Dear All
My father has really suffered for years. I'm about to qualify as a veterinary surgeon and he's been supporting me for years so now it's my turn to try to help him. However, his symptoms have got me really confused.
(1) ulcerative colitis - diagnosed 1994
(2) haemarrhoids
(3) frequent nose bleeds
(4) intolerance of several food types including (citric acid, green veg, alcohol, food additives)
(5) fatty clear diarrhoea (leaves fat globules floating on water surface)
(6) non-specific symptoms such are migraine-like heachaches, nausea, lethargy, exercise intolerance (not dyspnoea or collapse)
Any food that has been processed with additives etc. leave him with painful headaches, nausea, weakness. He's been on his own version of an exclusion diet for years. His diet is very low fat. A recent blood test revealed that he has very low blood cholesterol (not necessarily a good thing!). However, I am unaware of any other abnormalities detected.
If his colitis were to have a hypersensitivity component then many of his intolerances could be explained. It would appear that fat is getting broken down successfully since it is liquified when he defecates. However, the speed at which he produces this diarrhoea post-prandially and the apparent lack of bile pigments etc. has got me wondering if he may have a cholestatic/hypermotility problem as well as colitis.
Fat soluble vitamins such as A,D,E,K would not be absorbed well if he had a malabsorption problem. The lack of green veg in his diet could lead to vit K deficiency and this could relate to his frequent nose bleeds.
Recently he discovered a drug called Questram which he persuaded his doctor to prescribe. This contains cholesterolamine and its action is primarily to reduce blood cholesterol by reducing absorption of fats through the g.i. tract. After altering the dose slightly, he managed to stop his diarrhoea for the first time in years. However, his nose bleeds have been recurring more frequently and lasting longer. He has just started taking alfalfa tablets which are supposed to contain Vit K and his nose bleeds are greatly reduced, as are his haemorrahoids, but now he is off the questram again and his diarrhoea has returned.
My main question is how best to proceed from here. Can we desensitise allergic components of colitis? Should he go back onto the questram or is that just solving one problem and creating a whole lot more? Should he start taking a vit A,D,E,K supplement (he can't take a complete multivitamin because it gives him a headache)? Does it sound as though there may be a cholestatic component to all this? Or perhaps an underlying pancreatic problem that I am inadvertently overlooking? Does anyone else out there show similar symptoms? How are you managing? What papers should I read on this?
The doctors here in the UK are pretty apathetic about my father's problems and tend to deal with him symptomatically rather than working hard to find an underlying cause. He is only 52, slim and otherwise "healthy" with the whole of the rest of his life to enjoy if he can overcome the restrictions his body is placing on him.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.