GASTROENTEROLOGY / DIGESTIVE DISORDERS EXPERT FORUM
Symptoms - colitis???

Symptoms - colitis???

Here are my symptoms: (30 year old white female)

Weight loss in past year - 20 lbs.
Increase in bowel movements - used to go 3-4 times per week, now once or twice a day
Stomatch rumbling - when lying on my back loud gurgling noises can go on for hours on end
Abdominal pains - in upper abdominal region shortly after eating - not severe, only last a few minutes
Iron-deficiency anemia - mild, and improving after being on 325 mg of iron for past two months
Hashimoto's thyroiditis - take 50 mcg of Levoxyl per day

I was referred to a gasterentologist because of weight loss, change in bowel habits and anemia. I attribute the weight loss to eating less (I switched from eating breakfast cereal to drinking a can of Boost for breakfast on weekdays as a time saver about a year ago). I think I also consume less calories during the day than I used to. However, Dr. Gastro thinks that the dietary changes I made would not cause 20 lbs. of weight loss. I have been tested for celiac disease (so far only results in are negative for iGa (score of 5)and slightly positive for IGg (score of 22)Still awaiting results of anti-endomysial test. Dr. Gastro thinks not celiac disease due to fact that my iron levels are improving after supplementation and my ancestry (Jewish, not Irish). He thinks I may have colitis (inflammation in lower intestines) and is sending me for a flexible sigmoidoscopy to check it out. Do my symptoms sound like colitis to you? Or does it sound like something else entirely? Thanks for any help/suggestions you can provide.



2 Comments
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I think you are doing the right thing (testing).  Colitis is hard to diagnose and you want to begin treatment asap if you do have it.  The most common symptoms are blood and mucus in your bowel movements. Sometimes there can be a fever associated with it. From what I have read about it, there usually is little pain.
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YOUR SYMPTOMS COULD ALSO BE CROHN'S,  AN UPPER GI WILL USUALLY DETERMINE THAT.
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