Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Abnormal Bowel Movements

Question:
  I have often wondered. I had been ill off and on, was having 25+ bowel movements daily, and had lost 50 pounds. I went into the hospital via ambulance. I tried for 2 days to get help, but was too sick. I kept passing out. I finally got my wallet (with HMO and medical data) and wrapped myself in a bed sheet, and crawled from the house, into the front yard, where I wailed for help. Eventually neighbors, police, and an ambulance arrived, and took me to the hospital.     The hospital totally jumped onto my illness! I received 2 units of blood, monster doses of prednisone by IV, antibiotics (Ciprio, I think) and 6 days of TPN by IV as well. This was in addition to testing (sigmoidoscopy, barium enema, etc).     Ever since being in the hospital, I have been in quite satisfactory remission. I eat pretty much what I please, salads included, take no medicines whatever for my UC (except the nicotine gum), and have not had more than 3 bowel movements in 24 hours, with 85% of the time just one. I have no bleeding, no mucus, and aside from watching my diet, just to avoid major insults to my digestive system, and using probiotics, I really don't do anything for it. I have regained almost 40 of the lost pounds.     In a few days it will have been a year since I was hospitalized. I read here and wonder if too many people are just being treated rather casually, on an outpatient basis, and never really getting things under control. I wonder what would be the result if more aggressive treatments were used initially, to knock the disease flat in the first place. In my case this applies to UC, but I suspect the principle will work much the same with Crohn's, and the other varieties of IBD. Just wondering

Answer: