Question:
I have never had colitis before until after I had the wls. I had an open RNY

on 09/17/03. After about a wk and half I started having problems with the lower abd. pain and diarrhea. To make a long story short, I ended up back in the hospital with the diagnosis of colitis, and dehydration. I took the medication as prescribed and everything seemed to be ok until a few weeks ago. The symptoms came back. This is so strange because I've never had this problem before until after the surgery. Has anyone else experienced this and is this normal for this type of surgery? I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong to get this again. I would appreciate any information you have on this. Thanks in advance. God BLess :)    — Myrna E. (posted on November 17, 2003)

November 17, 2003
I too had colitis in my 5th month .. was sick with it for 3 weeks .. They ended up giving me some pills that eventually cleared it up . It was scary I had never had this problem before either ..Knock on wood it hasnt returned :) Ruthie In SC
   — ruthie

November 17, 2003
Are you sure that you were diagnosed with Colitis? Maybe you were diagnosed with diverticulosis which can cause lower abdominal pain. You just do not take medication and then the Colitis goes away. Colitis is an irritable bowel disease and is with you forever. The only thing that you can do is lessen the symptoms of the disease by taking the medication prescribed. I would suggest that you make an appointment with a gastro doctor to get to the bottom of your problem.
   — ChristineB

November 17, 2003
I worked with a young man who had colitis, from my understanding once you have it, it never goes away but I could be wrong. He takes medication for it and still has it, he also drank alot of supplements with creatine in them, which states something about it on the bottle. Since he is so young they feel that is what caused it and plan to file a class-action lawsuit! Anyways...lol do a search on it and get a second opinion!
   — Saxbyd

November 17, 2003
Christine, I did see a gastroenterologist while I was hospitalized. They did many test and this is where I got the diagnosis of colitis. It just makes me curious, why this is happening after the surgery when I've never had it before. Thanks for your help.
   — Myrna E.

November 17, 2003
Previous poster again, Colitis or Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) is an inherited disease. You may want to check back into your family history and see if any of your relatives had it. Maybe they had it but were not diagnosed. There isn't any connection btwn WLS and IBD. The surgery may have caused your colon to get irritated though. I had the symptoms of colitis for about 5 years before I was diagnosed, then I found out that I had Microscopic Colitis (MC) in 2001. I also have a family history of IBD on both of my father and mother's side. You need to watch your Colitis very carefully because you can have times of diarreah which can cause more malabsorbtion than the RNY does. Take your meds to keep the colon from becoming inflammed. Reasearch everything that you can about IBD so you are informed. Good luck. I was able to have open RNY also and am doing fine with my MC, no more flare ups of the diarreah. If you would like you can email me and ask me any question that you would like.
   — ChristineB

November 18, 2003
I have ulcerative colitis. It is a chronic disease which started for me in my early 20's. It is ascerbated by antibiotics (sp?) which caused a flare-up for me after my by-pass. My GI doc put me on the newest drugs (I liked the old sulpha drugs better, frankly) and it cleared up in about 4 days. Colitis can be controlled, I had about 10 years between my first and second episode. It is an autoimmune disease and the medical community doesn't know the cause, but I don't have any eating restrictions (other than what the by-pass helps with!) Hope this helps...
   — M R

February 14, 2004
I actually was just in the hospital for 3 days and was diagnosed with severe or acute colitis. I never had any problems like this prior to my surgery and it was awful. The gastro doctor I saw said he felt I ate some bad food at a restaurant (the week prior had been my birthday and there were plenty of restaurant celebrations) and since my stomach is smaller now there weren't enough acids to break it down. The infection travelled to my colon and wreaked some havoc - gave me a 103 degree fever among other not so pleasant symptoms that sent me to the ER. He also noticed that the inner lining of my stomach was red or rash-like. I was kept in the hospital for 3 days and on a strict clear diet. I was discharged with the advice of no restaurant eating for at least a week and to cut out as much dairy as possible. That's it. I am scheduling a follow up with the dr who performed my bypass a year and a half ago and hope this never happens again.
   — Sharon M.