Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disease of the mucosa of the colon. It is more common in younger persons 15-35 years of age. It is usually characterized by bloody diarrhea and mucous in the stool, associated with fever, crampy abdominal pain, and weight loss. Imaging studies such as sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, or barium enema are used to diagnose ulcerative colitis. They will reveal irregularities such as hemorrhage, pseudopolyps, and ulceration in the mucosa.
sound right?
Has anyone been tested for Celiac's Disease? that can do all sorts of nasty stuff down there and most docs are just starting to realize and understand it. they still don't know a whole lot about it but more and more people seem to be getting diagnosed with it. A gluten free diet is the main treatment for that which is not the funnest thing but much better than all of what is being described. Good luck to everyone!
Where is the link that you are talking about?
To all of you who have had all the tests done and they still can't find what's wrong.... Try Zantac (over the counter) - it's an acid reducer. I have always had normal BMs until a month ago. I started having an achy burning stomach pain and would feel bloated and full every time I ate only 3 or 4 bites of food. I had an urgency to go to the bathroom everyday but when I got there only a couple tiny BMs would come covered in pinkish white mucus. Sometimes it would just be pinkish mucus which was very alarming and scary. I had an endoscopy and colonoscopy done. Biopsies were normal. No celiac or bacteria. Extensive bloodwork came back perfectly normal. I was prescribed Protonix which has cured my problems. Zantac (over the counter) is the same thing. It's worth a try.
I'm male, 48, and had been diagnosed with IBS about 25 years ago - mucus in the stool, discomfort and always wanting to "go". I was prescribed cellulose tablets (terrible - they expand whilst chewing and seem to last forever), and Fybogel drink (much nicer, but still not great). That, and increasing my dietary fibre helped a lot.
A few months ago I noticed blood on the tp and the odd drops of blood in my stool. A little later, dark, loose stools, the occasional "fleshy bits" in the stool and mucus. More recently, I have experienced an odd odour surrounds me. Although I shower every day (and sometimes more often), I seem to exude a "maple syrup" smell, (hopefully) not unpleasant to others, but it's very disturbing.
I'm not sure if it's the IBS back with a vengeance, bacterial infection (hence the smell), or something worse... After much worrying, I plucked up my courage and spoke to the doctor who recommended I go to the local hospital for tests. Just waiting to undergo a colonoscopy. Fingers crossed, they'll find what it is, and be able to get me back to "normal" (whatever that is ;-))
Lymphoma has many of those symptoms. Have you had swollen glands in your neck or maybe abdomen? It would be good to get bloodwork and possibly a CT to see if your lymph nodes are of abnormal size.
anything new? my daughter is your age and suffers from "jelly fish sting" type pain in her upper abdomen and that is followed within a days time by mucousy bloody stool. She is literally bent over in pain when she has it. Peptobisomal helps a bit. very frustrating not knowing what it is. ulcer? colitis? ibd?
I've always been pretty regular with my bowel movements except for the past two years where I've been under a lot of stress. Since then, I've been mostly on the constipated side, once every two days or so. I've also been anemic, fatigued, and extremely depressed. And my hair has been falling out like crazy (I've lost half of my hair in 3 months--no kidding)! I was given iron pills for the amemia, but iron also makes you more constipated! I've also been trying to combat my depression. The doctors try to give a diagnosis, but in all honestly, I know my body better than they do. A lot of the time, they don't know the problem anyways. During my online research, I found it is benefical to do an internal cleanse. Remove any allergen foods from your diet for a time frame of 3-4 weeks (or whatever program you follow) and allow your intestines to heal from being inflammed. The body's immunity is linked to healthy intestines and once there is any inflammation, any allergen (even if you are not allergic to it) will keep the intestines flared up. Hence, all the issues. I have an acupuncurist friend who recommended the Clearvite program, although I hear there are quite a few out there that are also good. I started the three week cleanse at the end of February. I stopped eating gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, corn, and tomatoes. (TYou can't have soda or coffee either, but I don't drink those to begin with.) And I started drinking a lot of water.
I've been much better with my bowel movements: I go everyday now and sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. I know that is for sure correlated with the amount of water I drink..the more I drink, the better my bowels are. The cleanse really did help me in other ways. My hair stopped falling out and is regrowing already, I am not fatigued, and I don't feel depressed anymore! I also read that depression can be a result of accumulated toxins in your body.
So I HIGHLY recommend everyone to do their research on a full body cleanse, and get a good one because it really would be worth it (I paid $120 for the three week powder) , plus drink LOTS of water! (No, other liquids don't count as water!)
Good luck to all of you, I know things might seem bad right now, but with proper nutrition, lots of water, and a good mental attitude ("I AM going to get rid of this health issue!"), things really can get better!