The Colon Club

Last Tuesday, I had a really awful time. I was in the bathroom for 3 hours with severe diarrhea. I was in so much pain that I was on the bathroom floor in the fetal position and I was sweating. I vomited and got the chills. I then had a lot of rectal bleeding. There were blood clots in the bleeding had. I went to the ER. I was so dehydrated that my urine was brown, They immediately put me on lots of fluids. I was in the hospital from July 14th to July 22nd. I had an abdominal CT scan with gastrografin, an abdominal series of X-rays and a colonoscopy. I had an awful time drinking 4 liters of Peglyte. My doctor said that it looked like ischemic colitis. He took biopsies. I have to wait one to two weeks for the biopsy results. My doctor said I could try not get constipated. I'm going to try restolrax which is like miralax. I will try vert small amounts at first. I can try to eat six small meals a day instead of three. Also that I should have avoid dehydration because it can lead to an ischemic colitis. I hope that my GI can tell me what else besides my surgery can lead to ischemic colitis attacks. I only saw my GI for a few minutes in my hospital room. I didn't see him after the colonoscopy.

So sorry you are going through this and were in the hospital! Thinking of you and hoping you get some answers and relief.

So sorry you’re going through this. Any idea what causes the colitis?

Thank you both. I was hospitalized in 2015 for ischemic colitis. That was my first attack. I've had other attacks since but none with bleeding until last week. I have been on a daily low dose aspirin since 2018. My GI believes the change in blood flow from my surgery causes my ischemic colitis attacks. Beyond that I'm unsure what leads to my attacks. My Internist's office called and booked a telephone appointment with my Internist for August 4th. My nuclear stress test results must be back. I hope it's good news.

DE, you continue to be in my thoughts & prayers. So sorry for all you have been through.

(((DE)))

Lee

Thank you Lee! i wish that I knew when this feeling of being depleted would go away as well as my stomach cramping and having a bruised feeling on the inside. All I can do is to take it day by day. I think that it's going to take a while for me to feel better. My body is still healing from this ischemic colitis or ulcerative colitis attack.

Ugh - so sorry to hear you had to go through that! Sounds awful. Praying you feel better soon.
Hugs!
--Tracy

Thank you WriterGirl1969. I'm having a bad day with cramping and pain today. I wish the biopsies were back already. I will feel better once it's confirmed that it's ischemic colitis and not ulcerative colitis or my cancer has returned. Waiting is hard!

Sending best wishes and prayers that you are feeling better and getting answers soon !

Peace Love and Harmony coming atcha' from the left coast
CRguy

Thank you CRguy! My stomach is still bothering me. I had my second Pfizer shot yesterday so I'm feeling the effects of that as well.

You poor thing, that sounds like quite an ordeal! Very glad to hear that you are fully vaccinated, although the timing could have been better, I'm sure.

It sounds like it helps to eat low residue foods, avoid anything that dehydrates or constricts blood vessels, and take a lot of fluids. But I'm sure you know that already. Have you checked over the supplements you take to make sure none of them are a potential problem? You've probably done that already too. Hugs and best of luck to you.

My goodness, what a time you've had! Makes me wish I could come up there, wrap you in blankets, make chicken soup and all that good stuff.
I hope you get back to feeling better soon. I'm thinking about you.

boxhill wrote:... Have you checked over the supplements you take to make sure none of them are a potential problem? ...

This is very important. Since you now have about half a dozen different ongoing comorbidities, you have a truck-load of medications to deal with, and you need to be concerned about coordinating the recommendations coming from the half-a-dozen or so different specialist doctors that you have been seeing. You need to make sure that somebody is coordinating this very diverse treatment regimen. Who is doing that?

boxhill,

Thank you. I only take vitamin D twice a week and one chewable vitamin C a day when I remember. I'm not very big on supplements. Low residue does seem to help a little but I still do eat some fiber. Restoralax is helping a little bit. I feel best when I don't eat but I can't do that because I'm already losing too much weight. If my stomach is really bad and bsucopan hasn't helped; I do drink only a smoothie for lunch. It's a whole blender full though not just a small amount.

beach sunrise,

Thank you. You're very sweet.


Jacques,

I have a family doctor for gets copies of everything and is usually the one who makes referrals. She leaves a lot to the specialists. As far as I know none of my medications cause any issues. My Gi put me on the daily low dose coated aspirin to try to prevent ischemic colitis attacks.


I confess, that I'm very impatient for my GI's office to call or email me with an telephone appointment date and time. Two weeks is a long time to wait for biopsy results.

DarknessEmbraced wrote:... As far as I know none of my medications cause any issues....

DarknessEmbraced wrote:... I'm still having cramping, pain, bad bloating, gas especially during my period. I'm trying to get a hold of the gynecologist to find out if my pelvic scans showed fibroids, endoemetriosis or anything else that would make my periods more painful...

One of the things that could cause this type of pain is levonorgestrel, the active ingredient in your Mirena. Is your gynecologist aware of this? Is levonorgestrel on the comprehensive list of your medications that you give to each of your doctors?

"Mirena - Side effects requiring immediate medical attention
Along with its needed effects, levonorgestrel (the active ingredient contained in Mirena) may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.

Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur while taking levonorgestrel:

• Heavy or light menstrual bleeding
• Absent missed or irregular menstrual periods
• Cramps
• Irregular menstruation
• Pain
• Pain in the pelvis
• Stopping of menstrual bleeding

Mirena - Gastrointestinal Side Effects

• Very common (10% or more): Nausea (up to 23.1%), abdominal/pelvic pain (up to 22.6%)
• Common (1% to 10%): Diarrhea, vomiting
• Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Abdominal distension
• Frequency not reported: Bloating, abdominal cramps

Ref: https://www.drugs.com/sfx/mirena-side-effects.html

Maybe you could discuss this with your gynecologist and see if a substitute for your Mirena could be found -- something that does not have levonorgestrel as an active ingredient.