I have had issues with my colon for decades - when I was a teen they called it spastic colon; then it was just my gallbladder which was removed. Later doctors said it was irritable bowel syndrome. In the 90's I was either constipated or had explosive diarrhea and first experience with fecal incontinence.. The doctor said it was a vitamin B deficiency. All quiet for over a decade with constipation/diarrhea still bothering me if I ate fatty foods (perhaps certain restaurants/fast food joints didn't change their cooking oil as often as they should). Six years ago everything flared up big time, white blood cells soaring, diarrhea many times a day and the humiliating bowel incontinence was back to the point I did not want to leave the house and did not know what to eat or not. A colonoscopy was performed and the doctor decided to take 8 biopsies and all showed lymphocytic colitis. Treatment as Pepto-Bismol. Thank you North Dakota doctor. I used the internet to research microscopic colitis and eventually found a book through Amazon - "Microscopic Colitis - What Really Causes Microscopic Colitis, Celiac Disease, and other Autoimmune Diseases?" by Wayne Persky. Also check out Dr. Kenneth Fine (www.finerhealth.com).
If I do not cheat on my diet, do my Hatha Yoga for stress reduction, drink plenty of good water (ro), walking it stays in remission. Last year their was a lot of stress in the family, plus eating out too many times and the disease came roaring back; I could not get it to go into remission. The doctors here decided to do another colonoscopy - yeah I now am the happy recipient of another microscopic colitis - collagenous. No treatment other than to reiterate the taking of Pepto-Bismal and watch what I eat. Nothing has improved so I contacted Mayo Clinic just a couple of weeks ago for this medical problem as well as several others and will be going to Consultative Medical Practice in August.
Just a few days ago back to the doctors and was finally tested for H.pylori and it came back positive so I'm on mega antibiotics and miserable; however in the aforementioned book, bacteria is mentioned as a possible precursor to microscopic colitis. H. pylori bacteria testing has never been checked and I understand this little bug can live in the stomach for years and years. Why don't doctors automatically check patients when there is a bowel issue?
Anyway, I'm sorry for being so wordy and look forward to any comments regarding this and other digestive problems like choking while swallowing liquids and sometimes just normal spit.