It is natural to have reservations before you go for a consultation about your bowel. And you may not know exactly what you should prepare for. This feeling is totally normal, and a feeling shared with many others who live with MS.
Get ready for a consultation about your bowel
Andrea
|
Living with MS
What can you do to prepare for a bowel consultation?
Here are 4 key things you can do to give yourself a head start on your bowel consultation.
1. Create a list of your current medication
Why is this helpful?
A list of any medications you are currently taking can help a bowel specialist to get a sense of your overall health and assess any medications that may disrupt your bowel functioning.
2. Gather your medical history (if possible)
Why is this helpful?
This can allow the specialist to get a broader sense of your medical profile. If you do not know your family’s medical history, this is not a problem – they will still be able to work with you to best manage your symptoms.
3. Note down the questions you want to ask
Why is this helpful?
It can be easy in the moment to forget an important question you wanted to ask, or something you want further clarification over. You may want to ask about:
• How these treatments would fit into your everyday life,
• Immediate bowel management techniques you can implement already.
And of course, if further questions come up after the consultation, reach out for a follow up, or note these questions for when they come back to you with any results from any tests.
4. Note your symptoms
Why is this helpful?
Tracking symptoms over time may help to document and illustrate symptoms that you would otherwise overlook or gloss over. These details can be helpful in guiding the conversation around your everyday experience of your bowel issues. You can also check your bowel with the Bowel Check below and use the results from this to initiate the discussion with the specialist.
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I wish I had known a little more about the course that awaited me in terms of my bladder and intestinal issues.
Andrea | Living with MS
What comes after the consultation?
Depending effect your bowel symptoms are having on your life, there may be different treatment options. When considering bowel treatments, specialists usually work within a framework of different treatments, ranging from simple lifestyle changes to more advanced methods of bowel management.
Standardly, the most conservative methods, such as lifestyle and dietary changes, are considered first, and only when unsuccessful, is a further treatment discussed. To further understand the different types of bowel treatment that may be possible to pursue, click the link below.
PM-40556