Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Colonoscopy Tomorrow

anerissara

Recommended Posts

anerissara Enthusiast
anerissara
Posted

Ugh, I have a colonoscopy tomorrow and I'm really nervous about it! I don't know what I'm more worried about...the nasty prep I'm in for starting at 6 tonight or the procedure itself or the possibility of finding something really scary going on in my digestive tract. I'm sort of a mess!

The good news is that I really like my new gi doctor. I had to wait *months* to get in to see her, but she's really good. She listened to all my issues and she was very knowlegable about celiac's. She said that judging from my symptoms it was probable that I do have Celiac's and she's not recommending (at least at this point) that I go back on wheat to dx for sure. She said that she thinks the gluten-free diet is a really good one for anybody with gi issues, so if I'm doing OK on that she thinks I shouldn't change it. I'm hoping she can help get rid of the D that I still have even on the diet....but at this point as long as I don't have anything serious going on in there I really am at a point where I'm ready to accept the fact that I'll just always have digestive issues and leave it at that. I'm so sick of the whole thing!

Anyway, if it turns out OK tomorrow I will be so relieved. I just wish I could fast forward time and have it over with...I am so nervous!!!!

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted

Yeah, I had my colonoscopy (and an endoscopy at the same time) last year. I had D and blood, but my colon was very healthy. They thought maybe I had C.Diff, or diverticulitus or polyps or something, but it was clean. The blood cleared up, but the D continued up until just a week or so ago. I did have a stomach polyp though and some esophagial damage.

And, yeah, the prep isn't much fun, lol! The thing I was most nervous about was the car ride over to the surgicenter LOL. The actual procedure itself wasn't too bad. Even the IV wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was sedated enough throughout the procedure that I remember nothing from the time they wheeled me into the room until I woke up in the recovery area. Apparently I was well sedated cuz it took me at least 30 minutes once I was "awake" to really wake up, lol.

Cruiser Bob Newbie
Cruiser Bob
Posted

Well, I get to start my prep. at noon and go in for a scope on both end tomorrow also. I however am not too comfortable with the GI doc, as they screwed up my initial interview and now medical record. They had no idea they were doing a colonoscopy until I called them this morning to verify and I've got a strange feeling the diagnosis will by Chron's no matter what my insides look like, because that appears to be their big marketing push at this time.

We'll see, I still need to get my insides looked at to see what's going on. It's been 7 years gluten-free, 6+ diary & egg free (98%), 4+ years with almost no nightshades. Something is going on between the two ends that affects my whole being.

So tonight there will be at least two of us not having much fun, then tomorrow, then the wait for results, then getting a proper interpretation, then doing my own verfication, etc., etc.

Bob

anerissara Enthusiast
anerissara
Posted
  • Author

I'm nervous about the ride there, too...it's only a few blocks luckily but they have me taking the stuff starting again at 6 a.m., so hopefully I'll make it. dlp252, I'm glad everything turned out OK for you! I've had bleeding, too...it's been traced to an internal hemrroid, but I'm nervous that they'll find something else, too. I'm wondering if they'll say Chron's, for the same reason Cruiser Bob mentioned...it seems to be a popular dx right now. It's comforting that I won't be the only one sleeping in the bathroom tonight...what time is yours scheduled for? Mine's at 10:00. I'm praying that at this time tomorrow we'll both have a clean bill of health...at least as far as they can tell at the time. I am not looking forward to waiting for results, either.

dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted

Well, I'll certainly be thinking of both of you! I think I had to get up at 3:00 a.m. the day I did mine because my appointment was early, lol. That's why I was so nervous about the ride. I think I took a towel with me to sit on just in case. :lol:

I thought I would get Chron's too, but nope, they couldn't even do that for me. :P I DID get the dreaded IBS tag though. :P

anerissara Enthusiast
anerissara
Posted
  • Author

I'll be sooooooooooo happy if I get the IBS tag, at least that means it's nothing serious and then I can go about trying to find ways to make it better.

But I share your frustration that there isn't a quick or easy fix! I wonder how many other people have IBS *and* Celiac's?

Ugh, here we go....I'm on the first cup of white grape juice and what appears to be liquid dish soap. Same basic ingredients, anyway, according to the label. It doesn't taste as bad as I expected, but then again I'm only 1/2 way through the first cup and I haven't experienced the nasty results as of yet. Wish me luck!

dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted

Good luck! As I recall, I started getting worried because mine didn't kick in right away, but they had me start the morning OF my procedure! Keep some reading material in the bathroom and don't do anything that you can't drop in a hurry. :lol:

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


anerissara Enthusiast
anerissara
Posted
  • Author

Ugh, I can't wait. So far I don't feel anything except slightly sick from the salty taste and the fruit juice, which I never drink because it makes me sick. Sigh. I guess that I won't miss white grape juice after I get through tonight and tomorrow and never want to see it again, since I don't really like it anyway!

Teacher1958 Apprentice
Teacher1958
Posted

I have a colonoscopy in less than three weeks and am really nervous already. My friends say they're a piece of cake, but I don't care for needles or anything invasive. I want to have things checked, though, because I've had symptoms since 1965- nope, that wasn't a typo- 1965. If everything in there is clear, I will be so happy, but once I get a gastroenterologist, he will probably recommend an endoscopy, too.

I had a bone scan today. I asked the technician when I'd receive the results, and she let me see the line graphs resulting from the scan. She emphasized that there's more to it than just the graphs, but at least they were well within the normal (green) range. Maybe my bones have not been affected.

Good luck tomorrow. Let us know how things went. Just think, 24 hours from now you'll be relaxing and it will be behind you.

anerissara Enthusiast
anerissara
Posted
  • Author

WhoooooHoooo! It's over!

And so far everything looks OK. There was an area of inflammation that the dr. thinks could be either just due to the procedure itself or maybe a bacterial thing (microscopic colitis maybe?) but other than that things looked OK. Whew!

And I have to say, the whole process was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be! The prep wasn't fun, but it wasn't that bad either. I was *totally* out for the whole thing and don't remember anything at all. The gas afterwards hasn't been bad either...I guess maybe because of my IBS that I've had for so long having D and gas is just no biggie.

Anyway thanks for all of your support and help, it was good to have some BTDT advice yesterday!

Cruiser Bob, how did it go for you?

dlp252 Apprentice
dlp252
Posted

Glad it went okay for you and that things look good!!! Yay!

Teacher, good luck to you as well!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. trents
      - trents replied to SilkieFairy's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      4

      IBS-D vs Celiac

      No coincidence. Recent revisions to gluten challenge guidelines call for the daily consumption of at least 10g of gluten (about the amount in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of 3 weeks. If possible, I would extend that two weeks to ensure valid testing.
    2. SilkieFairy
      - SilkieFairy replied to SilkieFairy's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      4

      IBS-D vs Celiac

      Thank you both for the replies. I decided to bring back gluten so I can do the blood test. Today is Day #2 of the Challenge. Yesterday I had about 3 slices of whole wheat bread and I woke up with urgent diarrhea this morning. It was orange, sandy and had the distinctive smell that I did not have when I was briefly gluten free. I don't know if it's a...
    3. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      9

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      @Jane02, I hear you about the kale and collard greens. I don't do dairy and must eat green leafies, too, to get sufficient calcium. I must be very careful because some calcium supplements are made from ground up crustacean shells. When I was deficient in Vitamin D, I took high doses of Vitamin D to correct the deficiency quickly. This is safe...
    4. Jane02
      - Jane02 replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      9

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      Thank you so much @knitty kitty for this insightful information! I would have never considered fractionated coconut oil to be a potential source of GI upset. I will consider all the info you shared. Very interesting about the Thiamine deficiency. I've tracked daily averages of my intake in a nutrition software. The only nutrient I can't consistently...
    5. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to Jane02's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      9

      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      Hello, @Jane02, I take Naturewise D 3. It contains olive oil. Some Vitamin D supplements, like D Drops, are made with fractionated coconut oil which can cause digestive upsets. Fractionated coconut oil is not the same as coconut oil used for cooking. Fractionated coconut oil has been treated for longer shelf life, so it won't go bad in the...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,336
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Jeffrey Yeres
    Newest Member
    Jeffrey Yeres
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      IBS-D vs Celiac

      By trents · Posted

      No coincidence. Recent revisions to gluten challenge guidelines call for the daily consumption of at least 10g of gluten (about the amount in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of 3 weeks. If possible, I would extend that two weeks to ensure valid testing.
    • SilkieFairy
      IBS-D vs Celiac

      By SilkieFairy · Posted

      Thank you both for the replies. I decided to bring back gluten so I can do the blood test. Today is Day #2 of the Challenge. Yesterday I had about 3 slices of whole wheat bread and I woke up with urgent diarrhea this morning. It was orange, sandy and had the distinctive smell that I did not have when I was briefly gluten free. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but the brain fog is back and I feel very tired.   
    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @Jane02, I hear you about the kale and collard greens.  I don't do dairy and must eat green leafies, too, to get sufficient calcium.  I must be very careful because some calcium supplements are made from ground up crustacean shells.  When I was deficient in Vitamin D, I took high doses of Vitamin D to correct the deficiency quickly.  This is safe and nontoxic.  Vitamin D level should be above 70 nmol/L.  Lifeguards and indigenous Pacific Islanders typically have levels between 80-100 nmol/L.   Levels lower than this are based on amount needed to prevent disease like rickets and osteomalacia. We need more thiamine when we're physically ill, emotionally and mentally stressed, and if we exercise like an athlete or laborer.  We need more thiamine if we eat a diet high in simple carbohydrates.  For every 500 kcal of carbohydrates, we need 500-1000 mg more of thiamine to process the carbs into energy.  If there's insufficient thiamine the carbs get stored as fat.  Again, recommended levels set for thiamine are based on minimum amounts needed to prevent disease.  This is often not adequate for optimum health, nor sufficient for people with absorption problems such as Celiac disease.  Gluten free processed foods are not enriched with vitamins like their gluten containing counterparts.  Adding a B Complex and additional thiamine improves health for Celiacs.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine helps the mitochondria in cells to function.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins.  They are all water soluble and easily excreted if not needed. Interesting Reading: Clinical trial: B vitamins improve health in patients with coeliac disease living on a gluten-free diet https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19154566/ Safety and effectiveness of vitamin D mega-dose: A systematic review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34857184/ High dose dietary vitamin D allocates surplus calories to muscle and growth instead of fat via modulation of myostatin and leptin signaling https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38766160/ Safety of High-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31746327/ Vitamins and Celiac Disease: Beyond Vitamin D https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11857425/ Investigating the therapeutic potential of tryptophan and vitamin A in modulating immune responses in celiac disease: an experimental study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40178602/ Investigating the Impact of Vitamin A and Amino Acids on Immune Responses in Celiac Disease Patients https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10814138/
    • Jane02
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Jane02 · Posted

      Thank you so much @knitty kitty for this insightful information! I would have never considered fractionated coconut oil to be a potential source of GI upset. I will consider all the info you shared. Very interesting about the Thiamine deficiency.  I've tracked daily averages of my intake in a nutrition software. The only nutrient I can't consistently meet from my diet is vitamin D. Calcium is a hit and miss as I rely on vegetables, dark leafy greens as a major source, for my calcium intake. I'm able to meet it when I either eat or juice a bundle of kale or collard greens daily haha. My thiamine intake is roughly 120% of my needs, although I do recognize that I may not be absorbing all of these nutrients consistently with intermittent unintentional exposures to gluten.  My vitamin A intake is roughly 900% (~6400 mcg/d) of my needs as I eat a lot of sweet potato, although since it's plant-derived vitamin A (beta-carotene) apparently it's not likely to cause toxicity.  Thanks again! 
    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Hello, @Jane02,  I take Naturewise D 3.  It contains olive oil.   Some Vitamin D supplements, like D Drops, are made with fractionated coconut oil which can cause digestive upsets.  Fractionated coconut oil is not the same as coconut oil used for cooking.  Fractionated coconut oil has been treated for longer shelf life, so it won't go bad in the jar, and thus may be irritating to the digestive system. I avoid supplements made with soy because many people with Celiac Disease also react to soy.  Mixed tocopherols, an ingredient in Thornes Vitamin D, may be sourced from soy oil.  Kirkland's has soy on its ingredient list. I avoid things that might contain or be exposed to crustaceans, like Metagenics says on its label.  I have a crustacean/shellfish/fish allergy.  I like Life Extension Bioactive Complete B Complex.  I take additional Thiamine B 1 in the form Benfotiamine which helps the intestines heal, Life Extension MegaBenfotiamine. Thiamine is needed to activate Vitamin D.   Low thiamine can make one feel like they are getting glutened after a meal containing lots of simple carbohydrates like white rice, or processed gluten free foods like cookies and pasta.   It's rare to have a single vitamin deficiency.  The water soluble B Complex vitamins should be supplemented together with additional Thiamine in the form Benfotiamine and Thiamine TTFD (tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide) to correct subclinical deficiencies that don't show up on blood tests.  These are subclinical deficiencies within organs and tissues.  Blood is a transportation system.  The body will deplete tissues and organs in order to keep a supply of thiamine in the bloodstream going to the brain and heart.   If you're low in Vitamin D, you may well be low in other fat soluble vitamins like Vitamin A and Vitamin K. Have you seen a dietician?
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.