​Over the years, how many of us have heard that frustrating advice from our gastroenterologist when we asked him or her what we should do to control our gastrointestinal symptoms? Or our pain? Or our brain fog? Or our difficulty getting enough sleep? Or our persistent fatigue? Or . . .?

​Back in 2000, that was the last advice my gastroenterologist gave me — I never went back to see him. Judging by the experiences shared in some of the posts on our Microscopic Colitis (MC) Discussion and Support Board, more than a few of us have had a similar experience. Gastroenterologists prefer to blame the patient, rather than take responsibility themselves, and admit that their understanding of the disease and its treatment leaves a lot to be desired, when their prescribed treatment doesn't work as expected. Apparently, they believe that because they are certified as experts regarding the treatment of acute diseases and chronic conditions of the digestive tract, they can't afford to admit that they don't understand everything there is to know about any digestive system disease.

I've had constipation problems most of my life. I can remember events from my childhood, when typically, several days would pass before I would have a bowel movement, and of course, even then, the event usually wasn't accomplished easily. As I was growing up, I didn't realize that this was an abnormal pattern of bowel movements. But when I was in my early 50s, my bowel movements suddenly became marked by a little fresh blood with each event.

​After two or three of these episodes, I went to see a gastroenterologist, who used a sigmoidoscope to determine that I had an inflamed blood vessel (hemorrhoid) causing the bleeding. Although he didn't mention this, I was pretty sure that it was because of my difficult bowel movements. He prescribed two weeks worth of suppositories (to suppress the inflammation), after which the problem was resolved.