Please Help!!!Husband in terrible pain

[Johnna_W]

I had this posted on the gastro forum and was told I had it on the wrong one,to try this one. My husband has had terrible diarrhea with mucas,aweful right side abdomen pain,very painful right over liver area.He says it's numb in the liver area on the inside.Been back and forth to doctors for a year now,they sent him to Louisville,Ky and they found he has a parasite called Entamoeba Hystolytica.Has been on Flagly for 3 weeks,and that has not took care of it.Now we can't get ahold of his doc in Louisville to let him know the antibiotic is not helping,on hold for an hour then cuts off.That makes me so mad!!!Anyway,what worries me is that his stomach is so swollen he can barely bend over,he rarely eats but is gaining weight.I've done alot of reading on this and if this doesn't get taken care of it can amage the liver,heart,brain,and so on.Any ideas on how to get this docs office to respond to our messages we leave them,we're all out of ideas.Thank You...... ******UPDATE******FINALLY got in touch with doc and did'nt seemed too concerned.Said he will do another stool test on his next appt. in June,and also said he's not so sure he does'nt have I.B.S.

[mammo]

It's okay.  Good luck and let us know what you find out.

[Johnna_W]

I am so sorry,I feel terrible asking you that.I guess I've never really sit down to think how serious this little monster could be to the body.I will definately call the AMA and hopefully find a better doctor.Thank you for all the information.I wil try to keep an update on here.
                                                                                                           God Bless!!

[mammo]

I lost my son.  I didn't give up either, but by the time we found a Gastroenterologist who actually knew something, it was too late for my son. Allthough he gave us two wonderful years with our son, where he only had days prior to seeing this new doc. Call the AMA and tell them you want the name of the top Gastroenterologist in your city!  This is what I did, and he told us our son should never have been in this condition, but it was too late.  I am always on here emphasizing how important it is to get a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th opinion. These doctors work for you, and Louisville has to have records and demand that they find them and get them to you!
Metronidazole and Tinidazole are the drugs used to destroy the amoeba.  Then you need Paramomycin (also known as Humatin) to treat any infection caused by the amoeba invading the tissue lining of the intestinal tract.  Flagyl is an antibiotic which can help get rid of some parasitic infections, but you need one specifically for treating the parasite your husband has.  Treatment depends on the type of parasite he has, and just throwing Flagyl does nothing.  I hope this helps, and find another doctor!

[Johnna_W]

Mammo,what did you mean by "too late"?Believe me,I'm not giving up.I'm on a rampage!!!How do you get the dr.'s to actually dig deep and find the real problem instead of running all of these basic tests?The dr. from Louisvile really upsets me,he found the entamoeba,and since the 3 weeks of Flagyl didn't work,he wants to wait two and a half months until his next regular appt. to deal with it.

[mammo]

A Barium enema is not clear enough to diagnose the inside of the colon.  I would want another colonoscopy.  Chaman is correct in what he posted, and the problem can go on until something more serious happens to discover what the problem is. It took 4 GI doctors
to get a correct diagnosis on my son and by then it was too late.  Keep going until you get answers.

[Johnna_W]

Still nothing done.Family doc sent him to another gastro doc,and was told he didn't know of anything he could do.I guess when something finally bursts in his stomach someone will see something was wrong the whole time,meanwhile his stomach is still getting bigger.But we will ask about the Barium edema xray.He has had a colonoscopy before,wonder if he needs another one?

[Chaman]

Entamoeba infection can manifest in a number of ways. It may be just diarrhoea or may be stool with mucus or may be dysentery.
Serious complications include perforation and obstruction and spread to other organs like brain.
I think swelling of stomach and weight gain alongwith loss of apetite indicate obstruction which is caused by a mass called amoeboma formed inside the intestine.
Flagyl has an antibiotic that can kill the parasite but cannot undo the mass that has formed inside the intestine which probably needs surgical excision.
So it is crucial to get imaging of abdomen done so that quick intervention can be done timely.

[islandgurl]

I would ask for a barium enema xray.  ct does not show the inside of your colon, only the outside.  This was the test that diagnosed my mother's colon tumor (bigger than a golf ball) It could not be seen on ct or reg xray.  Good luck.

[Johnna_W]

Thank you for your comment.We actually did go to our local E.R. last night.He was in quiet a bit more pain than usual.They did a cat scan and x-ray and both were fine. The dr, seemed really concerned,even tried to get his records from Louisville but was told they didn't have any for my husband. I am going to get him back to his family Dr. tomorrow and see where to go from here.I'm about to pull my hair out.Seems like all most dr.'s are interested in anymore is the dollar sign.But I thank you so much for your concern.Hopefully something will be done.

[mammo]

This is definitely not IBS.  I would take your husband to the ER, he may have a blockage, and if so it needs to be addressed immediately.  The swelling, weight gain and pain all points to a blockage and if it's not taken care of right away, that part of the bowel will die. Don't wait around for the idiotic doctor to do something, he's obviously not going to. If you could, I would take him to the ER at University Hosp. in Cincinnati, but your husband needs to go somewhere right away.  I would also eliminate this doctor from taking care of your husband.  Sometimes with a parasite, they do die but then develop into a blockage in the colon.  I wouldn't wait on this. Best wishes.