Help

Hi, just have a few questions regarding my partner who is yet to have a confirmed crohns diagnosis but has suffered the last two years.

A bit of background information, he is a 20 year old male who was previously quite overweight- 100-110kg. In December 2015 he began to have severe abdominal cramps and diarrhoea 20mins after eating anything. Along with this his appetite diminished to the point of eating one or two bites and feeling full and intense nausea. Initial diagnosis was that it was a result of stress and depression.
By February/ March 2016 he dropped 50kg and was struggling to maintain a weight of 50-60kg, although he was only eating one meal a day.
A colonoscopy and endoscopy came back with nothing too abnormal so a diagnosis of IBS was given although the symptoms were still the same in severity.
He is not currently on any medication but does smoke weed before meals in order to gain an appetite and this seems to delay the diarrhoea until the next morning although this result in 4-5 watery and sometimes explosive BM's in about an hour. He currently drinks a glutamine drink every morning and I have started him on a low residue diet as of yesterday after reading some posts in this forum.
We just don't know what to do anymore, he is constantly fatigued and close to giving up hope. He is very adverse to taking medication, although so far only e-citalopram has been prescribed which he no longer takes.
Does anyone have any advice or tips on what to do? He is still struggling to maintain 60kg which is a requirement for him to continue working which only adds stress to his eating.
Thank you in advance for any help

Thank you for your quick response, there was a duodenal hernia and patches of inflamation/ bumps along the large intestine, although this gi didn't seem concerned by this, we are booking in to consult with another gi doctor to get a second opinion.

The patches of inflammation/bumps are reason enough to see a new gi & have another colonoscopy done with biopsy's. In additional to what 73Monte posted he should also request a stool test to rule infections & other pathogens.

Take care.

What an utterly useless GI.

See a second one and make sure he gets a colonoscopy and a small bowel test which visualises the entire small bowel, e.g. MRI scan or a capsule endoscopy.

I'm just amazed at how bad some GIs can be. Given your partner's age, weight loss and symptoms, Crohn's really should be one of the first thoughts. Yet an endoscopy can only see as far as the duodenum - that's basically nearly 20 feet of small bowel that wasn't looked at. As for "a biopsy", I'm not sure if you literally meant a single biopsy but if you did, one biospy isn't nearly enough. Usually lots of biopsies are taken during a colonoscopy, from different parts of the colon and the terminal ileum.

So yeah, good luck with the new GI. I hope they're better! (And don't be afraid to ask questions.)

That is incredible. HALF his body weight and the GI basically said "not cancerous?" There are a lot of diseases between "fine and not cancerous." Keep searching for a competent GI. When my son (now 21) was diagnosed two years ago I went in to each appointment with a detailed list of questions (my son was often too sick to even ask questions) and when a GI did not give me complete answers or somehow dismissed my concerns I crossed him / her off the list and went to another. After "interviewing" eight different GIs I found an incredible one. He takes my son's questions seriously (my son no longer needs me at the appointments and has taken over his own care) and responds immediately (even giving my son his personal cell number). It has taken a long time to get here but well worth it. Best to you as you keep searching. There is a wide range of competencies in GI's - but they can be eliminated one question at a time!!

Good for you to have a list of detailed questions and ideas of possible tests. My son had colonoscopies, an endoscopy, an MRE, CAT scan, tested for Celiac and Pylori and C- Diff (which he had three times) but he needed every one of those tests. This forum is filled with a lot of experience and they have been incredibly supportive to me especially when my son was first diagnosed. This disease takes so much from people that I am grateful for every tidbit of wisdom, ideas etc. I get. I hope your partner gets the help he needs and can be on the road to feeling better and getting the right diagnosis and treatment. My son had a tough 18 months (surgery, hospitalizations etc) BUT he is now in a deep remission so it can and does get better! Let us know how it is going!