too young for this

They finally diagnosed my CD from doing a colonoscopy back in 87 I was only 8 back then and it was not really known to hit that young so it was their last thing to look for. since yours showed no inflammation I hope that the Doc took a Biopsy and sent that off for analysis.

Gl to you

I was diagnosed when I was 22, after months of testing, people thinking I was full of, well, they didn't believe I was going through that kind of agony. Most tests came up inconclusive, right up until they finally did that upper Gi... then there it was, POOF! Crohns... yippee. That was my second flare up, and pretty severe. 7-10x? Pfft, I knock that out before lunch some(bad) days, lol. I'll tell ya, after almost 12 years of living with it life isn't so bad. You just have o adjust, find out what works for you, and go from there. I could almost write books of my experiences with it since then, but I'll spare ya. There's tons of things to try if things get bad, I know a couple handfuls that worked miracles for me. Even if you don't end up having Crohns, if you need help/tips to getting the belly feeling pretty good, I'm new here but I venture to say we all have the same thing in mind so post, or pm me and I'll try to answer in a timely manner, if I can assist.

best of luck!

Bless you msLMG, your story sounds very similar to my daughters cronic pain for months no energy etc ..... As Nanners said you are on quite a mild crohns med. Have they discussed a nutriten diet ? Or stronger meds ? Unfortunatley is seems it is such a difficult disease to pin point and different in everyone. It is so frustating waiting and waiting feeling your getting no answers. But you will and they will get to the bottom of it I'm sure.

Try and stay positive

Sending you a big hug xx

My mother also had Crohns, so when I started having issues, (around the age of 18) that is the first thing I wanted checked out.
I went through several tests, Sigmoidoscopy, Lower GI etc. and the doctors found nothing. Even though I had lost a ton of weight and was sick to my stomach pretty much every day.

Finally, after a trip to the ER and a CTscan, the doctors found a fistula in my intestines, and did a resection.
I know it sounds scary, but for the most part, I have felt a lot better.

I hope you feel better and get the answers you want soon msLMG!

Diagnosed at 19 while living alone 5 hours from my parents and in my first semester of university. This illness is often diagnosed in people aged in their late teens, early twenties. My best advice would be to get a great GI.

msLMG,

Same here, like the others, diagnosed at 24 while in the service, a long way from home. Thought my life was over, but luckily I was way wrong. I was on Asacol for quite a while. Like others have said, it's a pretty tame medication.

At 21 your life is just starting, and while Crohn's is not fun, there are a lot of really good medications and treatments out there that work. I work full time, I'm married, I have a 5 year old son, I travel, I camp, I mostly do what I want to. Of course there are times I get sick and need to take it easy, but I find ways to cope with that.

Hang in there, and be careful about what you read on the internet, there is a lot of scary stuff out there on this disease. Make sure you filter what you read, and talk with your doctors.

And, Hey, I'm 41 and I think I'm WAY to young for this crap!

wow so many responses, thanks guys.
i really like and trust my GI, so far the asacol and a pretty bland diet has been helping.
i go back in two weeks for biopsy results.

i did more research on all of this and everything i found just sounds so awful lol but i realize that it's only bad if you ignore the symptoms and don't address it.

thank you again!

Take heart (especially as it is Valentine's day :) ) that once you get on the right treatment for you things can improve massively. Initially the huge issues are getting diagnosed promptly, having a good GI and to keep trying different things until one works.
I thought that my son's life was more or less over when he was diagnosed just over a year ago aged 16(had been suffering for a few years prior to diagnosis) I was really scared for him. Currently he is on medication that is working for him, he has gained masses of weight(42lb) and life is pretty much ticking along nicely for him. I am sure that there will be blips along the way but at the end of the day he is currently well and enjoying life as any other teenager.
Hopefully the biopsy results will give you some answers and I am sure that your mum will also be a great source of info too.

When I was eventually diagnosed at 20 after having symptoms for 2 years (initially they treated me as if it was irritable bowel) I was told by my GP that most common ages for CD to show up is teenage years and over 50s. He did also say that thankfully medicine has moved on in last 60 years as CD used to be misdiagnosed as TB due to similar symptoms.

It is hard at that age, your friends are all out partying and having fun and you are doing an indepth study of the bathroom decoration umteen times a day. I do however agree with 'Iamthewalrus', I used to be a self concious child as being a female who is 6'3 tall with very long legs makes you different from your peers, the positive difference CD made to me was that I became much more confident, mentally very strong (which at times I wonder how I've coped and not gone down with depression). What will be will be but I will fight it all the way!

Oh, and as for my friends and work colleagues, they are all so jealous as hell, because of the ileo bag and not much bowel left I don't absorb much of what I eat so I have to eat approx 4000 calories a day to maintain my weight and am on a high sugar, high salt, high fat, low fibre diet. God how they hate me when I eat whatever I want and as we are all around 40 they are watching their weight concerned with middle aged spread. See not everything is a negative.

All I have to say to you is always trust your instincts.  If you do not like what your doctor says get another one, write down everything that goes on in your day and- yes describe your crap.  Take it with you in a bag to the office,...take charge.  With this disease you have to be the Master Of Your Domain.  I have the worst Crohns and I believe in mind over matter alot.  Yeah, it's hard  but breath, know your body, laugh...laugh...laugh.