No one will listen.

about a year ago my body changed and no one will listen; or so it seems, or it is our LOVELY *sarcasm* Canadian health care at work. I am a 32 year old nurse.
Family History: My grandfather died after bowel resection. My father had polyps.

I have always had problems with urgency with the bathroom and have had issues at times. In April 2014 I had diarrhea consistently for 1.5 months; often dark in colour, sometimes I would notice blood. Still to this day I am sometimes incontinent. My doctor tested me from O&P , C&S, and C.Diff (due to me working in the health care profession). Of course all those tests came back negative. My physician gave me a referral to an internist. By the time I got into the internist it was July and I was feeling somewhat better. The internist did not listen to a word I said, she heard divorce and nurse and directly related it to IBS before doing the scope. SHE DIDN'T EVEN HEAR ME SAY I HAVE BEEN DIVORCED FOR 5 YEARS!!! After the scope she told me I have inflammation due to stress but yet didn't take any biopsies. IBS to me is like Fibromyalgia, is a diagnoses of elimination; noting that a physician has no idea what is wrong with you. To this day I have lots of mucous in my stools all the time, noting that I NEVER have constipation. There is times where I poop just mucous. I have tried no gluten, it wasn't that effective. Some days I have loose bowel movements 7-10 times a day. I have anal discharge quite frequently. Never do I ever have a "normal stool." My stool always come out in several broken pieces, blood still noted. I ended up getting a new physician (my physician retired) he randomly checked my CRP and it came back 10. My new physician told me to come in next time I have an incident like I did that one April. I also understand that CRP can be a reflection of any inflammation in the body; but at this time, I had no flu like symptoms. I am still convinced that I have Crohn's or Colitis. Has anyone went through this run around before actually getting diagnosed and having someone listen?

the thing is I had one but her assessment was focused on me going through a divorce, but she didn't hear me when I said I have been divorced for 5 years. She told me it is INFLAMMED from stress but never took a biopsy. I'm thinking I just need a second opinion. My current doctor told me to come back when I'm having another what i call "flare up" and he will run my CRP and possibly get me in for a scope again.

Oh my that's brutal!!! Even I know that inflammation does not equal IBS and bloody stools (with the exception of having hemorrhoids) the fact that she didn't take any biopsies is negligent on her part as well!!!

Which province are you in? I'm in Alberta myself and I know the health care system here is pathetic at the best of times though I am receiving okay care at the moment (doesn't help that my family doctor just up and left his practice but my GI is tops!! GI just travels way too much which means appointments get changed more often than they should or ever use to (health care in AB continues to get worse all the time sadly).

You need to find another GI, one that will do their job thoroughly not just jump to ridiculous conclusions out of pure laziness and NEGLECT.

I'm really sorry no one is listening to you. That is beyond frustrating. I had a thought.... When you see your doc next, ask him if he will do a fecal calprotectin test. You will need to provide a stool sample, but this test measures inflammation in the gut. So, it will do more for you than just getting a CRP done because it will tell you if the inflammation is in the gut as opposed to just a generalized inflammation reading. Obviously you have inflammation based on your scope and the fact that you have mucus, but maybe an actual lab report will convince someone to take this a step further.

You deserve some kind of diagnosis and not a lazy doc who doesn't want to do a proper evaluation.

Stef

Helga,

I'm from Southern Ontario. You absolutely need to get a referral to a GI. Then as some others have suggested, you will definitely need to get further diagnostics.

Another colonoscopy with biopsies done, and perhaps an SBFT or MRE. A good GI will automatically suggest these.

Do you have any lower right side tenderness or bloat or protrusion there?

Have a full blood work done as well. CRP, Sedimentation rate, Iron stores, White and red blood cell counts, and Vitamin D.

We go to Macmaster in Hamilton, but I've also heard very good things about Mount Sinai and St. Michaels in Toronto.

Being a nurse, hopefully you can get some inside track for recommendations as well.

Wow thanks so much for sharing. When it is just mucous a lot of the times it looks like mucous and tissue... And i freak out!!!! It is good to know your experience. She just told me i needed more fibre in my diet , im like lady i have sometimes 7-10 bms a day. On a good day i only have 3-4

I forgot to add sometimes how i have lowgrade fevers does anyone get that?