So my insurance company just told my doctor they would not pay for me to swallow the pill cam. I can afford it but I certainly don't want to.
I've been pretty convinced over the past few months that whatever I have (I don't like the term IBS but I'll run with it because that's the catch-all) is not particularly dangerous. I have controlled my D using trycyclics and an occasional half dose of immodium, and am even dealing with less pain as time goes on. Bowel function is still not normal but I've been able to lead a mostly normal life.
My doctor wanted the pill cam because he felt there was a chance, since I have lost a lot of weight, that I might have Chron's. He really scared me as he said were I to have it I wouldn't be able to get insurance coverage (I currently have coverage but I guess he meant if I ever lost this one). I asked him based on what has gone so far what he thinks the % chance is and he guessed 25%.
Blood tests and stool tests taken over time have all come back negative for anything unusual. I have explained my weight loss as just the embarrassment of D causing me to eat nothing or very little during the 8 hours of my job, and so significant reduction in calories, especially fat calories, (by choice) = weight loss. I used to be a candy freak eating chocolate, cookies, and confections by the handful and now I don't eat any of that stuff, so to me the weight loss seems natural. I was at 190lbs (I felt slightly overweight - I wore it well but had a small paunch) and I have stabilized over the past few months at about 150. During the first three months after diagnosis was where I lost most of it, and I also like 10x'd my cardiovascular exercise during that time too, which I'm sure contributed (before that I was a couch potato).
The one scary symptom I have that makes me wonder is what I listed as the title of this post. Sometimes after I eat, and occasionally at random, though much more prevalent in the evenings, I get what I term as hot flashes. Since I'm not a woman I don't know if what I feel matches the menopausal hot flashes of lore but I describe it as that because my ears turn beet read and hot, maybe my cheeks and forehead will develop a flush, and they will get hot. This lasts for a half hour to an hour and then is gone. It is not associated with pain or a headache or the sensation of lightheadedness such as when I've had the flu in the past.
Now, I haven't been clever or quick enough to take my temperature during this so I don't know if I'm actually sporting a fever, and it doesn't ever coincide with D. I've gone weeks without it happening, maybe a month or more, but this week it's happened twice, Tuesday, and this evening.
IBS is listed as not causing inflammation, and one potential cause of feverish symptoms is inflammation. However, my symptoms themselves just don't seem severe enough to be chron's, and while I haven't had a colonoscopy (shame on me I know but I am just deathly anxious of doing it because 1) I've worked so hard to fix my D I just can't see bringing it on myself on purpose, and 2) I go to pieces at the thought of being put out, or sedated, in any way where my mental faculties are not 100%. The idea of grogginess and memory loss is not a pleasant one for me.)
I have asked a similar question on this board before but my focus then and situation was different, so, that novel aside, my main question now is to those of you who most definitely don't have chron's or UC or anything more serious than "IBS": have you experienced similar symptoms, or do you know of other things that may be causing this weird reaction upon eating (most of the time) and in the evening primarily, afternoon sometimes, never morning/daytime. I have actually had a bit of C this week...well not really, but lets say slower movements than usual, could that cause it?
Male 29, symptoms for 9 months now, 99% adherence to Heather's diet (the 1% is accidents, not choice, like when something you think it cool has a trace amount of dairy or something.) Oh, and this never, at least not that I can remember, happened before I was diagnosed with IBS-like symptoms.
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Facial/Head Warmness After Eating?
