HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

question for experienced crohnies:) - girl probs

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 8/19/2009 6:24 PM (GMT 0)

Hi all.  I'm a newb but I read these forums quite a lot.  My brain is exploding right now going from doc to doc, nobody knowing what to do.  Here's what-up...

Symptoms are abdominal tenderness, horrible gas pains, painful cramping, days of diarrhea then days of constipation, chronic low back pain that travels up my spine.  I'm pretty debilitated this summer and it is having an impact on my school work and research.  My blood work was all normal.  The fecal calprotectin test was normal and a colonoscopy last week showed that my Crohn's disease is not very active at the moment.  It is actually much better than earlier this year.  So...my GI had my ADHD meds evaluated and they don't appear to be causing the issues.  So...my PCP sent me to a gynocologist since I have not had a period for about a year.  I thought this was due to prednisone, which I recently stopped taking (about 6 weeks ago).  The gyno said that he wanted me to keep a pain diary for a couple of months.  I almost cried right there.  I don't complain when I can tolerate the pain but I can't anymore which is why I went to him in the first place.  When I said that he told me that he can do a laparoscopy to check for endometriosis but he didn't want me to go through an unnecessary procedure.  He thinks that this pain is just my body's way of getting back into a hormonal cycle.  My last option is to try a Mirena IUC but I'm 29, married, and haven't had any kids yet. 

Any thougths?...   I'm stumped and frustrated.  (Oh, and in pain! cool )

Thanks in advance for any insight:)

Posted 8/19/2009 7:10 PM (GMT 0)
I was recently suffering with alot of gas/bloating and stomach pain. Not super bad pain, but enough to make me somewhat uncomfortable. I put a call into my GI and he said he suspected that I had a small intestine bacterial overgrowth. He put me on a 10 day course of Cipro and had me change to a better/different probiotic. Within 2 days of changing my probiotic and being on Cipro I feel soooo much better. Small intestine bacterial overgrowth seems to be pretty common in Crohns, so maybe this might be your problem too.

Do you think this pain feels more Crohns like or do you think it has something to do with your cycle? I know I was miserable when I was your age with my monthly cycle, but I had already had my 3 girls by then, so at age 36 I had a complete hysterectomy. I just couldn't deal with 3 weeks of misery every single month. If you think it is more of your cycle thats the problem then I might go for the lap to make sure nothing else is going on in there.

Sending you healing thoughts and prayers. I hope I was able to help some.

Hugs
Gail*Nanners*
Posted 8/19/2009 10:34 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Gail:)

 

My periods were never horrible but they were never regular.  This pain feels more like what I would associate with Crohn's pain but my interpretation may be wrong.  The back pain typically indicates a flare for me but everything is normal this time.  If this wasn't constant, I wouldn't bother with it.  However, it is making physical activity difficult and the pain killers cloud my mind so I am not doing well in school at the moment.  My profs are very understanding but they have been dealing with this for a long time too and we all want it cleared up.  I called the gyno and asked for the laparoscopy.  If that is clear then I think I will go with the Mirena for now.  What do you use for a probiotic??  I have a very clean diet (vegan but crohn's friendly) but do not do much in the way of bacterial stuff.  I also recently took a round of Cipro for a UTI but it did not help anything tummy-wise.  Thanks very much for your support and knowledge. 
Posted 8/20/2009 6:02 AM (GMT 0)
Just noticed that you have recently discontinued pred - possibly it is causing some of your trouble. Or rather, the adrenals may not be kicking in properly. One of the symptoms of severe adrenal crisis (can be caused by stopping pred too quickly, or by the adrenal glands not functioning properly) is abdominal pain. The days of constipation and days of diarrhea doesn't sound like it's caused by adrenal problems though. Have they done the SBFT? Alternating D and C can be due to a partial blockage and the small bowel is not checked in a colonoscopy. I would also wonder about food intolerances. One last note, there are several probiotics that are useful for gut problems. My short list is Align, Culturelle, VSL#3 and Acidophilus reuteri (Primadophilus) with a couple of others for special purposes.

Speaking of which, have they tested you for C difficile? Since you recently had antibiotics for your UTI, it could have provoked a C diff infection. That can cause a lot of the issues you mention. Edit: Some other posters mention the need to refrigerate the stool samples to get a good test result.

If it is C diff, you will be prescribed a number of strong antibiotics. You should also take Florastor (contains S boulardi - which is not killed by antibiotics and has been shown to help control C diff). It may seem like a wasted effort, but you should also take some of the probiotics listed above. The antibiotics will kill them, but they will help prevent other resistant bacteria from dominating the gut.

Post Edited (Keeper) : 8/20/2009 12:05:18 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/20/2009 1:13 PM (GMT 0)
Hey luvnfishes,

I use Primadolphilus Reuteri by Natures Way. I just started this one, and I am really liking it. I get it at my local health food store. Its in the refrigerated section.

Hugs
Gail*Nanners*
Posted 8/20/2009 1:24 PM (GMT 0)
Hi luvnfishes, I get those symptoms any time I eat vegetables or fruit. Being that you're a vegan, are you eating those sorts of things? Digestive enzymes help me out a lot & they have vegan-friendly versions available at Whole Foods. You take them before you eat & it really helps with gas & bloating. I have a friend who has a lot of gastro problems since weight loss surgery & since she's started taking them, she can eat without throwing up every time.
Posted 8/22/2009 4:36 AM (GMT 0)
Hello, I wanted to respond or make a commit about your pain. I have had Crohn's for at least 10 years and here recently I have had a lot of rectal pain, my GI doctor sent me to a pain management clinic.  At first I thought this was a big waste of time, I didn't understand why my GI doctor couldn't give me something for pain, but after my cosultation with the pain management doctor my view changed. Because the rectal pain I'm currently  experiencing isn't going to go away for sometime, the doctor had me see a psych doctor. The psych doc was to make sure I don't have addictive personality, which I don't. Now I am currently taking pain medication as needed and I have a physician who monitors my pain and offers me counseling through my psych doc.  What I didn't know is my drepression, caused by my disease is contributing to my pain. The doctor started me on cymbalta,  which helps with the pain as well as the depression.   I can honestly say this road has been both long and hard, but at least my pain is under control so I can maintain employment.  I don't know if this will help you or not, but you can run the pain management clinic by your GI doc to see if this will work for you.


Post Edited By Moderator (Nanners) : 8/22/2009 7:33:17 AM (GMT-6)

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply