Hi Simon,

I'm sorry to read about your worries and I can understand this must be unsettling. It's good to hear you have an appointment booked and hopefully it won't be long before you can find out more.

I see you've been speaking to others on the forum so I hope that has been helpful. And if anyone else here has similar experience then hopefully they'll add further replies to your post here.

Wishing you all the best,

Ben
Cancer Chat Moderator

So roughly eight weeks after being told by my GP "I'm sorry to have to tell you, but...", and the worry of not knowing exactly what was wrong since then, things are looking up. I'm posting this message so that anyone who reads it can stay positive, and wait for a professionsl diagnosis, rather than diagnosing themselves using online material (as I did). 

After my initial consultation with a specialist, I was booked in for a colonoscopy and gastroscopy at the same time. Apart from being scared of what they might find out, the procedures themselves were completely painless - I think the sedatives caused me to fall asleep during the process. I certainly wasn't even aware of a camera being put in me. Following the procedure I was informed that everything looked normal, but I would have to wait ten days for the biopsy results. In the mean time I was to have a CT scan of my abdomen using a dye contrast. This was again painless, but my stress levels had by this stage, gone through the roof. Ten days later, and feeling more anxious, my consultant informed me that the only problem found was a granuloma, which might indicate either Crohns desease or a bowel infection. Of course I thought the worst. The last procedure I had was called a capsule endoscopy, where I had to swallow a tiny camera, which looks deep inside the small bowel (the part that the colonoscopy can't reach). The camera sends photos wirelessly, to a hard drive you wear on a special belt. Again swallowing the camera was easy and painless. Yesterday, I received all my tests results, which indicate nothing more serious than an infection. They have ruled out cancer or an IBD. As you can imagine I am very relieved. The moral of the story, do not diagnose yourself. Wait for a diagnosis, and pray that everything will work out. Stay positive for yourself and your family.

Hi. Thanks for this. It's very useful. My Calprotectin is 600 now but 2 months ago was 2000 and I kept telling the doctor it started after food poisoning. But they say they can't find bacteria in stool test. I spoke to a GI specialist he said it's probably infection and didn't want to do colonoscopy. But he didn't give me antibiotics he said repeat Calprotectin! I'm in UK and NSH is very slow all this has taken 4 months and I don't know when I will get treated. Is there a specific antibiotic or medicin that is prescribed for infection which causes high Calprotectin? Any tips on how to navigate this is highly appreciated. 

Hi. Thanks for this. It's very useful. My Calprotectin is 600 now but 2 months ago was 2000 and I kept telling the doctor it started after food poisoning. But they say they can't find bacteria in stool test. I spoke to a GI specialist he said it's probably infection and didn't want to do colonoscopy. But he didn't give me antibiotics he said repeat Calprotectin! I'm in UK and NSH is very slow all this has taken 4 months and I don't know when I will get treated. Is there a specific antibiotic or medicin that is prescribed for infection which causes high Calprotectin? Any tips on how to navigate this is highly appreciated. 

If it's CED related (crohns/colitis) you should not take anitbiotics at all. It can cause a flair up. (myself crohn patient over 20 years - currently on biologica treatment) 
At the beginning of CED most of the specialist treat with steroids for short period of time. 

Crohns can be identified in a biopsy, but, Colitis ulcerosa is tricky to find, but there are indicators for, like blood or mucus.