Here’s a finely detailed description of what a low ab cramp feels like from microscopic colitis.
One of the more common symptoms of microscopic colitis is a low abdominal cramp or ache.
“Lower abdominal cramp” is a vague term. There are numerous kinds of this kind of aching.
The lower ab area is that below the belly button: the pelvic region.
After experiencing sudden-onset, unexplained diarrhea in May of 2010, I had a colonoscopy which revealed microscopic colitis from the biopsy.
My bout with MC back then lasted about two months or so. With that first episode I had what I’d describe as low ab cramping.
This was very mild, as far as rating it on a discomfort-scale, but preceding the diagnosis, it was enough to alarm me because the sensation was that something was “going on in my small intestines.”
That’s what it felt like. Microscopic colitis is an inflammatory condition of the large colon, however.
But I’m simply telling you what the low ab cramp felt like: That something was going on with the small intestines; that there was activity inside there that shouldn’t be going on.
It was mildly gassy, almost like little gas bubbles being worked up. And cramp-like.
It wasn’t enough to interfere with any activities, including strenuous exercise, but as mentioned, before I knew what it was, it scared me, making me think, “Something is wrong.”
There’s a second type of cramp-like feeling that can be caused by microscopic colitis, and this, too, is located in the pelvic area.
However, this is a potentially debilitating, very strong cramp that feels JUST LIKE the cramping from PMS!
I swear, when I had my second flare-up of microscopic colitis (recently), it came with what felt precisely like the uterine cramping of premenstrual syndrome.
However, I completed menopause this past June, and a gynecological exam ruled out a gynecological cause!
I won’t go into detail, but trust me when I say this: The “uterine” cramping had to have been from microscopic colitis.
In fact, the accompanying low back, ankle, wrist and neck aches were a pretty good tip-off, not to mention the eventual porridge-like and liquidy diarrhea!
MC is an inflammatory bowel disease. Chemicals in the body, called prostaglandins, are believed to play a role in MC’s inflammatory process.
Prostaglandins are also believed to be the cause of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Hmmm.
Drugs that block prostaglandin production work great to suppress PMS symptoms — which include joint aches. I took one of these drugs, Naprosyn, to suppress the “uterine” cramping (and joint aches), from my second flare-up of microscopic colitis, and it worked like a charm. Very interesting.
“Aching joints can be a symptom of microscopic colitis, but not necessarily. Many patients with aching joints don’t have microscopic colitis, but aching joints and gut problems often go hand-in-hand.
“They’re both associated with inflammation, and many doctors speculate that cyclo-oxygenase (COX 2) or prostaglandins are involved because of the function they provide. Prostaglandins are chemicals that generally cause inflammation of our joints.”
– Dr. Jeffrey Fine, MD, the chief of gastroenterology at the Medical Surgical Clinic of Irving, as stated in my other article, Why Does Microscopic Colitis Cause Joint Pain?
