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How do you tell IBD symptoms from IBS?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/1/2019 2:29 PM (GMT -5)
Had my colonoscopy on Nov 15th and told I’m in remission. My follow up appt is on Dec 16th. I’ve been taking Canasa suppositories for maintenance. Typically, I only have one normal BM a day. Last night I took my Canasa and shortly afterward I felt a little nausea. This morning I had one normal BM but later on had another BM. The second one looked solid but broke up mushy when I flushed. My stomach is little gurgley. Could I have gone out of remission already or could this be signs of IBS or side effects from Canasa? I could swear I get side effects from them. I’m also feeling a little nervous and anxious since Christmas is coming. Wondering if my nerves are causing IBS. I haven’t been officially diagnosed with that by my GI. How can you tell the difference since it’s not something they see during the colonoscopy. They’re snow blood and no mucous. Also, I wouldn’t call it diarrhea.
Posted 12/1/2019 3:42 PM (GMT -5)
I have never ever been able to tell the difference in symptoms between IBD and IBS except for bleeding (that's IBD).
I am in 95% symptomatic UC remission but certain foods and drinks cause symptoms that go away when I go back to the diet my gut likes.

Do you take oral RX along with Canasa? My gut immediately lets me know I forgot my oral RX, which has happened due to moving and holidays. I haven't needed Canasa or enemas for quite a while but have them on hand in case...

Yes anxiety/nerves can make symptoms more active, the gut gets those signals and acts up. I take a generic Pepto Bismol pill (bi****h-no flavoring) and that quiets things right down but that's rare for me now.

IBS is mysterious for us and doctors. You'll have to check which foods cause symptoms for you and avoid them. Hard to do during holidays so do the cost/benefit analysis "Have a glass of spiked eggnog now and pay for it later?"

The good news YOU'RE IN REMISSION! yay. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
Posted 12/1/2019 4:17 PM (GMT -5)
My diagnosis is confusing. Prior to my Nov 15th colonoscopy I only had proctitis. The doctor didn’t see any inflammation during the colonoscopy but he did see “abnormal vascularities” in the ascending colon and cecum as well as the rectum but the descending colon and distal rectum were normal. He told me he thought the abnormalities were residual from the prep. The biopsies showed I was in remission in those areas but I never had typical symptoms of full blown UC. I only experienced symptoms for one and a half weeks which included one day I had diarrhea twice. Symptoms went away on their own. I will talk to my doc at my Dec 16th follow up but he said my biopsies don’t correlate to what he saw (or didn’t see) during my colonoscopy. I’m not on any oral medications. I do think stress and certain foods through me off. I had a skinny vanilla latte today and the milk my have affected me. Next time I’ll try coffee with almond milk.
Posted 12/1/2019 5:01 PM (GMT -5)
IBS is without any inflammation. UC has inflammation. So you can ask for a Calprotectin stool test or a C-Reactive Protein blood test to see if there's any inflammation, then you know.

If I'd wager a guess, sounds like stress/IBS to me. If you said there's blood in my stool again, I'm having urgency again then I'd worry about a flare-up.
Posted 12/1/2019 5:31 PM (GMT -5)

iPoop said...
IBS is without any inflammation. UC has inflammation. So you can ask for a Calprotectin stool test or a C-Reactive Protein blood test to see if there's any inflammation, then you know.

If I'd wager a guess, sounds like stress/IBS to me. If you said there's blood in my stool again, I'm having urgency again then I'd worry about a flare-up.

I haven’t had a calprotectin test yet. My CRP before the colonoscopy was 2. Doctor said it was normal. I feel like many of my symptoms are in my stomach-burping, indigestion and a nervous, jumpy kind of stomach. I do have reflux but don’t take anything for it. I have regurgitated while sleeping which is really scary but no heartburn. It seems to affect me when I’m eating something I shouldn’t or I eat too much at a time. My upper stomach feels empty sometimes but then I eat and it feels yucky. Next time I’m due for a colonoscopy I’m going to push for an upper endoscopy too.
Posted 12/1/2019 7:21 PM (GMT -5)
Last night I took my Canasa and shortly afterward I felt a little nausea...
I could swear I get side effects from them.

You very well might be allergic to mesalamines like Canasa. What other meds are you taking? My allergy was such that I would get pleurisy and flu-like symptoms from Colazal and Asacol, and even nausea from Canasa.
Posted 12/1/2019 8:19 PM (GMT -5)

IamCurious said...
Last night I took my Canasa and shortly afterward I felt a little nausea...
I could swear I get side effects from them.

You very well might be allergic to mesalamines like Canasa. What other meds are you taking? My allergy was such that I would get pleurisy and flu-like symptoms from Colazal and Asacol, and even nausea from Canasa.

Interesting. I was getting flu-like symptoms once I switched from the name brand Canasa to the generic ones. That’s when all of my symptoms recently started to where I needed to get a new colonoscopy. I get slight nausea at times too. I’m not taking any other medication right now.
Posted 12/2/2019 10:28 AM (GMT -5)
Generally, a mesalamine allergy manifests itself as a severe-worsening of your UC symptoms. Say you had 2-3, non-urgent and solid bms a day, then took canasa and went to 6-8 very urgent diarrheas a day then I'd suspect a mesalamine allergy could be going on with you (dramatic, happens to about 5% of us). Not impossible to have an allergic reaction to the suppository coating or inactive ingredients, but far rarer.

Remember, flu like symptoms are a side effect of UC, as well. Nausea, raised temp (low-level flu temps) are reported flare symptoms noted within the medical literature for UC.
Posted 12/2/2019 10:36 AM (GMT -5)
I would trust the biopsies over the doctor's opinion personally. For me, it was always IBD even though the doctor always said it could be iBS in addition to IBD. I agree with ipoop, get a calprotectin and get on oral medication if you can tolerate it.
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