it's Colitis that you have, which is just a type of infection that's typically treated and goes away. It's not at all due to anything you ate as infections just happen. Here, we have ulcerative colitis, which is a chronic, autoimmune disorder but there's some symptom overlap.

As far as a diagnosis goes, typically, a stool test is done to check for an infection and that can be ordered by a family doctor/general practitioner. They'd refer you to a gastroenterologist specialist for a colonoscopy with biopsies.

As far as what you should eat, eat bland and cooked foods without spices at least until you're healed. Simple meals of soups, potatoes, chicken, rice, and other things are often well tolerated. High fiber content isn't recommended, neither is alcohol or caffeine as they mighr aggravate things. Once you're healed, you should be able to eat whatever you want.

I hope you soon get a diagnosis and that your treatment plan works fast.

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