Colonoscopy results

I had my colonoscopy on May 19. The results stated "The colonic mucosa appeared normal from the cecum to the descending. The sigmoid colon had mild erythema and friability. The rectum was normal. No dysplastic lesions were seen. Diverticulosis was not present. Retroflexed view of the rectum was normal."

I have a follow-up with my gastro in a few weeks. For now, I'm going to continue my balsalazide 4 tablets, 3 times a day. The doctor suggested the possibility of switching to Lialda or back to Asacol to get a higher dosage, but I had stopped the latter years ago because it seemed to cause me to have a low white cell count. That count returned to normal for several years after I stopped it, but it's now gone back to low. I want to knock out the last of this flare, but I'm also really hesitant to switch meds for fear it could make things worse. We'll talk about it more at my appointment, I'm sure.

It appears (knock on wood!) that I'm slowly healing from this latest flare that started in January, but I'm not all the way there yet. I still have some urgency and gas but haven't seen blood or mucus in a few weeks. Stools are formed.

I had some blood work done at the time of the colonoscopy, and the results came back so abnormal on the metabolic panel that the on-call doctor called me that night -- my blood sugar and a lot of other levels were so low that the doctor said I had the blood work of someone in the hospital malnourished with severe UC. My doctor had me repeat the blood work the next day, and that test's results were normal (apart from having iron at the very low end of normal), so something was wrong with the first test. That was a scary prospect worrying about what the levels meant in the interim, let me tell you!

You had been fasting & purging for c-scope, right? Then why should they have done blood tests & phoned to scare you about "abnormal" results? That sounds plain dumb-- because your blood sugar, etc. would indeed be low due to the prep. I've been getting c-scoped since 1980 and always get a snack of apple juice plus graham crackers or another type of cracker onsite before being released to return home. (At one center in 1980s the recovery RNs would even make fresh toast for us patients!) Sorry that happened to you!!!! Unless you have some ascending colon involvement there's no reason for you to go back on Lialda or Asacol. What kind of Balsalazide (generic Colazal) have you been getting? If it comes from Roxanne Labs it may be less effective than others-- such as Mylan-made, per past member reports here on the forum. Colazal was designed to treat from descending colon downward-- so generic should also be treating your sigmoid area. Rowasa or generic mesalamine retention enemas should also reach the sigmoid, in addition to rectum. Have you discussed the liquid enemas with your doctor to supplement oral med? (I think you mentioned suppositories in a previous thread? They would not reach the sigmoid colon.) *** Best wishes for you to overcome practitioners' incompetence & other impediments to your healing. Let us know how you're doing. / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)

I have been taking the Roxanne generic of colazal for 8 months or so to no ill effect. In fact, it seems to work better for me. It might be worth looking into changing brands if you aren’t responding. I switched to colazal because my colon ph and the generic version of lialda didn’t interact well and my insurance wouldn’t cover brand name.