Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Spastic Colitis

Question:
My doc said he feels we are dealing with spastic colitis in my case.  He didn't give me a lot of info on it except to say it hurts a lot...hahaha...like I didn't know this. He says once we run tests we will be sure but in the meantime I sit here and wonder what all goes with spastic colitis since I can only find info on the web on UC.  Anyone else dealing with this or know about it? He knows I had IBS as a child...but said he feels I have gone into spastic colitis now.  Some form of IBD cause I have the mucus and blood in stools. Blood is mostly from the hemorrhoids that line by lower bowels that get ripped up as stools pass by them. Mucus we have to look into to figure out where it comes from...same with the scar tissue which is probably old hemorrhoids but need to check it to be sure. Next time I feel like going out maybe I will stop by the pay phone and call him and ask. (We don't have a phone at home, but have pay phone a block away we can walk to.) Could you explain for me what Colagenous Colitis is like?  I have CD and my mother has irritable bowel syndrome, but her symptoms are much like mine, except never having the inflammation and bleeding.

Answer:
It sounds like you have Ulcerative Colitis. I was just diagnosed and am in the process of trying to find out more info. My worst symptoms are pain on my left side, and pain very bad in my ribs on the left side front and back. I think you'll find that Spastic Colitis is another name for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, I don't know about ng's but I do know there are plenty of message boards for IBS. LOL, sorry to confuse....we have a cable modem link to the net :) It's faster than an analog link and in the long run costs no more than one when you factor in what we would pay for phone service and internet service each month. It's also FAST! My worst symptoms are pain on my left side, and pain very bad in my ribs on the left side front and back. I hurt the whole bottom section of my abdomen  Lately now my upper back is killing me too.  I can barely get out of bed and have a couple times, asked my husband to help me sit up so I could get up.  I also run almost daily migraines which are just so much fun...NOT. I got good teeth, does that count for anything?  LOL, of course I wear a full set of dentures, is that cheating? You definitely need to ask your dr to clarify cuz there is no such thing as spastic colitis, it's an out-of-date name for IBS.  FWIW, mucus production is very common with IBS despite the lack of inflammation, so if the blood is coming from hemorrhoids IBS could conceivably explain all your symptoms.   I do not know what Spastiac Colitis is...but I do know how Colagenous Colitis feels like...and though it is bad in its own right...it is mild compared to UC or Crohn’s...I feel like a wimpy little baby compared to the brave people on this board with UC and CD...though I spend as much time as they in the bathroom. mucus production is very common with IBS despite the lack of inflammation I get the inflammation in the bowels along with the fever that goes with it at times so that is why I think it's more than IBS.  We'll find out for sure once we get tests done. We were talking about my IBS as a child and the other things I have now added to it in the way of fever, pain, blood, hemorrhoids, diarrhea, mucus, pain when urinating at times, migraines, and some joint pain in my upper back.  That is when he said 'we may be dealing with Spastic Colitis. He said he would know more once he did tests on me. I spend as much time as they in the bathroom.. The painkiller I'm on stops me up to where I only go once or twice a day.....I'm enjoying it immensely. If I may add one thing to these comments about spastic colitis...years ago…when I was dx with CD...over 30 yrs ago...they called this stuff…a spastic colon...and then they moved on to ileitis and then regional ileitis...added to that the IBS or IBD...or yea…and regional enteritis...I know they are all specific parts of your colon...but.. as a start to the diagnosis...they don’t know what to call it…or didn’t in the yrs they were trying to diagnose me...they called it spastic colon...at the time I was being diagnosed.. .every single doc I went to... had to see for themselves that I did indeed have Crohn’s. Every time I went to a doc.. I had to go thru ALL those wonderful tests... again and again...mind you. I was 15 or 16 at the time...and until I was about 35...I STILL had to be re-diagnosed by every doc ( I moved a lot during that time)…so… I had to be diagnosed in probably 6 different states...even times in the same city...I am glad for those of you who are younger...not glad in a happy way…but glad that the diagnostic process isn't as difficult as it was in my past.. This disease is a very strange one. It's something I don't even think my best friends or family really understands. Well I do hope you get the answers you need.... I know that I had a relief just finding out the name of this stupid thing...and it wasn't entirely in my head. I just want to clarify that I do think you may very well have IBD, it's just that there is no form of IBD called spastic colitis, so it's weird that your dr is calling it that.  Certainly no one runs fevers with IBS.  It'll be interesting to hear what your dr says after the tests come back. It will be a month before we are available to start testing me. He did tell me the first thing he wants to do is an ultrasound. (I kinda like that, they don't hurt !  LOL.  Down side is you don't get the happy drugs like you do with an invasive test.) So for the next month I'm just hanging out and trying to stay happy.  My husband is great at being able to get me to laugh. He pulled a groin muscle at work the other day and I told him 'I can really relate to pain in that area' and he gave me a big smile and said 'no you can't, everyone knows you don't hurt really, you are faking it to get drugs'.  Hahahahaha.  I got to laughing so hard at him (he does these one liners with the damnedest straightest face), I had tears in my eyes. I countered it with, 'ok, since I don't hurt, do you want me to rub your ache and make it better?'  LOL. He gave the ' the look ' and declined my offer and went to bed to rest. Sorry if I brag on my hubby too much.  After 5 failed marriages where I was told I was faking being sick and not believed I guess I tend to go on about how wonderful it is to have someone who is totally supportive and can even use the past to turn into jokes and make me learn to laugh at that old pain. I should write out an intro I guess, but my life is full of so many twists and turns it's hard to put into writing.  I refer most to my webpage where I have different sections made that deal with different things I have been thru. Then I answer any questions they have after reading thru it all if there are any left. The main question always seems to be 'what haven't you been thru?' and I find that hard to answer; I've been thru almost anything you can think of in my pathetic past of bad decisions. Living the 'slow lane' life now that I have is just the most wonderful feeling in the world.