Where did you get that quote about Entocort EC? If it was from the manufacturer, then I'm confused, because my understanding is that entocort begins to be activated in the ilium and the descending colon. It should have some degree of medicating effect on virtually all of the colon. I've seen research reports indicating that most of the inflammation of MC is often centered around the lower portion of the ilium and the descending colon, but for most patients, it will also be scattered to some degree throughout the colon, and much of the small intestines. Like Crohn's disease, MC can affect the entire GI tract, from mouth to anus. If it were not present in the ascending colon, sigmoidoscopy would be totally ineffective in obtaining biopsy samples for use in the diagnosis of MC. In fact, sigmoidoscopy, has been shown to be almost as effective in diagnosing MC, as a colonoscopy. The key to accurately diagnosing MC, is to obtain a sufficient number of biopsy samples, from as many areas as possible, with whichever means is used, since the inflammation almost always presents in a scattered pattern, rather than a solid coverage of the epithelium.
The reason why you feel cramping in the sigmoid area, is because that is where the colon begins to "assemble" the stool into a "formed" structure, for collection in the rectum, in preparation for elimination, (a BM), and I would assume that because of that, it is a center for increased peristaltic action. IOW, it is accustomed to dealing with solid, or semi-solid feces, rather than liquid. When you strain, during a BM, the sigmoid section of the colon is exposed to a lot of muscle strain the transverse and ascending colon are not subject to, and presumably, that is why diverticulosis, (and subsequent diverticulitis), is mainly restricted to the sigmoid colon. IOW, it is the most "abused" portion of the colon, (of course, the rectum and anus is subject to a lot of abuse,too, during BMs, but those segments have the advantage of thicker wall section, and supporting muscle tissue around them, to help them maintain their integrity).
MC also tends to interfere with sleep patterns, so sleep problems are pretty common for people with MC. Ever since my symptoms began, my normal sleep requirement dropped from around 8 hours to around 5 hours, and remission didn't change that - IOW, I still can sleep for only about 5 hours per night, on the average. A lot of people here take "sleep aids", but I just tough it out, (if I get tired of tossing and turning, I watch TV a while, and that usually allows me to get to sleep, or back to sleep).
Here are some sleep aid related threads from the past that should help:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ping+pills
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ping+pills
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ping+pills
That was the night that we held the nude photo contest. Hahahahahaha. Naw, actually, that count includes search engines trying to index the site into their databases, and anonymous viewers all over the world, many of whom are spambots, (computer programs designed to locate and register on discussion boards, so that they can post spam, or post their website URL, in order to get a better search engine rating). We have "tricks" built into the code of our registration files, of course, that make it virtually impossible for spambots to register to the board. Only humans are able to successfully register. If I recall correctly, a week or so prior to that, I had changed the "meta tags" for the site, (the HTML tags that search engines and browsers read, to get basic information about how to navigate the site), to make it easier for search engines to index the site.:fonkycat: wrote:What happend on October 25, 2007, when there was 160 people on-line at 11:00PM? Curious minds and all................
Tex
maybe next year ;)
