GI Distress but normal colonoscopy

[cvnurseann]

First let me apologize, I am a cardiac RN and find myself on the patient end of the spectrum with severe GI distress and am questioning my own knowledge.  I have been dealing with unreal lower abdominal pain with an urgency to have a bowel movement on a daily basis for three years.  It gets so bad that I can be sitting in traffic for example and have a sudden onset of lower abd pain and urgency, and if I am not in a bathroom in literally 10 seconds I become diaphoretic and almost lose consciousness from the pain. Over the past 6 months it has gotten much worse, even affecting my job. I have had persistent nausea for the past 6 months, with loose, urgent, sometimes bloody bowel movements, continuous lower abd cramping and aching, and have lost 30lbs unintentionally in the past 4 months with no lifestyle changes.  Sometimes the pain is relieved with a bowel movement but other times after a "bad day" I am cramping and nauseous all night.  I have never had any constipation, all stools are loose. I had no insurance and so finally was just able to have my colonoscopy yesterday, and the GI doc doing the procedure said it looked normal.  No biopsies were taken.  However I was sick with a URI about a month and a half ago and was on a 10 day course of prednisone and the severity of my GI symptoms eased considerably but still trouble me.  What I am wondering is if there could be another pathology for my symptoms even though the colonoscopy looked ok? Is it possible that it could be an inflammatory bowel condition in 'remission'? This has been running my life for the past 6 months and a bother for 3 years and I am desperate for suggestions. I am taking Hyoscyamine and Imodium daily. Thanks for reading my lengthy post,  any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[ecky359]

im burning middle rite side so sore for 4 yr i had 3 endoscopys and 2 colonoscopys which was clear the only remark said was my colon was funny colour said must be due to laxitives anyway now in past 5 wks my eyes are burning and red ..my stools have blood but my doctor  wont even concider talking to me  cos clear  clon tests i even had hepititus tests wich was clear anyway im worried can anyone help me my doctor was kinda cheekie to said u got digestive problems and maybe piles ...wich anoyed me so i dont no what to do now do i wait to get more ill or go to another doctor

[Ratnakar Kini]

Any inflammation or infection can cause thickening.
Biopsy of that thickened part may be done for evaluation

[cvnurseann]

Thank you doctor for your response.  My GI doc finally ordered a small bowel follow through study this past Monday and it showed thickening of the wall lining and dilitation of the terminal section of the small bowel but the radiologist said there was no focal findings indicative of inflammatory bowel disease.  My GI doc wants me to do one of those capsule endoscopy studies to get better images of what is going on in that section noticed on the small bowel study.  She told me it definitely could be Crohn's of the small bowel, since those findings were present along side with the severity of my symptoms.  If this turns out not to be Crohn's are there any other conditions or diseases of the bowel that could account for the findings on the small bowel follow through study?

Thank you so much!

[Ratnakar Kini]

Hi,
Most of the symptoms fit in to proctocolitis.
Yes it is possible that it might be in remission because of prednisolone.