Hello - nice to E-meet everyone!

Hi everyone!

I cant say if I have Crohn's as I am in the process of being tested for this. I have had extensive blood work and am malnurished. I also have GERD and this could also be the cause as I am afraid to eat anything as I find it very painful. My brother has Crohn's but we are not in contact - and I was told it is common for siblings to have it as opposed to parent child. I was told I have IBD a long time ago and really didnt have much problem after I was given medications until they told me I had to stop as it was causing young people to have heart attacks. I havent taken much of anything since. When I went to my GI doc re: GERDS I told him I had stomach cramps and my right hurts and I have difficulty keeping food in as it goes right through me most of the time. I have an MRI of the small bowel. What do they do for this? I read on the internet it only takes 30 minutes but I also read they inject a dye in to your veins. Is this true? I live in Canada so not sure if the procedure is different. Will they put me to sleep?

I wish everyone good health and I appreciate the opportunity to ask questions and to educate myself on the subject.

Thank- you firemedic - I totally understand your wish for me not having to stay in this forum and I appreciate that after all the stories I have read. My GI is taking care of my GERDS first so my MRI isn't until June 8th. I certaintly hope that I don't have Crohn's.
Thanks for your reply

Thanks Wolfie40

I have had stomach problems my entire life. I had an ulcer when I was 6 and remember the barium swallow as I had thrown the first one up on the tech. I stopped eating several times during my life - just loss of appetite. I was diagnosed anorexic about 8 years ago. Before that I had a laporoscopy to see if I had endometriosis - which I didn't but I had bad stomach pains and during menses it was/is unbearable. I throw up get D really bad and have been hospitalized b/c of it. I do remember someone mentioning Crohn's to me several years ago but nothing was confirmed or done about it. I do have GERD and my GI said he wanted me to have an MRI done of my small bowel right after he received my blood test results. I have right pain in my abdomin/pelvic area and hip pain where they sent me to physio as I use to be an avid runner. It didn't help. When I saw the GI for GERD he started asking me questions with his nurse about the D. Also that my brother has Crohn's (we don't have contact). He didn't want to do the colonoscopy until after the MRI as the MRI is less invasive. I am sure my facial expression had something to do with it. I don't know what I have (except for GERD) but I do know I am losing a lot of weight. I also have skin rashes which he wrote down. I hope I don't have it however I am going squirrly not knowing what is wrong with me. I get mouth sores (canker sores) and am tired all the time. I also think I have fevers but not as bad as I have read on a recent post. I also have night sweats but Im not sure if it is because I have nightmares. I think I am looking to these posts to figure this out as I haven't had much luck with doctors - nobody seems to know what is going on until I saw this GI. All his questions made sense to me and he asked me things that nobody knew about. He also seemed to understand my hip pain which I feel has been dismissed by my GP.
Anyhow... Thanks for listening... It is a long wait until April 12th to get answers. 20 after 5 a.m and still no sleep...
I just wish I could get some answers.
Hope everyone is having a good day or has a good day
Regards!

One stat I've read states that if you have a brother or sister with Crohn's, you have 30x the risk of developing Crohn's compared to the general population. Sounds alarming, but a small number multiplied by 30 still doesn't add up to a very big number. Eg, if the annual incidence in the UK is approximately 5/100,000 that would rise to 150/100,000 for those who have siblings with Crohn's.

That said, I've got a brother with Crohn's. Our cases aren't very similar though. Different locations and that.

Like somebody else said, bit surprised you haven't had a colonoscopy yet. That's the main diagnostic tool for Crohn's. Maybe your GI thinks if you have Crohn's it's more likely to be in the small bowel than in the colon. Good luck, anyway.