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From: Photon713 on 20 Jun 2006 20:23
Evening, all...

I have just completed a battery of tests that included a colonoscopy,
endoscopy, CT with barium and CT with iodine. My GI doctor was
looking for a reason for a spasm that occurs periodically on my left
side just about where the colon descends. All tests came back normal.
There is the possibility that the problem may be in the small intestines.
My GI doctor mentioned the video pill to test the small intestines.
It appears to be a fairly expensive test, ~$2,000.

Has anyone had this test? Did it provide results that were not found
with other tests? Did your insurance cover the test?

Any information appreciated.

Regards...Bob

--
______________
lvMMMCDLXXIX+1


From: lmac on 22 Jun 2006 12:17
Photon713 wrote:
> Evening, all...
>
> I have just completed a battery of tests that included a colonoscopy,
> endoscopy, CT with barium and CT with iodine. My GI doctor was
> looking for a reason for a spasm that occurs periodically on my left
> side just about where the colon descends. All tests came back normal.
> There is the possibility that the problem may be in the small intestines.
> My GI doctor mentioned the video pill to test the small intestines.
> It appears to be a fairly expensive test, ~$2,000.
>
> Has anyone had this test? Did it provide results that were not found
> with other tests? Did your insurance cover the test?
>
> Any information appreciated.
>
> Regards...Bob
>
My sister's doc suggested this as an alternative to MRI (she's
claustrophobic). She was considering it but opted to travel some
distance and stay with us to visit an OpenAir MRI center instead.

It took two separate MRI visits to complete the study. Insurance paid
about 1/3 the total bill which was nearly twice what the capsule-video
would have cost. Insurance would not have covered the video (not yet an
approved diagnostic by her HMO. Her copay on the pair of MRI's was
about $ 900. The capsule would have been about twice that.

Before you leap, consider whether you are experiencing pain or actual
intestinal spasm. If it's pain, it may be referred from elsewhere.
I've got several "mis-connections" in my nervous system. (i.e., when I
trim my fourth left toenail, I experience sharp pain in my left lower
abdomen. The onset of IBS-C causes me to have low back pain for nearly a
whole day. Rubbing my nose causes my left ear to tingle. IBS-D spasms
feel like the pain people describe of a heart attack but I'm in great
shape coronary wise. None of these things are "normal" but they aren't
worth 'fixing.')

Hang in there ...Lmac
From: REP on 26 Jun 2006 08:37
In article <ik0mg.2753$DI2.951(a)trnddc05>,
"Photon713" <bobrass(a)verizon.net> wrote:

> Evening, all...
>
> I have just completed a battery of tests that included a colonoscopy,
> endoscopy, CT with barium and CT with iodine. My GI doctor was
> looking for a reason for a spasm that occurs periodically on my left
> side just about where the colon descends. All tests came back normal.
> There is the possibility that the problem may be in the small intestines.
> My GI doctor mentioned the video pill to test the small intestines.
> It appears to be a fairly expensive test, ~$2,000.
>
> Has anyone had this test? Did it provide results that were not found
> with other tests? Did your insurance cover the test?

It is useful only for imaging the small intestine. The problem with it
is that if there is a good reason for suspecting small bowel problems
(such as prior inflammation seen on CT) it can cause an obstruction.

It's being considered for me, although right now it may not be safe (I
have crohn's in the small intestine as well as spastic colon - two
distant, different and UNrelated problems) and yes, my insurance covers
all diagnostic imaging procedures.

--
"Did Father shoot him? I will eat Grandfather for dinner."
- Helen Keller, on learning of the death of her grandfather
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