In the Army and just got the bad news

So this has been going on for months. I have been in the Army about two years, stationed in Germany. Ive been going to sick call many times. My symtoms(sorry spelling) were....Bleeding, not in stool, just bleeding. Sometimes a slime or mucus. I would try to go to the bathroom lke 10 days a day. Havent had a normal stool in over 6 months. I have ALOT of pain on the right side of my stomach. My eating habits have gone done, and I have lost abut 20 pounds over the last 3 months. First they thought it was a fisser(small cut) then they told me to take a sitz bath? lol. THen I got a colonaskipy(sorry spelling) and a byopsy. They removed several polyps. Then they removed what they thought were hemeroids in my anal area with a gun and rubberband around them( very painful)


It take a while to get this correct b/c we dont ave a american base close to us, so we are always refered to the German economy. The Germans say I might as well haev Crohns, since its soo similar to others( There saying I have prositis? lol)

Any help or advise?


Lane


PS: Also when I think I have a flare up, I get really dizzy when in the bathroom. I feel like im other straining myelf and get light headed.

Welcome Lane. Sorry to hear that things are not going so great currently.

While your symptoms are similar to those of many with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (like Crohn's Disease) symptoms alone are not enough to perfectly diagnose you. However IBD seems to be a quite plausible diagnosis. Ulcerative Colitis sufferers commonly have the urge to go to the bathroom many times throughout the day like you said you had experienced.

The thing is usually it requires a procedure like a colonoscopy to accurately diagnose IBD, which is weird as you had this done but a diagnosis was not made. Perhaps you can ask the doctor's if the colonoscopy showed evidence of their being Crohn's or if they can do another test to check for it, as once you are diagnosed doctors can try an assortment of treatments and medications to improve your current condition.

Feeling dizzy can be due to a number of reasons, but if you are not eating and bleeding quite a bit, then you are likely very low in energy and not getting the necessary vitamins and minerals. Bleeding can also lead to iron-deficiencies and anemia, which can cause fatigue. Perhaps all the bathroom visits are also making you dehydrated?

My advice would be as much as possible to try and determine if these symptoms and pain come after eating certain foods. If you can, try and avoid those foods as much as possible. Being in the army I do not know how easy this would be to do. Also if possible you might want to try and see if you can get liquid meal replacements, which usually are easier to digest and contain a lot of vitamins and minerals. This might improve your energy levels and help get your body the nutrition it has been missing these past few months. Other than that I think you need to try and get the doctors to get a proper diagnosis on you and determine a treatment... if they have a theory of what you might have, why not push them to try and confirm the theory instead of leaving you with all this uncertainty?

Please let us know if you have any specific questions and we will do our best to help you out.

Lane, I am also stationed in Germany. I am not sure if I have Crohns yet but it looks like it after the initial tests. I have an appointment on the 10th and should find out my diagnosis.

I know that you have been referred to a local German hospital but you need to insist on going to see the Gastroenterologist in Landstuhl. The Gastro clinic can do all the testing you need. I am guessing you are stationed far from Landstuhl in Graf or Hohenfelds but the 4 hour drive will be worth it for you in the long run. You can even get travel pay to go! You need to insist on seeing an American doctor, the German doctors are as good as American doctors but a lot can get confused when your paperwork needs to get translated in English. Plus, the German doctors no not understand the military health care system. This could be important in case you are referred to a medical board.

Hope everthing works out for you.

GI Joe
(SFC Crews)