HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Question about symptoms...

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 6/26/2008 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
I have had gerd for years.  Recently, about the last year or so, I have had some really uncomfortable abdominal pain that comes and goes for months at a time.  Feels like sharp pains sometimes and bloating A LOT.  Anyhow, my family doc is the type that runs a test for every symptom and she suggested maybe testing for Crohn's.  I'm totally confused.  I don't really think I have any of the typical symptoms but now Im totally scared.  Any feedback and more info about peoples early symptoms would be great!!  Thanks!
Posted 6/26/2008 3:43 PM (GMT 0)
no need to be scared now. just do the yucky tests and see what happens. pain and bloating can be caused by lots of things (most of mine has been alleviated by cutting out gluten) so keep breathing and try to relax. and keep asking questions, too :)
Posted 6/26/2008 4:41 PM (GMT 0)
So could some of you let me know what your symptoms were and for however long they lasted before you were diagnosed?  Thanks!

Posted 6/26/2008 5:09 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there Lucy, I started my worse flares, 15 years ago, pain and bloating around the belly button, couldnt get my pants on and diarreah and vomiting, I had a blockage starting up. I do not bleed, and knock on wood havent so far. It took 8 months of testing, and scopes, because although I had the pain, my terminal ilieum ()next to the appendix) was heavily infected, lower right quad. Then as the years past it was alway lower right quad. Hope it helps, hope you find out soon! good luck!
Posted 6/26/2008 10:36 PM (GMT 0)
So the only thing I told my doc was that I have stomach pains a lot after I eat.  I do not have to go to the bathroom (just gas sometimes) and usually just go in the AM maybe once again in the PM.  I rarely, if ever have had diarrhea.  Just pain and bloating and usually after eating a lot.  Im not over weight and never have been FYI, just average.  I know that this certainly wouldn't be the end of the world and after reading on here I feel much less freaked out.  I truely don't want to go through this test if, in your opinion, you all who know way better than me do not think the symptoms sound right.  My doc gave me the option and didnt even write the script yet.  I guess Im looking for some reassurance from people who know.  I should probably find another doctor because she clearly makes me paranoid!  Thanks for the responses so far.

Posted 6/26/2008 11:09 PM (GMT 0)
In hindsight, my symptoms started in 2001 with a light, dry cough. In 2002, I began having very sharp pains right at my upper left-hand ribcage. I couldn't drink or eat anything without exceptionally sharp pains. Those pains began to wake me up at night. I would be in tears from the pain. I was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer...then with GERD...then with HPylori. Nexium took away the pain.

Then in 2003, the diarrhea started...constantly. All day, even if I ate a simple grape. Even the smell of food would trigger D for me. So I was diagnosed with IBS.

Then later that year, my ankles swelled up to the size of oranges. I couldn't walk; couldn't drive. They Xrayed my feet but nothing showed up. They insisted I must have twisted my ankles somehow but I didn't. They put me on Bextra. When I had an allergic reaction to it, they put me on Celebrex.

While my feet were swollen, other areas of my body began to swell. My lower back would have shockwaves shoot through it. My shoulder blades were completely in pain (Bursitis). I wore pain patches to try and get rid of that pain.

During all that, the diarrhea was continuing but NOW it was starting to wake me up 6 or more times in the middle of the night. I became sleep deprived. The urgency to be near a bathroom was always there. When I told my doc about the overnight BM's...he immediately sent me to a GI.

The GI listened to all of my symptoms above and scheduled me for an Upper GI with Small Bowel Follow Thru, Abdominal CT scan (double contrast) bloodwork and a colonoscopy. With all of that, they were able to conclude Crohn's.

Don't worry...hang in there. Everyone has different symptoms and there are A LOT of reasons you could be feeling the way you are. Relax and wait until you find out what the tests say. Simple STRESS can wreak HAVOC on your intestines!
Posted 6/26/2008 11:22 PM (GMT 0)
My knees and ankles swelled up and kept swelling. Then the big D started and I was going all day, every day. Everything I ate just ran right through me. I started dropping weight fast. I also was almost wheel chair bound because my joints got that bad. Doctor after doctor after doctor and finally 3 months later I landed in a GI's office. He scheduled me for a scope and after my test told me I had CD and put me in the hospital for a week. That was 8 years ago. I have CD very mild compared to some. But when I flare, I get hit hard.
I wouldn't stress over it until you have test done and find out whats going on. Stress is not good for the system!
Posted 6/26/2008 11:45 PM (GMT 0)
The only symptoms I've experienced thus far was a fissure that had been bothering me for a couple years (which is what alarmed to me to go to the doctors in the first place) and I was getting stomach pains after I ate for 4 weeks straight in 2007.  I currently am not experiencing any stomach pains, my bowel movements are and have always been "normal" (once a day, no D), not feeling gassy or bloated.  I have and still occasionally notice blood on the toliet paper after a bowel movement.  I was diagnosed May 2008.  Though I don't have the most common symptoms that come along with this disease...all my tests and blood work show I have significant inflammation in my small intestines.  If I wouldn't have gone to the doctor's I really wouldn't have even known I have Crohn's...because honestly, I feel fine, and I am grateful for that.  But I am taking medication as perscribed by my GI doctor and seeing a holistic doctor.  I want to keep my inflammation under control so things don't progress.  It wouldn't hurt to get the tests done...it may bring you some peace of mind.  It will all be okay.

Post Edited (Riss) : 6/26/2008 5:48:12 PM (GMT-6)

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply