5. Drug Use
Drug use can be a potential cause of colitis, and happens most commonly with methamphetamines and cocaine because of the way that these types of drugs affect the heart and blood vessels; for example, both of these drugs can lead to an increased heart rate – which is part of what causes the unnatural “rush” effect of the drug. This effect can quickly turn into the dysfunction of the heart, whereby the heart can no longer pump enough blood to reach the extremities – including the colon.
Other symptoms of this can include feeling faint or fainting spells, and often times abdominal bleeding can be considered a common symptom that you’ll see with more advanced stages of colitis, as can happen with chronic and frequent drug use.
Doctors will usually pick up any drug use as a potential cause while they are conducting tests, and the worst they’ll do is recommend lifestyle changes.