Dealing with added bowel problems

 Over the last year or so, I have had major bowel problems which can lead to me rushing to the toilet at anytime day or night, and sometimes I was too close for comfort.

I have had Irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulitis for years now, but this was an added unwanted problem, which meant I was going to the toilet 5 times a day at least, and losing weight.

 I guess I was classed as over weight anyway, so I needed to lose some according to the Body mass indicator and one of my doctors, who did not recognise the fact that a bloated stomach did  not necessarily mean I was over weight, it’s just something that happens when I eat something that disagrees with me. 

He joked that I looked pregnant and refused to accept that I was in pain. The problem was that I have memory problems and find it hard to explain things at times, so I took this as an insult, especially as I had gone in with a suspected chest infection, which he said was nothing more than a cold. 

Strangely after doing a sputum test that afternoon, I left feeling very upset, only to get a phone call a few days later telling me that I needed a course of strong antibiotics for a chest infection. 

However this bowel problem caused me to lose quite a lot of weight, but I could not war a belt to keep my trousers up so I had to resort to wearing bracers, something I never liked. 

After scans X-rays and other tests over Christmas, I eventually got a phone call from the consultant telling me it was not cancer, something I had never even considered, but the rest of the symptoms were ignored until last month when I got another phone call telling me that I had something called microscopic colitis, similar to crohns disease, but this was not explained. 

I was told to go on a large dose of steroids for 8 weeks, then I would be contacted again. He told me to take them all in one dose 9 mg a day, but I was in agony and did not want to eat. 

My wife rang our doctors and they said I had to split the dose to 3 timesaver day, until the consultant came back to them. 

This has been a big help and although my diet has totally changed to dairy free, to cut down the cramps and bloating.