Can you have active disease with normal blood work?

I have had a rough few months. I have a small stricture in my ileum as seen by a CT, but I also had Salmonella. My stool cultures are now normal, but I still have bloating and cramping, although my poop is fairly normal looking. I'm also very tired, but I often don't sleep well from the abdominal pain. My recent blood work is completely normal...sed rate, anemia, WBC, B-12 etc. My doc attributes the GI symptoms to what he calls "post infectious irritable bowel." I worry though, that it is really my stricture causing the trouble. I don't know if the stricutre is from inflammation or scar tissue.

I am just wondering if you have inflammation going on, will it always show up on blood work? I am currently taking Pentasa, and one more 10 day round of Cipro. (the doc wants to make sure the infection from Salmonella is completely cleared up...I guess stool cultures aren't always accurate) Thanks in advance for any insight.

Hi Nanners,
I was taking VSL#3 probiotics, but then it seemed like I was getting constipated, so I stopped it. I really don't know if the probiotics were causing the C. I confuse myself continually, trying to figure out what causes what symptoms. Maybe I'll try it again.

Yes, you can absolutely still have active disease that doesn't show up on blood work. It was actually known to my GI that my blood tests never show anything out of the ordinary, unless I'm in my most serious of flares. This was an issue for him at first, but he did learn to trust me and my descriptions of symptoms, and he then treated me accordingly.

Have your doctor test for CRP (C-reactive protein). This is a marker of inflammation in the body. If your symptoms are truely just from the Salmonella, I don't imagine that the inflammation will be as high as those that would indicate crohns. that's just my two cents

Both your CRP and sed rate (ESR) can look normal even when your disease is active.

Thanks..I'm seeing my doc tomorrow so I'll ask about the CRP. this endless bloating is driving me nuts!

I have Crohn's only in the terminal ileum, but I also have cramping in the large bowel occasionally.  Often if I sense a cramp on the left-hand side or lower abdomen, and touch that spot, and I can feel either gas or a BM in the colon. I developed this after I was hospitalized, took a lot of antibiotics, and went about four days eating only sporadically.

I explained my symptoms to a gastro and was told I have spastic colon, a.k.a. IBS. Since I only have Crohn's in the TI, I pretty much write off cramping anywhere else as IBS (I do "palpate" to check for real pain, never felt it though). I don't think it's uncommon to have IBD and IBS in the same person. My GP told me that using a soluble fiber supplement could reduce colon spasms.

Nikki what is culturelle?