Lactoferrin

Hey guys,
Here’s an exchange I had with a JustAnswer doctor:
Conversation with Baisal, Board Certified MD
You: Hello. Iʼve been suffering from severe IBS-d for over 20 years. A few weeks ago, I had to be hospitalized (again) for dehydration and potassium imbalance. There was significant blood in the stool, and my CT scan showed “Mild diffuse colonic wall thickening, suggesting acute colitis.” Tests showed elevated ESR and CRP, and stool Lactoferrin was positive. However, I had just had a colonoscopy, and the doctor insisted I donʼt have Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
JA: Have you been using any medication since the biopsy? How severe are any complications?
Customer: Iʼm using Lomotil for diarrhea and Tylenol for pain. They’re ineffective today.
JA: What did you discuss at your last visit to the doctor?
Customer: He suggested that I cut out gluten and FODMAPs, which I had already been doing for several months.
JA: Anything else in your medical history you think the doctor should know? Customer: Just that the diarrhea is almost daily, and so urgent that I sometimes canʼt make it. I often wake at night and have to run to the bathroom.
Through the years, Iʼve been hospitalized many times for severe diarrhea with anemia. Iʼve tried every medication for IBS, with no results.
Am I just going to have to accept that Iʼm disabled by daily diarrhea and abdominal pain for the rest of my life? Should I make peace with being hospitalized for dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and fainting several times a year? Or are they possibly missing something?
Baisal: could you provide your colonoscopy report with biopsy

Baisal: Have you taken Mesalasine before? You: Hereʼs the biopsy report
You: No, I havenʼt taken that.

Baisal: it is almost normal microscopic picture of the GIT. And also send me the protocol itself.
Baisal: As a doctor who had performed colonoscopies about 6 years, I should say that differential diagnosis of unspecific ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease appropriate.

You: So, obviously there is an inflammatory process in the intestines, if I understand correctly.
When I was hospitalized, the doctors all said it was just IBS. If itʼs IBD, the treatment options would be different, correct? This diagnosis is only important to me because nothing has worked so far.
I just had another fecal incontinance incident at the Starbucks this afternoon. It happens way too often. Is that normal for IBS? Itʼs bloody diarrhea today, and I feel faint. The cramps make me cry sometimes, and today is one of those times. Itʼs hard to live this way.

I’m just admitted to UPMC Presbyterian. The pain and diarrhea continue today, and I fainted.

My colonoscopy was not indicative of IBD or celiac disease, according to my current doctor, however, he referred me to the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at UPMC(?).

I was tested for bacteria etc when I was hospitalized earlier this month.

Tcherkate said...
The findings of the colonoscopy and endoscopy showed gastritis, elevated eosinophils in duodenum, and elevated lymphocytes in colon, but otherwise unremarkable.

Thanks. Those findings indicate *something* besides IBS is going on. This is definitely more than IBS. But it's not clear what it is yet. It could be Crohn's. Or it could be something called eosinophilic gastroenteritis. Or other things, such as food allergies, certain infections not routinely tested for, other autoimmune diseases, etc.

The UPMC docs will figure it out.

Thanks. After 25 years of being told I have just really awful IBS-d, these upmc docs are investigating seriously. What I hope is that my condition could one day be managed.