Could this be Crohn's

Hi everyone,

So i have had severe abdominal pain and nausea for the past 4 months. It is constant. Literally has not gone away once. But ranges from a 6/10-10/10 depending on the time/day. It doesn't seem to really relate to food. I have had an ultrasound, blood work, xrays. All came back negative. The pain is usually on either side of my belly button. (small intestine area) My GI didn't want to do an endoscopy/colonoscopy because he said those wouldn't reach the small intestine. He scheduled me for an MRI of the small intestine but i can't get in for months. I don't know how to live in severe pain this long. I am literally bedridden because of this.

What is weird is that my bowel movements are completely regular, formed. No blood, no diarrhea, no constipation. I do see some little pieces of what i assume is undigested food in my stool (like ground nuts).

My question is, does anyone know of people who have Crohn's or IBD without diarrhea or constipation, or blood/mucus in stool?

If you really are in 10/10 pain, then don't wait for months...go to the ER. I don't know what is wrong, but if you are writhing in pain most of the time, then you need to figure this out! Sorry you feel so bad!

Crohn's can present atypically, but I would agree that entirely normal stools are a rarity with this disease. There are so many causes of stomach pain that it probably isn't Crohn's. However, you shouldn't have to live with that degree of pain for several more months, so I agree with gumby: go to ER and get some tests done from there.

Now is the time for you to INSIST that your primary care doctor or GI get you in earlier for that MRI. The GI can refer for an URGENT or STAT MRI due to the level of pain and your weight loss. How much weight have you lost in the last 4 months?

Before my first operation for Crohn's, my bowel movements were normal--no diarrhea or constipation at all. I've had more D since the operation, but it is not a defining Crohn's symptom for me. Pain, fatigue, and bloating are much more the Crohn's MO for me.

Hope you figure out what's going on!

Ah Canada: now it makes sense :p

It's hard to describe the pain I had with Crohn's. I rarely had the lower right quadrant pain associated with Crohn's, but when I did it would be quite a sharp, stabbing sort of pain. I never understoody why I didn't have more pain specific to that area. Usually my pain was more centralised and diffuse rather than sharp. It felt like being being wracked with pain from something very very deep within. The screenwriter for the film Alien had Crohn's, and it was apparently his inspiration for the infamous chest-bursting scene. I have to say, that's quite the apt metaphor. It really did feel like some ghastly malignant creature was trying to bust its way out of my stomach.

Sometimes I could tell it was an obstruction because the pain would be much more wave-like in nature (rise to a peak, die down, rise again, etc.) Alongside the pain there would be a constant feeling of pressure which did not waver. But obstruction pain never lasts; the obstruction either resolves itself after a day or two or you end up in hospital in an emergency.

But the non-obstruction pain seemed to be more permanent. It was hard to be certain since I could never stand it for longer than a few days, so I would go to A&E and either be admitted or given a prescription for steroids. Either way, steroids always made the pain go away for me. You could ask for a short course of Prednisone, but unfortunately without a diagnosis I can't see any doctor agreeing to give it to you. Also, Prednisone will only work for pain caused by inflammation. It won't help other types of pain.

Pain moving around does sound rather like gas pain. Trapped gas can be surprisingly painful, but I have never heard of it lasting that long :-/

Shannabanana-I did not have blood or mucus in my stool or an abnormal white blood count. I did have low iron, some general abdominal pain, and fatigue. The doc did an upper GI w/ small bowel follow-through and said that I had a "nervous stomach." It wasn't until about 7 months later when I couldn't hold down food and swelled up like a great white whale that they thought about Crohn's, went back and looked at the upper GI/SBFT again, and realized that they had missed the narrowing caused by Chron's.

Do you still have low iron? Have you been tested for occult blood in your stool? Prior to my Crohn's diagnosis, I went to the ER with chest pains....I thought something was wrong with my heart, but my heart was fine...I was severely anemic though. (kind of similar to my latest flare) They did a colonoscopy, upper GI and SBFT and found absolutely no source of bleeding or any disease. So they told me that maybe I took too much Advil and had a small bleed that resolved, gave me an iron infusion, and sent me home. I stopped all Advil and NSAIDS and eight months later, I became anemic again, and they did a pill cam test which revealed a bleeding ulcer in my small intestine. A subsequent colonoscopy and biopsy indicated Crohn's in my ileum. Even when I was severely anemic, I didn't see blood in my poop because it was coming from my small intestine....you can't see it for sure. I have dark poop when I eat spinach or other green veggies...I still can never see blood.
I have IBS, so I always have some pain going on, but certainly not 10/10 levels.
There are many things that can be wrong...trapped gas does hurt A LOT, but I think you would know that was what it is, and it resolves...it doesn't stay that way continuously. I hope you can convince them to test you for anemia and get the MRI sooner

Being diagnosed with Crohns in 2002, the following were my symtoms; weight loss (25-30lbs in 2 months), bloody stool, watery stool, 10-15 bathroom trips a day (dumping syndrome), no matter what I ate or drank, within 5 minutes I was headed for the bathroom. A stick of gum, a mint or even a few swallows of water would send me to the bathroom. I never felt like I was finished when I would go. A pressure would take over and I'd have to sit a few minutes for it to subside. I was weak, dizzy and tired all the time. Had multiple tests and the one that detected the Crohns was the abdominal ultrasound. Not the upper GI, colonoscopy or abdominal xray but the ultrasound. One important thing to remember is "Stress" brings on flare-ups. I had 2 daughters getting married , one new grandbaby and the death of my father in 13 months and that's when all the systems started. I was first told it was my nerves but when I started lossing weight and not eating it became evident that something was wrong. I stopped eating because I knew what would happen. I hope and pray that you are better and no more problems.

kenvh, this thread is almost 4 years old. There is a very good chance these members are no longer active here at Healing Well. As I suggested on another thread, you will get a much better response by starting your own thread with your questions.

Take care.