Get to Know the Symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
4/7/2023
Many people in society today experience the disagreeable gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, commonly referred to as IBD, and usually believe it’s just a part of life they must deal with. Our GI specialists in and around Phoenix, AZ want to make clear, however, that you do not need to accept these uncomfortable symptoms. Help is available, and it may be just around the corner. At Arizona Digestive Health, we strive to educate our patients on their GI symptoms and provide a variety of treatments to address inflammatory bowel disease.
What’s IBD?
IBD is described as the chronic inflammation of a person’s GI (gastrointestinal) tract. Two conditions that you’ve probably heard of make up this disease — ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. These conditions may seem like just a new set of irritating symptoms you have to deal with; intestinal inflammation can cause invariable damage to the GI tract in time, however.
While the exact cause of this disease is not known, it’s often associated with an unchecked immune system. It’s also thought that a patient who has this disease has an immune system that may not be responding to environmental triggers (such as viruses and bacteria) appropriately and has a parent or sibling with inflammatory bowel disease.
General symptoms of IBD include:
- Diarrhea
- Exhaustion
- Unexplained weight loss
- Stomach pain
- Constipation
- Bloody stool
How is inflammatory bowel disease alleviated?
After a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease, our main course of action is to minimize inflammation of your intestines, reducing many of your symptoms. There are several treatments we can try, and our goal is that, eventually, you will experience prolonged remission. Some common successful therapies include:
- Changes to your diet
- Anti-inflammatory medicine
- Anti-diarrheal medications
- Vitamin D and other supplements, such as iron and calcium
The GI specialists at Arizona Digestive Health can work with you to find a course of treatment that can meet your needs. It may entail a bit of investigation to determine a treatment that can help lessen signs and symptoms and inflammation; however, our team will help you find a treatment that works for you.
Get help for IBD in Arizona
In the event you have abdominal pain, constipation, loose and watery stool, or other difficult GI problems on a daily or weekly basis, it could be a sign of IBD. At Arizona Digestive Health, our team of expert gastroenterologists wants to help identify, diagnose, treat, and manage inflammatory bowel disease and the troublesome symptoms that are associated with it. If you think you might have IBD and want to start living life again with less stress and discomfort, contact one of our GI locations in the Phoenix, AZ area to request a consultation.