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fecal interference & colonoscopy

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 10/10/2011 4:00 PM (GMT -5)
confused Hello. Thanks for reading this and for what ever you have to offer in the way of advice. I am in the midst of a 14 month flare after being in remission for 4 years. It's kind of up and down in terms of it's severity. I have had two attempted colonoscopies in this last year. I say "attempted" because, despite going through the fast, laxative purging enemas etc., there was too much "fecal interference" to see anything clearly. The internists who did the first attempt seemed quite frustrated with me, actually questioning me as to weather I'd followed instructions properly. mad (Yeah! Like I want to go through this again) 6 months later, I am finally scheduled for another attempt with a different internists. This time I voluntarily fasted for 3 days prior to the laxative and enema. Same result. My bowel is not clearing despite all my attempts. Not sure what to try next, and am waiting to see the internist to find out. On pins and needles. Has anyone had this same problems with colonoscopies?
My symptoms ar: formed stools 3-4 x /week, with dark bloody diarrhea in between, and always the addition of lots of bright red blood with every movement. (including expulsion of gas) I am on Hycort (hydrocortisone enemas) pm, foamcort (hydrocrortizone foam) am, asacol 2 x3/day, and have been on the specific carbohydrate diet for 6 years.

[added subject]

Post Edited By Moderator (notsosicklygirl) : 10/10/2011 3:14:55 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/10/2011 4:18 PM (GMT -5)
Hey Michella,

I haven't heard of this happening. Were they able to see any of the colon? I Hope you don't have an obstruction or something similar. You would think with a 3 day fast, you would be cleaned out, especially following up with a prep! I did have a pill prep once and I wasn't fully cleaned out but it wasn't to the point that the colonoscopy couldn't be completed.

Which preps did you do?

Do you take Asacol HD or 400mg? 6 400mg is a maintenance dose and could be increassed to get you into remission (possibly). I hope you can get a colonoscopy so you can find out what is going on. Have you ever tried the Rowasa or mesalamine enemas? Some find them to be more helpful than cortfoam.
Posted 10/10/2011 9:02 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks for replying notsosicklygirl. They were not able to see much of the colon, but what they did see was very inflamed. I had been on the mesalamine enemas, which the internist said were NOT working, so he switched me to the cortfoam. I am on the Asacol 400 mg.I have tried upping the dose to 2 x4/day, with no improvement and pain in my kidney area. The preps I did were the ducolax pills, followed by the drink (can't remember the name off hand) that tastes like yuk and is followed by litres of water. Then a fleet enema the morning of the scope. All to no avail.
Posted 10/11/2011 12:10 AM (GMT -5)
Wow, I am sorry you've tried so much without being able to get a full colonoscopy. What a hassle. Maybe you can ask for a different prep. None are easy, even the pill prep is very difficult but it was preferable to me over the dulcolax/miralax. Were you going clear before the colonoscopy?

4 Asacol 400 2x day isn't that much (3200mg). The max dose per day is 4800mg. You could ask your GI about increasing the dose. I think the majority of us here have to really hit the UC hard with a combo of drugs to get into remission. I was on steroids, 4800 asacol, cortifoam @ night & Canasa 1g suppositories in the AM. Don't feel like you're not making ground, you may just need to find a combo that works for you.

Did you ever get officially ddiagnosed with UC? Usually they need biopsies to show a definite answer. Did you have stool tests to check for bacteria?
Posted 10/11/2011 12:19 AM (GMT -5)
Wow! Two enemas, and my colon is all clear (although no one seems to believe me on this forum).
Posted 10/11/2011 12:42 PM (GMT -5)
@ notsosickly. .... I have had 3 or 4 colonoscopies previously using a different prep, which has since been discontinued as there is to much risk for kidney failure. But it worked to clear my bowel, and I had the official UC diagnosis. Have you ever had a colonic? I was thinking this may be the best way to clear my bowel, as it goes much deeper that an enema. I find the laxatives -or maybe it's the whole procedure in general - really irritate my bowel. I bleed quite alot after... especially the last two times when the procedure failed. It makes me wonder if something wasn't ruptured inside when removing the scope... but if they can't see anything, how will we ever know. The other thing I find weird is that I'm having formed bowel movements in combination with the bright red blood, which would suggest to me a problem in or very close to the rectum. I just wish there was some otehr wayy to get my bowel clear. i have done the master cleanse before ( a 10 day fast with lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne) This is definitely a bowel cleanser, but very hard on the metabolism, and I can't afford to loose the 10-15 pounds i always did on it.
Posted 10/11/2011 1:52 PM (GMT -5)
I've never had a colonic. Have you? I saw something on TV about it and it scared me because the people looked very uncomfortable but it was a comedy - it was exaggerated a lot. Have you ever tried the pill prep? I did the pills last time... Maybe it's just a matter of finding a prep that works for you.

You could see if they could do a sigmoidoscopy but I understand you want to have the full scope at this point. If you go through all that cleansing and they fail to do the scope, what an inconvenience. The prep is worse than the scope.

I don't think you would be havin formed stools if you had a blockage. I believe you would feel very nauseated. I am not sure about that though, I am always having D when I am flared up.
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