HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Can you compare Crohn's to Ulcerative Colitis for me?

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 5/8/2012 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
The reason I ask is that I just found out that someone I work with (and sort of supervise in a weird way, although I'm not senior to him and I don't review him) has Crohn's.

I said, oh really?! I have ulcerative colitis!

He gave me this blank look that took me a while to interpret. Now I think that the blank look is because he's done little or no research and doesn't know that UC and Crohn's are members of the same family.

He told me he's not on any medication. He said he always knew he had a sensitive stomach, but he didn't know he had Crohn's until his regular colonoscopy at 50.

So I think he must have a very mild case, right?

So the thing is, he is out of work a LOT. Not long after he started, about 18 months ago, he told me that he had a chronic condition that flares occasionally and causes him to be down for a few days at a time. At the time, I thought about saying, "Lucky you, when I flare it's for months on end" and maybe I should have, so as to get this on the table sooner.

I didn't know that Crohn's flares just last a few days. Does that sound right?

I've already recommended my GI to him, since he moved recently and his GI is really quite a long way from home and work. Now I feel like I should be pushing meds on him if only to stop his flares from coming on so frequently. On the other hand, if he's basically normal most of the time, and is only out maybe 15 percent of the month, maybe he's really doing fine without meds?

He's really good at what he does so his job isn't in danger, but even the upper echelon here have noticed his absences.

So anyway, I was wondering how the two compare, so I'll have some idea of what to expect. I feel like the descriptions of Crohn's that I've read sound very similar to UC.

Thanks!
Posted 5/8/2012 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
IBD (CD and UC) are very individualistic and differs from person to person and even from flare to flare. Maybe for him his CD flared for a few days (mine has been flaring for 21 yrs straight), we're all different just as UCers are as well.

Although symptoms can basically be the same, most common being D and frequency as well as pain, those are the main similarities between UC and CD.

There are major differences though, CD can affect any part of the GI tract from mouth to anus (and areas can be affected at the same time) UC is limited to the colon/rectum. With CD, the inflammation can go through the many layers of the intestinal lining, but UC only affects the surface of the lining (often why fistulas are more common with CD compared to UC). Inflammation with CD is patchy (skipped patterns of inflammation with some healthy tissues in between) with UC the entire area affected will be inflammed.

Consider the fact that he may be downplaying his symptoms even though he knows you also have an IBD, some people are just very uncomfortable with their IBD even when discussing it with another IBDer. Or maybe that is just how his CD happens to "behave" since genetically speaking, there are genes that researchers have discovered that contribute to the development of IBD and define the severity and behavior of the disease....which is why IBD is so individual when it comes to flares/symptoms.
Posted 5/8/2012 8:13 PM (GMT 0)
I would suspect that his understanding of his own illness is very limited, and that he really has no idea what normal is anymore. I have found Crohn's to be rather insidious, in that you can have poor nutritional uptake, low vitamin levels, low iron, and not really any pain or diarrhea or other outward symptom that would make you think "Crohn's flare." I would like him to get treatment, even if he thinks he's fine, just so he knows what it feels like to be well again.

As someone in his workplace, you are in a unique position to offer guidance, but I would have a long talk with HR before you go down that path. Why not send him to this website as a friend instead of a supervisor?
Posted 5/8/2012 9:00 PM (GMT 0)
yes, whatever I do will be as a friend and fellow IBDer, and NOT as a coworker or supervisor. I thought we could maybe bond over medications, and I did nanner him to see a doctor for this horrible upper respiratory illness that he has right now so maybe I can use that as a lever to open the conversational door.

Honestly? I think he's in denial. I can relate, but I also know from sad experience that denial doesn't help anyone.
Posted 5/8/2012 9:29 PM (GMT 0)
Like Kazbern & Pb4 said only I'm going to add this:


UC only affects the colon. Crohn's can affect anywhere from mouth to anus(mine affects everywhere). Also, UC can be cured by having your colon removed. Crohn's does not have a cure. Even if I were to have my colon removed, the Crohn's tends to come back at the place of resection or somewhere else.

I poop blood always during a flare & I have a severe case.
A friend of mine w/ Crohn's has a more severe case(she gets iron infusions every other day plus transfusions almost weekly of blood). Yet, she has NO symptoms. No bloody stools, no diarrhea, just a little tummy ache when she eats greasy food. She only found out she had Crphn's because she was losing so much blood & they couldn't find the source & decided to do a colonoscopy.

So, you can't always judge how severe someone's disease is just based off symptoms.
Posted 5/8/2012 9:44 PM (GMT 0)
Like your friend I did not know I had IBD until my routine colonoscopy in my 50's. My symptoms were mild and I thought ulcerative colitis was some kind of inconvenience like hemorrhoids or something. Then 2 years later everything hit the fan with my first severe flare. I finally understood that UC is serious business.

I was feeling sorry for myself about my UC until a 2nd colonoscopy indicated that I might have Crohn's instead. After developing an abscess and reading about fistulas now I wish that I have UC again. UC can be 'cured' via surgery while Crohnies can have repeated surgeries with no end in sight. Psychologically that is a huge difference. And CD can affect the small intestines which can more likely cause numerous nutritional deficiencies. Children with Crohn's can have stunted growth which is relatively rare in children with UC.
Posted 5/8/2012 11:39 PM (GMT 0)
I have mild crohns (as per CTE - having colonoscopy next week) and I have ebded up in hospital for strong pain relief quite a few times :-( Everyone has a different pain threshold.
Posted 5/9/2012 1:31 AM (GMT 0)
Other people have explained the differences between UC and Crohn's, so I won't go into it all again. Also, if you google 'differences between UC and Crohn's', a number of relevant links come up on the first page.

Kazbern, however, has hit nail on head. Crohn's (more than UC, I suspect) can take a very insiduous course. It doesn't always present itself in the form of acute and blatantly obvious flare-ups, but instead can simmer away for months or years in the background, quietly doing its thing. With this type of simmering inflammation, damage to the intestines tends to accumulate over a long period of time, eventually leading to strictures and/or fistulas. It's not inevitable, but, with Crohn's, it's likely. Strictures are certainly very common; fistulas less so.

It may be that your colleague has a genuinely mild case which won't get worse if left untreated, but, honestly, he's taking a big gamble by ignoring it. At the least he should have yearly colonoscopies to make sure the disease isn't progressing, but personally I think he should be on medication.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply