New to Crohn's forum: misdiagnosed UC?

Hi, I have been lurking and posting on the UC forum boards for a month or so now because since May 2013 I have been dealing with what my GI said was ulcerative pancolitis (I had a colonoscopy & biopsy done at that time).

In October 2013 I got very sick, a separate GI (I was seeing her because I had moved away for school) did a colonoscopy & biopsy and told me from what she saw I either had Crohn's or C. Diff - I was on Flagyl and Vancomycin after because she was sure it was C. diff and sure enough within a day I felt MUCH better and was nearly 100% after 4.

My GI back at home now (the original one) just saw my biopsy results (it was just on Tuesday) and said he thinks the other one "jumped the gun" by saying I had Crohns (which she did not tell me, but I guess on my biopsy results she suggested I did) but he said I did not, that I have UC. After the appointment I asked my family doctor to take a look at the biopsy results and after reading it he said he felt fairly certain, but did not want to undermine my GI, that I have Crohn's because I have skip lesions throughout my large intestine, only a couple parts of my LI came back as being inflamed. When I pressed it further he just kind of shrugged and said that it's hard to diagnose and they don't know.

Question: Can you have both? I'm sure many people here have had misdiagnosed UC (I have a friend who did) and what was your experience? Why would my GI say I definitely have pancolitis if I have skip lesions?

Sorry for a lot of questions, this is just still so new to me and I feel like I am not getting a lot of answers from my GI (we asked a lot but he would literally put his hands up and say "this is not the problem right now!") and my family doctor just seems to think it's not a big deal to find an answer - is it??

Also a quick side note, I know every case is different but I got sick and diagnosed within a month (never had any symptoms before), have no pain - maybe a slight stabbing pain in my right or left (it varies) side once in a while but it's not debilitating, vary rarely have I had cramping - I really only did when I was at my sickest and couldn't even have a sip of juice. Not sure if this info means anything to you guys or if it's just random unnecessary things to mention.

Can you go back to the second GI? Even if you can't, I would suggest changing GIs anyway: a doctor who plays God and refuses to answer questions is not a good doctor.

Skip lesions do make it sound like Crohn's, but like Ides said there are always exceptions to every rule. I was an exception, but the other way round: Crohn's diagnosis, but continuous inflammation of the colon. Incidentally, pancolitis just means inflammation of the entire colon, but you can still have pancolitis with skip lesions if the ulcers go all the way around your colon.

It is possible to have both UC and Crohn's, but it's very rare. Considerably more common is having indeterminate colitis, where the features of both diseases overlap. Over time, most people will get a definite UC or Crohn's diagnosis, although a few never do. As long as you never need surgery, it doesn't matter what the label is: the meds used to treat UC and Crohn's colitis are interchangeable. If you need surgery, then the entire picture changes... but yeah, I wouldn't worry about for now. Just hope you never need surgery!

By the way, I had pancolitis for years without any pain. I only really had bad pain in the final two years of my disease.