Is it possible to have Crohn's Disease and have normal blood work?

(I'm new to this site, so please bare with me, hopefully I'm doing this right) :)
For the past 6 months I have experienced many symptoms that have drastically effected my day to day life and would seemingly lead to a diagnosis of Crohn's disease. Constant nausea, weight loss, abdominal pain, constipation, constant fever, and blood in stool (I have many more symptoms, but I will just leave it to my major ones). In February I had an endoscopy done which showed Gastritis and that was treated with medication. My symptoms never went away though, so in April my GI decided to do another endoscopy and a colonoscopy. The biopsy results showed inflamation throughout my GI system, Ileitis, and Colitis. She was sure it was Crohn's disease...however when she ordered bloodwork it all came back normal, (the only thing abnormal was once my white blood cell count was high) so this caused her to completely cross it off the list of possibilities even though everything else points to Chron's. I have read that many people with Crohn's Disease often have normal bloodwork, and I was just wondering if a diagnosis of Crohn's is possible with normal bloodwork, but actual physical evidence to prove a diagnosis. How was anyone else's diagnosis made or based off of? Is my doctor possibly wrong in completely ruling out Crohn's? After all of the extensive research I've done, at least to me, Crohns seems like a serious possibility.
Additional details: 17yrs old, history of GI problems, surgeries I've had: Nissan Fundoplycation, Pyloroplasty, and Gallbladder removal.
Thank you for any help you can offer! :)

Yep, I agree with big betty. Even my white count came out normal when I was hospitalized last time.
Are you taking cholestyramine since you had your gallbladder removed?

I was 16 when I was diagnosed with crohns all thru my small intestine. I had upper and lower GI s like crazy. They (doctor) still couldn't figure what I had. I went from a 155lb. kid to a 105lb kid. They ended up doing an exploratory surgery removed 3 foot of my small and a small bit of my large. That's been 30 years ago. Since then when Ive had a lower GI. I can see the monitor of my intestine. You could see normal bowel ,"then what looked like a string "I was told that was diseased. So I'm a little confused myself ,cause you can really tell the difference. The only thing I can figure is it was 1 and 1/2 years before the first surgery. Hope you find out it can drive you crazy not knowing. Good-luck to you!

This is the first time in years that my sed rate as gone up, but I have many times in the past felt so sick and all my bloods came back normal. Generally I think when I get the more normal bloods its becuz it was some side issue associated with my Crohns more than the Crohns itself.

Hugs!

Bloods test to diagnose Crohns are notoriously unreliable. I would ask for a pill capsule. Its see areas in the small bowel that the scopes can't reach. Many have had difficulty getting a diagnosis and then did this test and were finally able to get a diagnosis. Hope that helps some. Hugs!

kazbern said...
Biopsy of the inflamed tissue is really the gold standard of diagnosis. I'm sure she took samples of the areas of the colon that were inflamed, and the pathology on those samples should give you a pretty good idea of what's going on.

That being said, my biopsies were never definitive. I presented with bloody stool, lots of mucous, some pain and discomfort. It took really 3 colonoscopies and changing my meds around to finally get to IBD (Crohn's). My blood work has occasionally shown inflammation (CRP=4), chronic anemia forever, low vitamin D. None of my DRs have ever relied on my bloodwork for a diagnosis. It's the bloody stool, the mucous in the stool, the inflammation in the colon, weight loss.

Push back on your DRs dismissal of Crohn's and/or get a 2nd opinion.

She did take biopsies and that is why she was really thinking Crohn's. After se received the biopsy results she sent me for what she called a specialized blood test that would determine if it was Crohn's or not and after that test came back negative Crohn's was off the table for her. I just don't understand tris though. I have done SO much research and everything I have round says that there is no one blood test that can campletely rule out a diagnosis of Crohn's, so why she has completely stopped considering it I'm not sure...a second opinion is definitely in my future though, 6 months and no answer is not working out, especially since my pain has been increasing a lot lately. Thank you all so much for taking the time to help! :)

I agree with everyone else, my sed rate/white cell count can be very close to normal, but then when I recently had surgery, they found inflammed small intestine. I can present with no other symptom than pain (not much diarrhea or constipation or frank blood) and they will see inflammation on a colonoscopy.

It is true that a biopsy is the gold standard, but even then I think they can miss the diagnosis on some of us :)

Don't give up, and I agree a second opinion should be in your future :)

Sudsmom

I also had normal bloodwork for Crohn's. My colonoscopy was also normal. My Upper GI and Small Bowel Follow Through were not- showed the inflammation in my small intestine. My GI doctor said with my symptoms and what was shown on the UGI/SBFT that his diagnosis is Crohn's. He also stated to me that he was sending me for the Crohn's bloodwork because a positive result would be nice but a negative one would NOT change his diagnosis since (I think this is the correct percentage, either way it's LOW) only 25-30% of people WITH Crohn's actually have a positive test result. I feel your frustration, I would seek a second opinion.