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Infectious colitis??

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Posted 9/6/2019 3:37 AM (GMT 0)
Hello, wondering if anyone has any insight to my issue. Since a couple months after my sons birth last September I have had two incidents of mild blood and mucus when I use the restroom mostly with stool and a couple times without. This has happened twice in the last year for about a week to two weeks at a time and then goes away. I had a colonoscopy in March and they found internal hemorrhoids and erythematous mucosa (colitis) in a small part
of my transverse colon. The biopsy came back as likely infectious colitis. They did a ton of blood work and the Prometheus plan which tests for IBD and everything came back negative. They gave me Cipro and Flagyl which I finished but forgot a few doses and had to catch up. I was fine for the last four to five months and then recently had another flare up with the little bit of mucus with blood I had a cat scan and it’s still showing colitis. I have a follow up appt in a month. Any ideas what’s going on ?? I’ll also be submitting a stool test this week.
Posted 9/6/2019 2:31 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the forum, but sorry to hear you suffer from bowel issues as we do. Certainly, tell your general practitioner doctor, mention it reoccurred and ask for another course of Cipro/Flagyl (as it worked well for you the last time).

It's possible you have a re-occurring infection, and it might be possible you were misdiagnosed with an Infectious-Colitis, when it is actually a form of an Inflammatory Bowel Disease, like Crohn's disease.
Posted 9/6/2019 3:06 PM (GMT 0)
Did they take biopsies when they did the colonoscopy? Sounds like your symptoms were super mild for either an infection or IBD. I've had infections and they were even more severe than the UC symptoms or at the very least, just as bad. I assume you have called your gastroenterologist to ask about this? We obviously can't diagnose you over the internet.
Posted 9/6/2019 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
Yes he took biopsies where the inflammation was and said it showed infectious colitis. He’s thinking it’s really not IBD because of the mild symptoms and the negative blood panels for IBD. I will be having a follow up in a month to see what he wants to do next
Posted 9/6/2019 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
I hope you will get better soon, but I find it weird that your doctor will let your symptoms continue for a month until your appointment!
Posted 9/6/2019 4:31 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah that’s the soonest they could get me in. I’m not currently having any symptoms just a little mucus in my stool sometimes but the most recent flare up of the mucus and blood stopped a few weeks ago. Thank you!
Posted 9/6/2019 5:04 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, I also doubt it is IBD. Did they know which infection you had? For example, I had campylobacter and later got c diff. Just curious. Guess it doesn't really matter. Doesn't sound serious but good you're getting it looked into.
Posted 9/6/2019 6:40 PM (GMT 0)
No he is just now having me do a stool test so hopefully that shows what it is. It’s just weird that I could have infectious colitis off and on for a year without getting worse or causing many symptoms.
Posted 9/6/2019 7:26 PM (GMT 0)
Maybe you have more than on diagnosis: Proctitis ( colitis in the rectum) and you had infectious colitis in the transverse colon, and the hemorrhoid.
Posted 9/6/2019 7:50 PM (GMT 0)
It’s looking like I still have colitis in the transverse colon from the CT. So maybe it just didn’t go away the first time not sure. I don’t think I have proctitis since my rectum was normal besides the hemorrhoids at the colonoscopy. I also don’t have any urgency and the symptoms only last about a week and are mild and then go away. I have health anxiety so I think I’m reading into it too much but I’m just trying to figure out the whole colitis thing.
Posted 9/6/2019 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
If you have your colonoscopy report and biopsy reports, and copy/paste the doctor jargon here (or link to a picture of the reports) then we can help translate. Of course leave out any personally identifiable info.
Posted 9/6/2019 10:01 PM (GMT 0)
I don’t have the biopsy reports but this is the colonoscopy report.

The digital rectal exam was normal. Pertinent negatives include normal sphincter tone.

The ileum appeared normal
The Cecum, appendiceal orifice and ileocecal valve appeared normal
The recto-sigmoid colon, sigmoid colon, descending colon and ascending colon appeared normal
A segmental area of severely erythematous mucosa was found in the transverse colon. Biopsies were taken with a cold forceps for histology.
Non-bleeding internal hemorrhoids were found during retroflexion. Grade 1 and non prolapsed.

There is no endoscopic evidence of diverticula or polyps in the entire colon.
Posted 9/7/2019 8:15 PM (GMT 0)

Az6639 said...
No he is just now having me do a stool test so hopefully that shows what it is. It’s just weird that I could have infectious colitis off and on for a year without getting worse or causing many symptoms.

I would think it's more likely you got an infection, cured it with the Flagyl, and then got a second infection. The fact that you dont have many symptoms could just mean you have a healthy immune system that is fighting it off maybe? I am just guessing here. I'd ask your doctoe that. All good questions but the important part is you have very mild symptoms.
Posted 9/9/2019 12:42 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for posting that, not much mentioned within the colonoscopy report. Perhaps the biopsy report says a lot more?

It mentions a patch of inflammation within the transverse colon (where the large intestine goes horizontal across your belly button). "A segmental area of severely erythematous mucosa was found in the transverse colon." The "Erythematous mucosa" bit means a slight redness in coloration, much like sunburned skin appears in color. That's suggestive of a very mild inflammation.

What does not sound like UC is that the rectum is not involved (with UC it always is). There is a "segmental area," that's not UC, as it is not continuous in pattern.
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