Help! At wits end!

Wow! You've got lots going on- too much! Obviously, doing whatever needed for your pregnancy is most important, but hoping your Gastro doctor can jump in and help you to manage bloating, gas, blood loss to get you comfortable for your remaining pregnancy. My understanding is that Flagyl will help pouchitis, but won't help cuffitis or other anal inflammation. Aside from the pregnancy, I have been struggling with similar inflammation issues. They gave me Flagyl before doing scope, but discontinued it when didn't work. Later scope confirmed no pouchitis. Canasa didn't work either, and caused anal irritation but Cortifoam did help somewhat. Entocort didn't work nor did 40 mg prednisone, which I doubt you could use now anyway. Ilex paste cured butt burn, which flares on and off with bleeding. Can you use Beano or Gas-X for bloating or gas -x? Colestipol for acid? I would really watch food intake and see if more bland foods will help- cream of wheat, rice, applesauce. Good luck and hope someone can get you comfy for your remaining weeks of pregnancy!

Maybe test for C. diff?

Jan

I've had a lot of difficulty taking iron. It causes me such stomach problems my dr. had me do five weeks of iron infusions. It would seem to increase my bowel movements the first 12 hrs after.

In general I have malabsorption issues and nothing I take orally works very well. I'm going to have to do B12 shots daily for a time for example. Perhaps some of that is true for you too.

Good luck, I know you need a break of it! I'm a twin!

I hope they tested for c.diff before you started on antibiotics. My GI told me that the strength prescribed of Flagyl is weaker than prescribed for other infections. You might want to discuss this with your doctor. If I don't catch my pouchitis/cuffitis right away it takes more than 2 days for my problems to improve. I've found that if pouchitis is improving then my cuffitis does too. I also take Augmentin in rotation with Flagyl as Cipro brought on c.diff in the past when I still had my colon.

I also use Canasa and sometimes Anucort suppositories specifically for cuffitis and things improve when I am also taking an antibiotic too.

Congratulations! You are going to be busy once your little ones are born

Thx everyone for your responses. How do I get tested for cdiff? They did some initial blood panel at the ER - would that help determine existence of cdiff? Other than that nothing besides a rectal exam to validate the existence of blood. Wouldn't flagyl combat cdiff as well?

My regular surgeon is out of the country for 2 weeks. So I am working with his colleague who insists this is a severe case of pouchitis. He just added cipro to the regimen for 10 days. Hoping this does the trick. I have appt to see my regular surgeon when he gets back.

C diff is tested for with a stool sample. The toxin test is cheaper and faster, and the PCR test is more reliable.

Flagyl is the first choice for C. diff, but there are resistant strains. If you get worse with the Cipro, call back right away, as Cipro can promote C. diff.

Jan

Yep, I got c.diff after taking Cipro - back before my colon was removed. I still can't take it as I've had c.diff in my j-pouch.....Don't you have to be off of antibiotics for 10 days before taking a c.diff stool test?

Just an update. The cipro finally kicked in. I feel soooooo much better. Frequency, urgency and watery output has virtually stopped. No more bleeding either. I guess it is safe to assume that this was just a severe form of pouchitis. Just hoping this does the trick for the rest of my pregnancy. I am definitely staying away from iron going forward. This episode has finally gotten my ob to consider iron infusions. She referred me to a hemotolgist yesterday !

Great news! Thanks for update! Hope it gets you through to delivery. Take advantage of it and rest up! Good luck with delivery and your new babies! Laurie

Excellent you are feeling better. Hopefully, it will clear sailing from now on..

Thx everyone. Such a great resource!

Fantastic

I have also had a terrible time taking Iron pills in the past. When I was a young lad with colitis the doctor prescribed Iron tablets and it felt like it ripped by guts apart. Yikes!

While I don't need iron now, I did take Black Strap Molasses for Iron, which was much better for me. I realize you are over the hump, continued good and better health!