Biopsies interpretation

about four weeks ago I had a colonoscopy, which reported no mucosal lesions across the whole colon and concluded that UC was endoscopically in a quiescent phase.

I have recently received the biopsies report. Biopsies were taken in the rectum and sigmoid colon and the report only states (I am translating it in English):

Mucosa with mild focal architectural distortion of the crypts. Samples are compatible with UC in quiescent phase (stage 0).

My biopsies at diagnosis reported instead infiltration, crypt abscesses, eritema etc.

Now, I am wondering if this confirms that UC is inactive, as both reports states that (quiescent phase), and that the mucosal changes in the biopsies are a normal finding for people with UC, because of the past inflammation that caused permanent changes. Is this right? My doctor thinks so, and of course I want to trust him.

Congrats on your remission!

Thank you all.

I have been having GI symptoms like stomach pain, bloating or diarrhea every now and then over the past few months. That was the reason to do a check-up colonoscopy. Given the results of the c-scope, probably those symptoms are due to IBS. Anyway, this reassures me.

Looks good....!! Awesome 👍

What med schedule are you on at this point?

q

quincy said...
Looks good....!! Awesome 👍

What med schedule are you on at this point?

q

I am on 2.4g/day mesalamine tablets and 2g mesalamine enema nightly. My GI suggested to carry on for a couple of months with these medications, and then tapering the enema to every other night.

I used to take probiotics daily, specifically VSL3, but stopped a week before the scope. An odd thing that I noticed is that, at that time, I was having abdominal pain and soft stools, sometimes diarrhea, and I thought it was UC. Then, after the scope, these symptoms calmed down. I am now wondering if they were caused by a dysbiosis and, somehow, the bowel preparation "wiped" the gut. I wanted to ask my GI about this, but did not want to sound silly...

C_G_K said...
Have you ever been tested for food allergies? My son gets cramps and diarrhea from watermelon and pineapple. Turns out he is allergic to both of them.

The only test I did was the screening for coeliac disease, which came back negative.

Except for coeliac and lactose intolerance tests, which are well established, other food tests are not offered by medical practitioners in the country where I live (Italy), since there is no scientific evidence supporting them. These tests are sometimes available in pharmacies or in alternative medicine practices.

How did your son find out about watermelon and pineapple? An allergy, in medical terms, would cause skin rash, swelling, shortness of breath etc. right after ingestion, rather than GI symptoms.

adamas said...

How did your son find out about watermelon and pineapple? An allergy, in medical terms, would cause skin rash, swelling, shortness of breath etc. right after ingestion, rather than GI symptoms.

I took him to a specialist medical doctor (allergist). Food allergies are well established medically. Peanut allergies tend to be pretty bad for some people.

They did a skin reaction test for both pollen and food allergies. He is being treated with shots which are really helping.

He is especially allergic to (uncooked) pineapple which could cause an anaphylactic reaction, so he is very careful to avoid. To others he is sensitive, and gets tingling in his mouth and throat and diarrhea.

I think my results showed ranges, and a low, but abnormal result was reason to explore IBS. It's tough because I've had a normal result in remission, then soon after had very high results that clearly indicated IBD when symptoms kicked up. My GI always said I probably had IBS in addition to IBD.