Proctitis. Any members with this ailment? Looking for advice and suggestions.

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Hi all,

I was due a routine colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy but this was expedited as I was having quite worrying symptoms over the last few weeks. I had been passing excessive amounts of mucus along with blood and had to visit the toilet several times a day. I also used padded pants overnight.

This did settle but I was still obviously concerned because of the blood.

My bowel is presently inactive and I have a stoma. The latter is fine and functioning normally.

Anyway, I had my colonoscopy yesterday and the "good news(?)" is that there seems to have been no recurrence or any sign of a tumour there. However, there are some diverticulae in my colon which may have been causing some discomfort but this is probably not unusual for someone of my age. The main thing though is that there was "defunctioned procitis" in the lower rectum. This was obviously the cause of the bleeding and urge to visit the toilet constantly.

This wasn't a condition with which I was familiar. So, I did a bit of checking. There seems to be several causes but, in my case, I think a likely cause could be the long time after effect or radiotherapy which can show up a few years after the event.

Another possibility is that my bowel was upset either by an infection "locally" or has reacted to treatment which I had received for a very bad ear infection in December/January. I had been on three different oral antibiotics and also steroids. Apparently, ciproflaxin can cause problems a few weeks after the event. The surgeon who performed the colonoscopy couldn't say this was the cause but did say it was a possibility when I suggested it. Certainly, this may account for the excess mucus of late.. I always produce some which passes from time to time and sometimes wind but this is manageble and doesn't cause any due concern or issues normally.

Anyway, things are settling a bit but I was wondering if anyone else had issues with "procitis" and how it should be treated?

I will obviously discuss this on my follow up appointments and may phone my colectoral nurse on Monday. Maybe, my GP might prescribe something too?

Anyway, I'd be interested to hear about other experiences out there.

court over 4 years ago

Hi JohnnyJ

So pleased there was no recurrence. That is fantastic news . I have seen members refer to proctitis over the years . If you use the search function ( small magnifying glass at the top right) you could maybe find some information from previous members . Previous radiotherapy seems to be associated with it .

Strangely enough my mum has developed complications from surgery 10 years ago ! However they have investigate everything and changed her medication to accommodate the issues . Your team seem very proactive too so that’s at least helpful .

I hope they can give you some guidance and maybe you would share what was helpful . Sometimes it depends whose around at the time with the right knowledge to help but even if people share it can be a useful resource to others coming behind .

I hope you have had a good weekend ,

take care ,

Court

Helpline Number 0808 808 0000

crankshaft over 4 years ago

Hi JohnnyJ

Just saw this post. When I had a simoidoscopy prior to my reversal last September the surgeon pointed out the reddish bits and said I had proctitis. He said that it was most likely caused by the radiotherapy and that it would recover in time. (I finished the radiotherapy 14 months previously). I didn't have any problems with blood etc while I had the stoma.

I had a check up colonoscopy a few weeks ago and the bowel looked much healthier and it looked as if the proctitis had gone. He did manage to point out some diverticuli which I am sure wasn't there before the original op!

Are you due a reversal? It may be that once the bowel is back working it will take care of itself.

All the best

John

JohnnyJ over 4 years ago in reply to crankshaft

Thanks.

I was due a reversal but I had been undecided. My surgeon had suggested a colonoscopy some time back to check things out and so that I could make up my mind. There was a long waiting list and things were delayed further because of Covid.

However, because of my symptoms, I managed to get things done more urgently.

It's probable that the proctitis has been around for some time but it hasn't bothered me until now when I seem to have produced much more mucus than normal. I'm fairly sure that this was caused by a recent infection or a reaction to antibiotics as stated above. The doctors have agreed that this was a "possibility".

Things have settled down a lot now although I'm still occasionally passing mucus. There was still somein the upper part of the bowel which the enema didn't reach but, hopefully, this will pass in due course.

JohnnyJ over 4 years ago in reply to court

Thank you.

Things have settled quite a bit although I'm still passing mucus on occasion.

I've still to get a follow up appointment but my colectoral nurse couldn't recommend anything particular in the way of creams etc. She suggested sudacreme might help and I thought about anusol. However, as it's not been causing too much bother over the last few days, I'll probably just leave things alone until I get further advice.