Reply to "New doctor is not recommending liquid vitamins. What do you think?"

A short course of antibiotics would not mask cuffitis, since it does not really treat it. It can improve the symptoms, but they return as soon as the antibiotic is stopped. But, I can see why she'd want to see your full blown and untreated inflammation. That gives her a starting baseline to guage improvements.

So, there is two ways to look at it. You can have a trial of antibiotics and if that takes care of business, and you assume it was pouchitis or bacterial overgrowth (which would not show up on scope anyway). If it is not effective, then scope. The other way is to just go straight to the scope, with the feeling that this gets diagnosis and proper treatment going right away, and avoiding a delayed diagnosis.

However, often there is a delay just to schedule this scope, and you are left suffering while you wait. I guess I was lucky. When I returned after antibiotics did not provide sustained remission, my GI did a flex sig on the spot (guess he had a slow day). My pouch looked fine, but my cuff was a mess. The scope was mostly to check out the pouch, because he knew there was cuffitis from the digital exam (the rectal mucosa feels "bumpy" to the touch, and there was blood). Biopsies confirmed what was known.

I believe you said you also had a stricture, so that could prevent diagnosis of cuffitis by a digital exam (if the examining finger cannot get past the stricture to the rectal cuff). Again, I was lucky. Never had a stricture.

Jan