Learn About the Symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
4/7/2023
Most adults today experience the disagreeable gastrointestinal (GI) results of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and typically assume it is now a part of life they will have to live with forever. Our GI specialists at Gastroenterology Associates want you to know, however, that you do not have to accept this pain. Support is here — and it is right around the corner. At Gastroenterology Associates, we want to help you with your GI issues and offer a range of treatment options that may help you get back to living your best life. Contact any of our locations in Baton Rouge, LA to get started.
What is IBD?
IBD is known as chronic inflammation of a person’s GI (gastrointestinal) tract. There are two conditions classified in this disease that you’ve most likely heard of — Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. They might just feel like discomfort you have to accept, but left untreated they can actually lead to invariable damage to the gastrointestinal tract as years progress.
Though the precise cause of IBD has not been established, it’s usually connected to a malfunctioning immune system. It is believed that an individual with this disease has an immune system that may not be responding to environmental triggers (viruses or bacteria) appropriately and has a close family member with inflammatory bowel disease.
Common signs of inflammatory bowel disease include:
- Loose stool
- Abdominal pain
- Exhaustion
- Unintentional weight loss
- Constipation
- Blood in the stool
How is IBD treated?
After a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease, our main course of action is to decrease inflammation of your intestines, reducing as many of your symptoms as possible. There are several treatment methods we can try, and our goal is that you will experience long-term remission. Many of our treatments include:
- Changes to your diet
- Vitamin D and other supplements, such as iron and calcium
- Anti-diarrheal medications
- Anti-inflammatory medicine
Our Baton Rouge, LA gastroenterologists will help you to determine a treatment that works to meet your needs. It may necessitate some trial and error to find a treatment that can minimize signs and symptoms and GI inflammation, however, our team will be with you during the process to determine the right treatment approach.
Get help for IBD in Baton Rouge, LA
If you suffer from abdominal pain, difficulty passing stool, diarrhea, or other difficult GI problems on a regular basis, it may be inflammatory bowel disease. At Gastroenterology Associates in Baton Rouge, LA, our team of board-certified gastroenterologists may be able to help determine, pinpoint, treat, and manage IBD and the troublesome symptoms that signify it. If you think you might have IBD and would like to start living life with fewer stresses and discomfort, get in touch with your nearest Gastroenterology Associates location to schedule an appointment.