Defecation Syncope with Crohn's, Dicyolmine Stopped, and Possible Humira Dosage Cutback

So on Monday September 23 I was on the toilet around 10:30 A.M. and noticed a cramp in my stomach and all of the sudden passed out while on the toilet (I didn't fall off or hit anything). However, I remember getting a flush feeling spacing out and then gradually coming back to my senses. I was probably out for a minute or two at most. It was a very odd experience. When I had a bowel movement tonight I was worried I would pass out but I was fine.

It was nice because later in the same day I went to a GI who said it was defecation syncope. He said it can actually happen to patients while coughing or urinating. Although, he said it was pretty rare which worried me a little bit. I did some research and it can happen although isn't life threatening even though I read you can die from it within 2 years due to underlying conditions (the underlying conditions are life threatening themselves).

My GI told me to stop dicylomine yesterday (I believe this might have caused the defecation syncope). Dicylomine just treats the cramping. Also I have been feeling very good (100% in fact) and asked if we could scale back the Humira from every week to every 10 days or every other week. My GI mentioned that he wanted to see me on a Thursday (I usually do my Humira shot on a Friday night) to do a blood test and see how much Humira is in my blood.  Depending on the blood test my Humira might be cut back.

Today I saw my regular doctor to follow up with the defecation synscope and a blood test was done along with an EKG (just to make sure there are no heart issues. My doctor mentioned that since I am on such odd drugs it wouldn't hurt to do such tests. I seem to be more proactive with my health these days because it seems like you get one thing and realize it lead to something else or be something else (initially a resident believed I had celieac disease, while my father after much research thought it was c difficile, while my doctor said he wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't an infection (meaning c difficle). What was interesting is my doctor use to work with a GI who saw plenty of Crohn's patients (300 actually). What this doctor noticed was that after everything was tried sometimes Flagyl would help patients. However, no one knew why this worked. This came from experience and couldn't be explained by any evidence at the time. These days more researchers are studying why this actually works.

Dicyclomine and Crohn's: Now Taking

So my GI called me last night around 7 P.M. to tell me the results of my blood test. Primarily he was looking at my C reactive protein (CRP) which measures inflammation in the blood. My CRP was only .8 which is pretty low (which is a good thing). My GI prescribed me dicyclomine which is to actually help people with IBS (I actually had IBS right before Crohn’s). However, since my colon and stomach have been in a spasm mode it makes sense to prescribe this. I took the medicine last night and the on the bottle of the drug it says not to use heavy machinery after taking the drug. The drug was only 64 cents which is quite a deal. I was a little dizzy last night (which is a usual side effect). Today I felt a little light headed however felt virtually no pain. As I write this as of 7 P.M. I have only gone to the bathroom twice today which is better than the 4-5 times per day I have been going which is pretty good. The past few days I have had to go after lunch. Even after I ate I really didn’t feel much pain afterward. The only side effect is I did feel a little lightheaded today at work however I remember when I first took Asacol I was sweating for at least a week at night.

The plan my GI laid out was to call him in about a week to see how I was doing. I really do appreciate a doctor that calls me personally and gives me lab results instead of having a nurse do it. Hopefully this drug will do the trick. I have gradually since May (after the fecal transplant) been getting back to normal. The goal is to stop the diarrhea and feel well.