Hi everyone, Hi everyone, I am new to these forums things but wanted to post a question to all you suffer with Crohn's: what did it feel like intitially before you were officially diagnosed with it? If you can remember back to the first symptoms of the disease or the prelude to the disease. I was just told by my homeopathic Dr. that my ileum is inflamed. I have been experiencing an ache in my lower right side of abdomen near my groin for about a year and was told I had a lot of impacted bowel (constipation sufferer) through a CT scan and also that my ileosecal valve was not functioning properly. I was also put in the category of having IBS which is the automatic category anyone is placed when they show signs of digestive issues. Since I found out my ileum is inflamed I am a little spooked because Im afraid I am going to have full blown crohn's disease. Am I jumping the gun here? I think the next step will be a colonoscopy to get concrete answers. But what would you all describe your symptoms/pain felt like? Thanks
Did your homeopathic doctor reach this conclusion based on the findings of the CT?
You will find that there are as many different stories of diagnosis as there are different people on this forum. For some of us, the process of getting to a Crohn's diagnosis was long (over several years). For others it was short (several days).
For me personally, I have never been told by any DR that I have Crohn's. I have an inflammatory bowel disease that affects my rectum, cecum and colon. I have chronic gastritis. I've had a stricture in my esophagus. But no biopsy has ever given a conclusive result of Crohn's. I treat my illness as if it is Crohn's, though, and that's worked out pretty well for me.
My first real symptom of disease was bloody stool and bloody mucous after the birth of my first child. However, I had pelvic pain like you describe for a long time before I ever got pregnant. And I had, for many years, on-and-off issues with digestion and appetite.
*******************
49 yrs old, IBD diagnosis in spring '01. Proctitis, gastritis, ileitis.
Currently takingPentasa (3g/day)Colazal (9 pills/day), Sulfazine (1.5 g/day), Prevacid, folic acid, vit. D (2K iu), flax seed oil (2 tsp/day), mesalamine enema as needed. Gluten free as of 5/30/11.
You will find that there are as many different stories of diagnosis as there are different people on this forum. For some of us, the process of getting to a Crohn's diagnosis was long (over several years). For others it was short (several days).
For me personally, I have never been told by any DR that I have Crohn's. I have an inflammatory bowel disease that affects my rectum, cecum and colon. I have chronic gastritis. I've had a stricture in my esophagus. But no biopsy has ever given a conclusive result of Crohn's. I treat my illness as if it is Crohn's, though, and that's worked out pretty well for me.
My first real symptom of disease was bloody stool and bloody mucous after the birth of my first child. However, I had pelvic pain like you describe for a long time before I ever got pregnant. And I had, for many years, on-and-off issues with digestion and appetite.
*******************
49 yrs old, IBD diagnosis in spring '01. Proctitis, gastritis, ileitis.
Currently taking
My symptoms started as extreme abdominal pain epiodes where it would cramp and hurt for 12 hours or so, then magically go away after vomiting all night. This would happen every 2 months and gradually got closer and closer between episodes. After the 3-4th time I stopped eating when I get signs of a cramp and it kept me from vomitting, but the pain would still last the full amount of time.
In January 2012 (about 8 months of this going on) I landed in the ER since the pain started early one day and didn't go away like the others, plus it hurt so much more. They checked me for appendicitis and did a CT of my abdomen and found nothing.
After this ER trip I started seeing a doctor who ran blod work, nothing but low Vit D. Referred me to a GI who suspected gallbladder, which is what we all thought it was. Did an upper endoscopy and got my acid reflux diagnosis, but nothing else of concern. Did a HIDA scan for gallbladder, and never got the results back before I started feeling generally crappy, and couldnt eat for a few days. Thinking I had a bad gallbladder I was eating all the wrong foods for Crohn's, veggies, fiber, etc. And like I said, eventually everything made me feel crappy so I stopped eating. This was about mid April by this point.
After 2 days of fever and pain I went back to the ER where they checked me for the FLU and suspected my appendix again. They got the results from my HIDa and gallbladder was fine, so they ran a chest XRay and another CT scan of my abdomen, where this time they used Contrast, and could see I had inflammation of my colon 'consistent with Crohn's'
They then talked to my Dr who chose to admit me. I did a Colonoscopy next day to confirm crohn's and they put me on meds, and I was able to leave after a couple more days.
Thats my story. Hope you get well soon. I would definitely opt for a colonoscopy as they can get in there and see whats going on, plus get biopsies to confirm.
In January 2012 (about 8 months of this going on) I landed in the ER since the pain started early one day and didn't go away like the others, plus it hurt so much more. They checked me for appendicitis and did a CT of my abdomen and found nothing.
After this ER trip I started seeing a doctor who ran blod work, nothing but low Vit D. Referred me to a GI who suspected gallbladder, which is what we all thought it was. Did an upper endoscopy and got my acid reflux diagnosis, but nothing else of concern. Did a HIDA scan for gallbladder, and never got the results back before I started feeling generally crappy, and couldnt eat for a few days. Thinking I had a bad gallbladder I was eating all the wrong foods for Crohn's, veggies, fiber, etc. And like I said, eventually everything made me feel crappy so I stopped eating. This was about mid April by this point.
After 2 days of fever and pain I went back to the ER where they checked me for the FLU and suspected my appendix again. They got the results from my HIDa and gallbladder was fine, so they ran a chest XRay and another CT scan of my abdomen, where this time they used Contrast, and could see I had inflammation of my colon 'consistent with Crohn's'
They then talked to my Dr who chose to admit me. I did a Colonoscopy next day to confirm crohn's and they put me on meds, and I was able to leave after a couple more days.
Thats my story. Hope you get well soon. I would definitely opt for a colonoscopy as they can get in there and see whats going on, plus get biopsies to confirm.
In 1989, I had surgery for hemmrhoids and later that year for a fistula. My body was taking an awful long time to heal. I went to a surgeon. He did some tests and determined that I had Crohn's Disease. I hope the best for you.