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QUESTION:
After a colonoscopy last week I had my followup with my doctor today. He says
the redness he found near the ileum would be classified as non-specific
colitis.
My question is do any of you get burning/dull pain in your lower left quadrant?
The doc originally thought I might have diverticulitis, but the scope
revealed nothing in that area. I have only sporadic pain in the right
side, where the redness is. Can colitis trigger pain in seemingly
unaffected areas of the colon? I also
get low back pain almost constantly-any thoughts on this?
ANSWER:
I often have lower back pain because of colitis. In fact, I have had it
to the point where it made it hard to walk. My doctor said it is
normal and that the muscles in your lower back can become sore when your
colon is flaring. Not much to do about it except put heat on it, I've
found that tylenol, etc. doesn't work for me. As for the left side pain,
I also get that, plus pain on the right side. Often it is associated
with the back pain, and isn't as bad if my colitis isn't flaring.
When I got sick the summer before last (which was when I was finally
diagnosed correctly with UC) I had gone untreated for several weeks.
I had this INCREDIBLE pain in my left hip that prevented me from walking
for about three weeks (and sent me to the emergency room twice).
My doctor said that there is a protein in the cartilage (sp?) of your
body that is similar to the protein in the colon that your immune system
is attacking and that during bad flares, your immune system will also
attack the associated cartilage. It's like severe arthritis.
Of course this isn't the only cause for pain in the area, I just thought
I'd share this to the group in case it helps someone make sense...
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