Thursday, 6 July 2006
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| Yoghurt and IBD Kerry Hogan 07:59:00 |
| | Hi Folks
Sitting eating my morning breakfast yoghurt today, I wondered - why I
do that? (eat yoghurt). I have endured IBS for 20 years and now I have
UC...what the hell has eating yoghurt done for all that time?. Anyone
have a thought/thoughts on that?.
Thanks 
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| |  5 answers | Add comment |
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| Research: (small study) For Men, Catheter Type Makes A Huge Difference In Urinary Infection Risk, St Guest 02:40:15 |
| | http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=46457
For Men, Catheter Type Makes A Huge Difference In Urinary Infection
Risk, Study Finds
Main Category: Men's health News
Article Date: 05 Jul 2006 - 15:00pm (PDT)
Far fewer infections, and happier patients, seen with external 'condom'
catheter compared with indwelling type.
It's one of the things about a hospital stay that men loathe, and that
infectious bacteria love: the urinary catheter. Now, a new study shows
that a less-unpleasant option for male hospital patients is also a much
safer one.
In fact, men whose urine was collected with an external or "condom"
catheter during their hospital stay had an 80 percent reduction in the
risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) or death as compared with men
whose urine was collected with the usual "indwelling" catheter, the
research shows. The condom catheters were also far more likely to be
seen as comfortable and non-painful.
...
--
Luke
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Wednesday, 5 July 2006
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| reoccurrence after resection Heather B 23:28:28 |
| | Hi--My 19 year old son has Crohns's disease and had a colon resection
done about 16 months ago. He has had 3 dilation colonoscopies since
Oct. 05 and today's procedure showed a reoccurrence of the Crohn's.
Has any experienced a reoccurrence so soon after surgery? Thanks,
Heather
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| | 10 answers | Add comment |
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| Research: Heat halts pain inside the body Guest 05:10:00 |
| | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-07/ucl-hhp070306.php
Heat halts pain inside the body
The old wives' tale that heat relieves abdominal pain, such as colic or
menstrual pain, has been scientifically proven by a UCL (University
College London) scientist, who will present the findings today at the
Physiological Society's annual conference hosted by UCL.
Dr Brian King, of the UCL Department of Physiology, led the research
that found the molecular basis for the long-standing theory that heat,
such as that from a hot-water bottle applied to the skin, provides
relief from internal pains, such as stomach aches, for up to an hour.
Dr King said: "The pain of colic, cystitis and period pain is caused by
a temporary reduction in blood flow to or over-distension of hollow
organs such as the bowel or uterus, causing local tissue damage and
activating pain receptors.
"The heat doesn't just provide comfort and have a placebo effect - it
actually deactivates the pain at a molecular level in much the same way
as pharmaceutical painkillers work. We have discovered how this
molecular process works."
If heat over 40 degrees Celsius is applied to the skin near to where
internal pain is felt, it switches on heat receptors located at the
site of injury. These heat receptors in turn block the effect of
chemical messengers that cause pain to be detected by the body.
The team found that the heat receptor, known as TRPV1, can block P2X3
pain receptors. These pain receptors are activated by ATP, the body's
source of energy, when it is released from damaged and dying cells. By
blocking the pain receptors, TRPV1 is able to stop the pain being
sensed by the body.
Dr King added: "The problem with heat is that it can only provide
temporary relief. The focus of future research will continue to be the
discovery and development of pain relief drugs that will block P2X3
pain receptors. Our research adds to a body of work showing that P2X3
receptors are key to the development of drugs that will alleviate
debilitating internal pain."
Scientists made this discovery using recombinant DNA technology to make
both heat and pain receptor proteins in the same host cell and watching
the molecular interactions between the TRPV1 protein and the P2X3
protein, switched on by capsaicin, the active ingredient in chilli, and
ATP, respectively.
--
Luke
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| stricture questions... Stephanie 04:38:39 |
| | I'm a lurker here (with a few postings), but I'm hoping that you all
can help me with a few questions.
I got back from Cleveland last night after exploratory surgery. The
procedure itself went well, aside from episode of vomiting on the drive
home. Unfortunately, the doc found multiple strictures and lots of scar
tissue, both in my large intestine and rectum. They can't do the
Turnbull-Cutait surgery on Wed and, therefore, can't reverse my ostomy.
There was some good news that came out of it. My surgeon recommended
sticking with the temporary ostomy because of how well I've healed (no
active disease). This is the person who wanted to do a permanent after
opening me up and didn't, because he promised me he wouldn't. He also
said that I should look into new treatments, proven or experimental,
and if it was him he'd "leave no stone unturned." (I got all this
secondhand because I was still asleep.)
So maybe it's dumb but, even with the bad news, I feel like I still
have hope (as does my surgeon). That's probably why I'm not more upset.
Oh, and I've had Percoset.
In the interest of leaving no stone unturned, I have some questions and
am hoping that you all can point me in the right direction. I have no
idea how use Medline or medical databases.
1) What is the term for when your colon hardens from strictures, etc?
2) Is there any evidence that therapies like RMAT can reduce/reverse
stricture damage? How about the hard colon thing?
3) Are there any ongoing trials involving stricture-reduction?
I'm on Remicade and Imuran so those aren't doing it. There may be a
doctor in my area who will prescribe RMAT (with the guidance of a doc
in Texas). Any advice would be great.
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| Remedy for combating depression from prednisone? Guest 02:26:54 |
| | I have been put on prednisone for my colitis for about eight weeks,
starting at 30 mg and tapering down. I am experiencing terrible
depression which my doc says is normal. Is there any remedy for this? I
got 6 weeks to go so anti-depressants are out.
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Tuesday, 4 July 2006
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| Re: What a combination Odie 09:43:56 |
| | Paul Hinman wrote:> With crohns I have the chronic need to go to the can several times a> day (I would have worded it differently but I have trouble spelling> diarrhoea). Now I have been diagnosed as being diabetic as well.> This is not without its advantages, it means that when getting scoped> I will always be at the top of the list so that I can get it over with> and start eating again. The disadvantage is that I am always thirsty> and as a result when I am not having my usual crohns problems, I have> to go pee.> Maybe I should move my computer and ham radio equipment into the> bathroom.>
Paul,
After you've had a pee, could you possibly re-configure your news reader
to post in bog-standard text?
I don't really mean to be picky here, but blue text on a yellow
background simply does not "do it" for me!
Thanks
Odie
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| Traveling with IBD Gio 03:02:51 |
| | Well it is summer again, and it looks like I have a road trip a head of me.
It has been a while since I have had the guts to consider a long highway
road trip and in the back of my mind am a little worried. If I can get over
the morning bathroom rush I think I will be fine, as long as I don't eat
very much on the drive. I just don't want to have to visit the side of the
road. Wondering what some of your experiences are.
thanks
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Monday, 3 July 2006
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| dipilatory effects of lidocaine/diltiazem Poo 19:42:46 |
| | Have noticed a humorous (to me, anyway glitch with the cessation of my
lidocaine/diltiazem gel. Apparently the combo either dissolves anal hair or
causes it to fall out and not grow back. Hmmm. Not sure what this may mean
about the long term effects of using the stuff. Can't be good, right?
And it's not a practical problem until one stops, and those lovely little
hairs start growing back. I have been postively squirming for 2 days with
ungodly anal itching. Been sitzing like the devil and am clean enough down
there at the moment to please even my mother-in-law. Resisting the gel
because it will only start my problem over. Have found SMALL relief with
diaper rash treatments. For some reason Calmoseptine only aggravated the
problem.
I've been through this process a couple times now, and as soon as I grow out
a bit, I'm fine, but this stage is interminable!
Hey, maybe there's an aftermarket for our old gels--I've a friend who has
employed a salon technique (must be some salon!) that provides the same
result.
But the real question: should I switch to just lidocaine? The diltiazem
drug is beginning to worry me....
No longer quite so smooth as a baby's bottom,
Lisa (poo)
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| Iron levels back to normal Coasten1 19:04:28 |
| | Just a note on my health. Awhile back I posted about my iron levels hitting
rock bottom around Christmas. I had switched some medications which, I
personally believe, aggrevated my Crohn's to start my colon or something
bleeding. This went on for a good month. I was in between iron infusions
and losing so much blood caused me to become anemic again. I was exhausted
all the time and could not catch my breath. I started going for infusions
weekly. We weren't seeing any improvement. I went back on my original meds
and the bleeding stopped. Each iron visit we kept increasing the mg until
finally after 3 months, the levels started to show some results. It was
back in May that my iron finally reached the normal level. I have my energy
back. The coloring of my skin is back. People are saying I look much
better. So to recap, I'm back on track and moving forward.
Tony
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| FYI - Citrucel Has Been Recalled Ror 02:10:30 |
| | GSK recalled Citrucel due to a stability problem. I called them and they
said it won't be back on the market until late July/early August.
As an added FYI be careful if you switch to Metamucil. I did and ended up
practically ODing on fiber. I had to cut back significantly the amount I
was using vs. what the bottle recommended.
ror
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| GI in Chicago Guest 01:49:20 |
| | Hi,
My daughter who has Crohn's is going to be visiting me in Chicago.
Does anyone have a GI in Chicago that they like and could recommend?
Thanks in advance.
Debbie in Chicago
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| | 7 answers | Add comment |
Sunday, 2 July 2006
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| inflammed hip - Synovtis - Reactive Arthrtis? Guest 07:38:23 |
| | Hi all, interested in hearing from other Crohn's or coltis sufferers
who have had / have similar additional problem as below.
I have been suffering from a very badly inflamed left hip, the
inguinal ligament appears from MRI's and CT's and surgery, to be the
ligament that is inflamed.
Condition was managed by steroid injections into hip joint every 14 to
18 months since 2000, but since August 2005, injections not longer
last more than 5 days and even after two arthroscopic surgeries to
basically trim away some of the inflamed tissue, problem remains.
A pain management doctor at www.metrospinal.com.au
is looking at doing an radio nerve degeneration on the nerves, but the
test run with local anesthetic he did two weeks ago did not bring much
pain relief. I am waiting for him to get back from holidays mid July
to let me know what he intends to do next as I am waiting till mid
July to see my Rheumatologist. to see what he may be able to do.
( what is it with specialists these days that one has to wait weeks to
see them, if not months and I'm a private patient!!)
Anyway I would be interested in hearing from anyway who may suffer
from same or similar problem
Thanks Phil
you can email me direct if you wish at
phillip<nospam>@pmassociates.com.au
just remove the <nospam>
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Saturday, 1 July 2006
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| Food for thought on alternative therapy (antioxidants) Guest 06:34:14 |
| | http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/
Food for thought on alternative therapy
Ben Goldacre
Saturday June 24, 2006
The Guardian
It can sometimes seem like there are two competing ways to make a
decision about any complex matter of evidence-based medicine. One is to
purchase and digest How To Read A Paper by Professor Trisha Greenhalgh,
and then find, read, and critically appraise every published academic
study independently and in full for yourself. The other more common
method is to rely on "experts", or what I like to call "prejudice".
But there is a third way: what we might call "evidence-based
prejudice". I can't possibly debunk every single alternative therapy
column you will ever read: but if I could show that their single most
popular claim has no foundation, then you could safely ignore
everything else they say, thus saving valuable brain energy, and
freeing up extra time for you to write bestselling novels and eradicate
world poverty.
...
But what about vitamin tablets? They're easy to study, in the sense
that it's easy to take a tablet - easier than changing your whole food
lifestyle - easy to find a placebo control for, and so on. And there
have been innumerable studies, and systematic reviews of those studies,
and meta-analyses of those studies, and they have found no benefit for
antioxidants. A meta-analysis - a mathematical combination of lots of
smaller studies to give one larger and more accurate answer - of 15
studies, a total of over 200,000 patients, being followed up for
between one and 12 years, found no benefit for cardiovascular outcomes.
The current Cochrane review on antioxidants and bowel cancer had just
as many patients, and again found no benefit for the pills.
...
--
Luke
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| colonoscopy findings Poo 05:38:33 |
| | Hallo all. Been awfully quiet from me, I know. Just a very busy summer
(lots of house restoration work) and a fairly quiet bowel. My last fissure
(lippy, you might recall) seems to be hanging on for now, but isn't causing
much difficulty as far as I can tell. A little irritation with BM, very
slight and rare bleeding. I'm still sitzing regularly, and have found it
the best treatment, especially LONG soaks. I'm also still using lidocaine
with diltiazem in a gel regularly.
Had my colonoscopy Friday. Was concerned about the prep. Had the Fleet
Phosophosoda. Got no response (or movement) from the first treatment the
night before. It wasn't until the 2nd treatment the next am before my
procedure that things got going.
They dosed me with a narcotic and Versid, and I watched the entire procedure
on a monitor. I can remember quite a bit of it, even the polyp removal.
Especially those times when I was cramping badly and in some pain (I assume
they upped the meds at those moments). The doc said my colon was "a bit
difficult to navigate", not sure what that meant. Results as follows,
directly quoted from the report they handed me after the exam.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ulcerated mucosa in the proximal transverse colon, in the ascending colon
and in the cecum.
Ulberated mucosa in the terminal ileum.
The rectum, sigmoid colon and descending colon are normal. This was
biopsied.
Three 3-5mm polyps in the porximal sigmoid colon. Resected and retrieved.
Two 3mm polyps in the distal sigmoid colon. This was biopsied.
Anal papilla(e) were hypertrophied.
Findings consistent with ileocolonic crohn's disease. Inflammation seems
limited to terminal ileum and right colon. I did not appreciate perianal
disease on this exam.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, it's ileocolonic crohn's, not crohn's colitis as I previously thought.
And it's interesting that they didn't see anything perianal, since the only
symptom I've had so far (fissures) would indicate perianal involvement. My
stepfather doc said "did not appreciate" merely means could not
see/determine, which he said isn't a surprise, since a colonoscope isn't
ideal for looking at the anal area (surprise to me). He said the polyps
(please forgive the imprecision) weren't "the type" to be concerned about
(which I understood to mean "not the kind that typically lead to cancer").
It was disappointing, I don't mind saying. I've had no diarrhea, no
abdominal pain. All blood in the stool (except for one harrowing experience
when I was in full flare) has seemed related to the fissures. So I was
pretty convinced it was Crohn's colitis and preparing myself for that buffet
of issues. Hoping still that my lack of symptoms is a good indicator that
my inflammation and lesions are more moderate. (Worried down the line about
nutrient absorption and weight loss.)
He prescribed Pentasa (what he called a maintenance dose) 2000 mg/day for
the next year. I haven't started because I forgot (a bit dopey and
completely full of gas from the procedure) to ask about my aspirin and sulfa
allergies. I thought folks with them couldn't take Pentasa? Anyway, need
to call him Monday and confirm. He also said I should stick to my high
fiber/low fat diet for now.
Stepfather also pointed out that they couldn't get far into the small
intestine during a colonscopy, and that even though my small bowel follow
thru didn't show anything, he wouldn't be surprised if lesions existed
beyond the ileum in the rest of the small intestine as well.
Sorry for the novel, folks. Hoping you have thoughts to share on prognosis,
medication and what to watch for in terms of symptoms that might indicate a
worsening of the disease.
Thanks much!
Lisa (poo)
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| Quick ambulance ride to the Hospital. Paul 02:28:22 |
| | Yesterday I brought my wife and 4 year old daughter to Paramount's
Canada's Wonderland, a large amusement park just north of Toronto. We
had a great time going on rides with our daughter. Then without warning
I had severe lower back pain. I have had lower back pain from my UC
before but this seemed different. I was only on 3 rides and they were
all very mild. We didn't leave the park immediately because I wanted
our daughter to enjoy herself. When we got home I rested on the couch
watching TV. I felt fine as long as I didn't move. When it was time
to go to bed, I needed help getting up off the couch.
I went to bed at the usual time and then woke up at 3:00am to go to the
washroom. I was lying flat on my back and I couldn't get up. I woke
up my wife and we tried for an hour and a half to get me out of bed.
The pain was unbearable and we hardly moved me on the bed. My wife was
bugging me to call an ambulance. I finally gave in when the urge for a
bm increased. She called the ambulance and 2 very understanding guys
came with a stretcher. They managed to slide me to the edge of the bed
and lifted me up so I could sit on the bed. After a short rest they
helped me stand up and walk to the washroom. I needed help getting on
and off the toilet. I made it on time. Before we left I called my boss
to tell him I couldn't make it for overtime today. They then helped
me down the stairs and put me on a stretcher.
They loaded me on the ambulance and took me to the nearest hospital. My
wife did not go with us because our daughter was still asleep. The
attendants said it could take a few hours before I saw a doctor so my
wife stayed behind to take care of our daughter. It turned out that
they weren't very busy and the emergency doctor saw me right away. He
felt I puller a mussel and that I should actually exercise my back
muscles without over doing it. He gave me a prescription for Novo-
Cycloprin, a muscle relaxative, and Tylenol #3 with codeine, a
painkiller. These meds put me to sleep very fast. They really do a
number on me and put me to sleep. They said I could leave now so I
called my wife to tell hear to pick me up. I'm a little more flexible
now but I can't pick anything off the floor. I'm sure I wont be
able to go to work in the morning. I'm afraid the same thing might
happen tomorrow morning so I plan to sleep on our reclining sofa. It is
much easier to get out of.
Sorry for the long message. I just had to rant and get it out of my
system. At least my bms have not been to bad with 6 yesterday and 6
today. Take care,
--
Paul
Visit our photo albums at:
http://www.laflammefamily.ca
http://www.more.laflammefamily.ca
To reply, replace "mail.com" with "laflammefamily.ca"
--
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Friday, 30 June 2006
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| Toxic megacolon - pictures but not for the faint hearted Vanny 20:54:21 |
| | Please only open this link if you feeling strong enough to look at some
graphic pictures on toxic megacolon in a rat.
http://ratguide.com/health/figures/megacolon_figure_3a.php
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| | 8 answers | Add comment |
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| ulcerative colitis Latha_ananth@Yahoo.Com 13:00:22 |
| | Hi
My name is latha. My son 5 yrs old suffering from colitis past one
year. His doctor tried all the medicine whatever available. first he
took azulfidine then he is alright for couple of months again it
becomes worst then they tried predinisone(15mg) same thing happen again
and they increased the dosage to 30mg.afterthat they started Remicade.
It worked very well at first for 4 weeks gap. now that also not
working .(it works only 3 weeks along with predinisone).
If anyone experienced same,please can you give some advice about what
we should do.Thank you very much.
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| | 9 answers | Add comment |
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| Adacolumn Apheresis clinical trial update Paul 08:09:03 |
| | For those that have been following my treatment, last Tuesday I had a
follow up appointment with the study Doctor, three weeks after my last
open label treatment for UC. For a quick review, I originally entered
into the double blind placebo controlled clinical trial for the
Adacolumn Apheresis last December. I had 10 treatments over 10 weeks
with no improvement in my symptoms. I still don't know if I received
the placebo or not. Four weeks after that I went into an open label
treatment knowing that I was receiving the actual treatment. I received
10 treatments over 10 weeks and I felt I had a slight improvement,
especially after the last 2 treatments.
Last Tuesday I met with the study doctor and coordinator. I had to make
a decision on whether to start another round of 10 treatments or leave
the study altogether and try Remicade. We discussed my condition since
my last treatment. The first week was not very good with 7 or 8 BM's
per day. The second week was one of the best I have had in about a year
with 3 to 4 BM's per day. The third week was one of the worst in the
last year with 10 to 12 BM's per day. I actually called in sick at
work for 2 days. Last Monday I woke up 5 times overnight to go to the
washroom. I was so tired in the morning that there was no way I could
go to work. I have not wakened up overnight because of my UC for
several months. The last week I have been waking up several times every
night. The last 24 hours I have had 11 BM's. I feel that the
Adacolumn was starting to work but after a few weeks of no treatments
things started to get worse. The doctor agrees that it is possible.
If I continue with another round of treatments I can continue
indefinitely as long as I have symptoms. If I go for the Remicade I can
no longer participate in the Adacolumn trial. The study doctor really
didn't have much advice. He wanted me to make the decision on my own.
I have been approved for Remicade by my drug plan and it is always
available if I want it. A tough decision. If I continue with the
Adacolumn, I can always go back to Remicade but I can't go the other
way. The Adacolumn has very few if any side effects. On the other hand,
I have never used Remicade and I don't know what side effects await
me.
And the decision iiiiissss (drum roll please) I will continue with
another round of Adacolumn treatments. I get my next one tomorrow. I
plan to re-evaluate the treatment after 5 weeks and if I don't see an
improvement at that time, I will drop out of the study and go for the
Remicade. I gave the study coordinator 3 stool samples, a urine sample
and several vials of blood. I go through the same pre screening I went
through for the original study.
I also talked to the study doctor about 6MP. I have been on it for over
3 years. It seemed to work for me for 2 years then it stopped. The dose
was then increased to 150 mg per day from 100 about one year ago. He
thought that it was a low dose for my weight of 106 kg. I asked him
about the Prometheus Labs test to see how well I metabolize it. He said
that there is a lab here in Toronto that performs the same test. He
feels that the test is over done in the US because of Prometheus's
marketing. There is a lot of profit in the test. He said he only orders
the test if he feels it isn't working after an extended amount of
time. After saying that, he ordered the test for me. The results could
take a few weeks. Unfortunately, my dosage cannot be adjusted as long
as I am in this clinical study.
Take care,
--
Paul
Visit our photo albums at:
http://www.laflammefamily.ca
http://www.more.laflammefamily.ca
To reply, replace "mail.com" with "laflammefamily.ca"
--
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| | 14 answers | Add comment |
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