Collagenous colitis and water retention??

[Rubysmom]

I have been having an interesting few weeks. I had weaned myself off my diuretic (Lasix) that i had been taking for a long time, and I was doing fine. Then I began to retain water again, so I resumed the Lasix. After I felt the retention was under control, I began to wean again, and this time when I got to a very minimal dose (10mg), I began to feel better than I had on the usual small dose. I decided that I would continue to take the smaller dose. My doctor agreed, but prescribed a liquid form of furosemide, so that I could control the dosage better than I could by cutting a small pill into quarters. Unfortunately, the new liquid was generic, and I had a pretty violent reaction to it. Being generic, it is very possible that it was contaminated with gluten (I am a celiac), but it also had an artificial sweetener (sorbitol) and I have always had trouble with artificial sweeteners. So there is no way to tell just what I was reacting to. I had not taken any diuretic since this episode, which was Friday and Saturday. Wednesday night I was up traveling to the bathroom quite a bit and realized I was retaining water again, so today I resumed my little quarter pill. Also this morning my colitis reared it’s ugly head, (I had been normal since the weekend episode). There have been absolutely no changes in my diet or my life. It suddenly occurred to me that there is a connection, for me at least, between my bladder and my colon. I am wondering if I suddenly had a colitis episode because I was retaining fluid again (or vice versa)?????

I read a medical journal article this year that reported on a literature survey to find any connection between bladder and colon malfunction. The conclusion was that if either organ is inflamed, infected, or otherwise impaired, the other organ would not work properly either. It seems that the nerve endings to the colon and bladder are a small interconnected network, and they get confused as to which organ is not normal. I don’t have a citation for you, but remember that the doctors who did the literature survey used the terms “colon,” “bladder,” and “crosstalk” in their searches. They came up with thousands of references, and narrowed it down to less than a thousand (600 or 800 if memory serves). We found the article through a link we got somewhere on the internet.

Has anyone else had this experience of water retention and bowel flareups?

[nerdhume]

ok we discuss freely embarrassing things here so let me just jump in. I had taken a prescription for bladder leakage for the last couple of years. Still needed to wear protection if I was leaving the house. After MC, that problem stopped and I stopped the meds for it. Not sure what the connection is, but there is a connection. Maybe the inflammation?

[Sheila]

Aha! I have been wondering about a bladder connection with MC. I've noticed difficulty urinating later in the day and when I get up at night to go. Once I poop, usually from 5-7 a.m., much less difficulty urinating. I thought budesinide was to blame but I stopped taking that a few months ago.

So glad you brought up the topic. I thought I was probably the only one with this problem.

Perhaps Tex or Polly will have an answer.

Sheila E

[Gabes-Apg]

Ditto for me....

when the gut is inflammed, i have kidney, bladder, fluid retention issues as well.
One of the key reasons that i stick to my MC management plan.

[tex]

Perhaps Tex or Polly will have an answer.

All I know is that when my gut was inflamed, so was my bladder. The sensory connection was so strong that whenever I was having severe WD, I couldn't empty my bladder without also having a BM.

The symptoms are very similar to interstitial cystitis. In fact, when I Googled "interstitial cystitis microscopic colitis", the first hit was:

Lymphocytic Colitis and Interstitial Cystitis

It appears that Mary Beth is right on target with her post — the bladder connection is almost surely due to mast cell/histamine issues linked with MC.

Tex

[CathyMe.]

Yup...I too had the bladder connection and the water retention issues, major swelling in my ankles and legs and gained 5 lbs of water weight seemingly over night. I was also getting up to pee 3-4 x a night. Thankfully that has decreased and I know longer have the swelling either? Very strange.

[Polly]

Hi All,

The mast cell/histamine connection makes a lot of sense. Also, I suspect there could be "mechanical" issues too. We know that our colons are often distended with gas (sometimes huge amounts of gas) as well as stool (especially in those with C-dominant MC). There is only so much room in the abdomen, so a swollen/boggy colon would put pressure on other structures in the abdomen, like the bladder and ureters (that drain the urine from the kidneys).

Polly

[Sheila]

I thought about a connection between a full colon and pressure on my ureter but didn't ask because the two areas seemed to be too far apart to impact functionality. Thanks for clearing that up, Polly. For me the problem gets worse as the day goes on and during the night when I get up to pee, it is a struggle to get the urine stream going. Once everything empties out of my colon, no problem with urination. So, I'm full of %&*# for real. LOL

Same thing happened to me, Tex, when things were at their worst. I had no control over either area. What a mess!

Sheila W


It is so nice to have people to talk to without embarrassment. Love you all.