My Visit to the GP

I have found health care a little different here on the island. What I mean by that is, we don't have specialists for everything like you do in the city. Your GP is truly a General practitioner and your surgeon if he isn't orthopedic is a General surgeon in the truest sense of the word. Case in point. We do not have a Gastroenterologist on the Island North of the capital city. So when I have any issues with my colitis I see the general surgeon.

It has now been brought to my attention that although I have ulcerative colitis it is not as ominous as other forms of colitis. I have been told mine is Ulcerative Proctitis which only effects the lower portion of the colon to the rectum. Now with that being said I still have to take my salofalk suppositories twice a day and when I have flare ups with my IBS I take a Librac(apo cholrax) which although is a benzodiazipine it works on the smooth muscles of the bowel helping to relax them. When they work they work....more times than not they don't really give me much relief.

When I was at the doctors the other day we briefly talked about my colitis and she said that she wanted to talk with me a length at another appointment. This is all so very new to me...it's only been a year since I was diagnosed and I have already been in hospital once for a bad flare up.

What I have read and been told is that Proctitis presents differently than general colitis. With Proctitis you have more issues with keeping your bowels regular. You go from times of loose stool to constipation. The important thing with Proctitis is to try and regulate the bowel movements and to prevent constipation. Probiotics are great....you can find these in many yogurts or you can take the tablets. A bulk forming agent which is suppose to be good is Metamucil. I on the other hand hate metamucil because of it's bulk forming properties it just hurts my stomach and makes me feel bloated. As if I don't have enough problems. So I opt to increase my intact of yogurt. Not all yogurts are created equal so check the labels. I like Activia it works for me. Here is a great link on a report by CTV.ca on a study that was done in Alberta showing the benefits of Probiotic in the treatment of Ulcerartive ColitisHealth. Definetly an interesting and informative read. And here is another article supporting the above research Probiotic Solution for Colitis