Symptoms can seem awful and it be "just inflammation". When my stomach is inflamed (gastritis), it hurts so bad. But in all these years, its only been inflammation when they've done an upper endoscopy.
Though I don't have the issues you do with my neck / throat, at least for me, the upper endoscopy was no big deal. I just simply fasted, the doctor gave me the drugs, did the procedure, and I didn't remember a thing. Easy, peasy. And nice to be assured it wasn't an ulcer.
More recently, I stopped dairy, which it turns out I was really allergic to; that helped me stomach (and bowels) quite a bit. But starting the Humira helped a huge amount.
Also, my intestines. When just average bad, I get constipated, more than one should with all the fiber, water, exercise I do. When its really bad though, I stop digesting my food, I get terrible diarrhea with undigested food in it. Psyllium had helped in the past. Now on Humira, my bowels have been really good. Excellent the first week after the shot, Average the second week. I don't think I probably had a normal bowel movement most of my life, until I went on Humira.
But as bad as my symptoms were in the past, all they every found was "inflammation and crohn's like ulcers in my ileum", no crohn's, no UC, no IBD. So "just inflammation" can give terrible symptoms.
But if you do have IBD, the same drugs that help the AS can do wonders on IBD as well.
For me that's the biologic, for my stepfather with crohns, that's been Asacol all these years.
As for the blood, if its a small amount and bright red, it could just simply be hemorrhoids; annoying, a bit painful, but not too serious if they aren't too bad. A common thing for those of us that fluctuate between constipation and diarrhea. All those years of constipation will do that to us.
I could say "try to relax", but I know that's easier said than done. Let the doctor do the upper and lower endoscopies and then based on what he finds, treat you.
There are options out there.
Thinking good thoughts for you.
