Any suggestions as to what the problem is???

[Guest guest]

Realizing this isn't a medical advice forum, I just wanted to see if

the symptoms my 17yr old son has been having this week sound familiar

to anyone or if you have any thoughts on what might be going on.

(Apologies in advance for length of post.)

Background: Mark has a diagnosis of colitis, but also has had

recurrent C-diff infection and other pathogenic bacterial issues (the

latter two identified through Genova lab tests). He had been on

Remicade since April 08 through the IBD doctor. Didn't see any

tremendous response and the stool continued to be " powder " with 4-5

bathroom trips/day until he started the Flagyl/Cipro in July 08

through the holistic doctor. At that point, he (finally) started

reporting " chunks " , with an occasional " powder " or even " big chunks "

and 2-3 trips/day. His last Remicade infusion was 9/24. We had gone to

" pulsing " the Flagyl/Cipro. He has been pretty stable and we thought

it was a good time to delay the Remicade (due late Nov) and try LDN.

The holistic doctor also wanted to address his adrenal system, which

seems to be very stressed from a) prior prednisone use and chronic

infection (see above). So in mid-Nov, we added biosynthetic hormones

(DHEA and hydrocortisone). We decided to hold a bit on LDN so as not

to add too much new at one time. Just before this, we submitted

another Genova test to see how the C-diff and bacteria were doing.

The sample at that point was sludgy and a tiny bit of blood one day. I

don't know if that started earlier as Mark was still reporting chunks

and I don't visually check. (It's embarrassing enough for a 17yr old

guy to have to log his bathroom trips.)

Since then, Mark's been reporting more " powder " but frequency was

still 2-3 times. So we were thinking the Genova report would show the

bacteria was increased, and that maybe the " pulsing " of the Cipro

wasn't enough. (It seems the " powder " is related to bacteria levels

and frequency tied to C-diff, based on past tests vs. symptoms.)

However, the Genova report is taking forever to come in - it will be

available tomorrow morning.

The real problem is that since last Monday night (12/1), Mark's having

additional symptoms. That night he had to go to the bathroom during

the night for the first time in ages. He was feeling hot and cold.

When he went to the bathroom before school on Tuesday, he threw up

immediately after going. He went more often (powder)through the day

and didn't feel like eating. He started complaining of a sore throat.

Wed/Thurs were the same - extra trips, powder, sore throat, not

eating much. Friday was same, with increased frequency and complaints

that stomach was upset. Saturday, he was going almost hourly for a

while, no appetite. In the evening, he threw up and it was

yellow-green. Sore throat getting better. Today, he said he's noticed

a pattern with the bathroom he never had before - he has the urge to

go, just a little powder comes out, feels like he still has to go,

lays down, almost immediately has to get up and more powder comes out.

This repeats every couple hours.

If he didn't have the colitis diagnosis, I'd think maybe it was a

virus going around. Maybe it is??? He had -Sacy virus in May with

similar symptoms (sore throat, high frequency), but had severe chills

and more throwing up. I wonder if skipping the Remicade is causing

this? Or is the bacterial issue getting out of hand? Could it be an

obstruction? We've never been told he had any sign of obstruction or

anything like that and have never been told what would signal such a

problem.

We'll be calling the pediatrician, the holistic doctor and the IBD

doctor tomorrow. The delayed Remicade is scheduled for Tuesday and we

have an office visit with the IBD doctor on Thursday. My guess is the

IBD doctor will, of course, push the Remicade, which we've been hoping

to continue to delay. But if it really was helping..... But if this

is a virus...... Or the bacteria levels high...... See my dilemma?

Any help is appreciated.

Sally