Tagged As: Short Bowel Syndrome
Question:
I've posted a message similar to this on the Crohn's and Colitis board, so please pardon the duplication if you happen to read both. Nearly two years ago I had the second operation for Crohn's related complications. In all I have had about 3 feet of small intestine resected, along with the cecum and a few inches of my colon. After things didn't settle into a normal pattern after the second surgery, my GI doctor added Short Bowel Syndrome to my growing list of diagnoses. The symptoms are many, including a constant urge to run to the nearest commode, loose stools and/or diarrhea about 75 percent of the time, cramps, gas, and a complete inability to predict which foods, what stressors, or what environmental substances will trigger an attack. To prevent surprises and traffic jam miseries, I take 6 mg of Imodium (2 mg three times a day). The GI doc wants me to take more -- up to 16 mg a day - while the internist says I'll lose muscle tone in my colon if I rely too heavily on this medication and potentially end up with worse problems. My question is: what, if anything, can be done for this condition. The GI doc is great, but not very talkative. My internist says that there's not much I can do. All that the medical books say is that it is the inability to digest solid food to one degree or another. Not very helpful. I give myself a B-12 shot once a month to prevent pernicious anemia and my periodic blood work looks fine except for a slight dip in the hematocrit (around 39) while the other iron indicators are all within normal ranges. Would vitamin supplements help (both of doctors are skeptics). Any special diets? I hate to whine about what is, after all, not a serious condition in and of itself. But day after day after day, it gets a bit old, and frankly I'm sick of it.
Answer:
Have your doctor perscribe Questran-it worked for me!!! wimp
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