It's me again! Am I okay? blood in stool ... frequent bms

back in the days, you are describing my good days

these diseases are so evasive. Sure, you could very well have crohn's and it is not showing up yet. I had symptoms for years as a child and then was finally diagnosed at 13. If you feel comfortable, go on the med. If not, go for a second opinion. As for me, I have blood in my stool and frequent bms everyday. Bloodwork tells me if I'm ok or not. Stay hydrated. Try a softer diet and take your vitamins if you normally do so. Good luck.

Thank you for posting.

No, I have not had the capsule test. I did have the small bowel follow through, which said that I had IBD, but did not confirm which. Then when I had my next c-scope it came out clean & I was told the sbft was a mistake. (I remember it very well & remember the talk with the radiologist who told me something was definitely going on).

I just get confused about when I am "better" & when I am "sick". I still felt ill, still having 3-4 BMs a day & feeling run down & low grade fevers & such. No blood for a long time. Then all the sudden, it changes & I am gurgling again & having undigested food & the bleeding.... I know the bleeding is not normal for IBS, but I have heard that undigested food it.

sammies: It's funny you say to stay hydrated, because even though I don't normally have D, I normally am dehydrated. I always drink water & don't understand how it happens, but I have problems keeping hydrated. I do take vitamins & lately have been doing the Emergen-C due to the electrolytes (doc told me to drink gatorade & salt everything, but I think the Emergen-C is better.) I am also on Lortab 7.5s & those I guess are supposed to bind people up, but not me. I wonder what my BMs would be like without all the constipating drugs....

The thing is, my GI wanted me to get off ALL drugs & just keep on the low fiber/low residue diet. But once they told me I could get off the azulfidine & prednisone, I said cool & quit the diet too. I thought I was done with all this & I could just keep trying things to get rid of this IBS.

Why can't it be easy to figure out? I don't understand. There has to be an answer.

Oh! Could my problem be from taking the Digestive Advantage for IBS (probiotic)? Anyone had problems with it?

I hate to say it but I am so depressed. I keep thinking it's just the flu or something because I feel like I am going to get sick, my stomach is in knots. Probably just the worrying I have been doing. I am trying to convince myself that nothing is wrong. Ugh. I guess I had better take his advice & start back on the azulfidine. I am so bummed. I had really hoped it was IBS.

: (

How do we feel better? What do we do? How do you all cope?

How long till you start feeling better? I guess I was better after the prednisone, but I didn't feel that great. Not as bad as in January, but not great. I want to feel great again.

Hi I have had IBS for 27 years before DX with crohn's .I would definitely stay on low residue diet and yes the foods aren;t digested so low residue helps with that. Try to relax and not stress I know IBS is no fun to live with and if your really worried go for more test.lol gail

I have IBS, I guess. They thought it was crohn's (originally thought cancer due to rapid weight loss in beginning) until they did the last c-scope & all the biopsies were clean (I was currently on pred.). I had really thought they were right. I kept having a little while where slightly improved & weight holds steady, then all the sudden out of the blue something hits. I was told in October that there were a few small ulcers in my colon, up through the transverse colon. Nothing about the cecum or ileum was mentioned. I was told the gen surgeon who didd it thought it was lymphocytic colitis & to wait for the biopsy results. Focal active colitis was the result. Thne I was to take azulfidine for a month, and from what I had understood, it was NOT UC & would clear up after a month of drugs, maybe two. Then off the azulfidine for a month, I lost another 10 lbs & that's when the bowel problems seemed to show up (before I only had blood & 2 hard bms a day). Foods weren't digesting. I was beginning to feel so weak. I was at this point underweight. I ended up in the ER a couple times with pains, migraines, low potassium & dehydration. At one point, they gave me some steroids in my IV and gave me a small short burst of prednisone. I began to feel a little better, but the fatigue & dehydration & frequent BMs continued. No blood. I was sent to a GI who said she felt I had crohn's & I was put on the low res/low fiber diet, given the sbft which showed clumping of contrast, inflammation of either the ileum or small bowel loops overlying the ileum, but more probably the cecum. I was told it was consistent with IBD, but did not point to UC or CD. I was put on 20mg of prednisone. I started having this lump show up in my lrq, where I felt the stool was stopping. Once I had a BM it was gone. After a while on pred, I was feeling better but still having frequency & fatigue. I ended up in the ER again for hip/groin/low back pain (I was having ovarian cyst problems, too.) The nurse & doc looked at my tests & said they felt it was CD. I had I had laproscopic surgery for the cysts & also a D&C & hysteroscopy for neverending bleeding (thinking I had cancer again due to family hx). Everything was fine. Had the c-scope 2 weeks later while still on pred. GI said it looked clear but didn't want to take me off the pred & azulfidine until biopsies came back, she was very surprised, she still felt I had CD, & she was surprised the scope was clear. I was told I had a small internal hemrrhoid. I asked about the bleeding & she said that was the cause, the sbft must've been a mistake.(?!?) After the biopsies came back fine, I was taken off the pred & azulfidine & told I must've had a really bad case of infectious colitis that caused IBS which was what I was experiencing. I was confused, but kinda hopeful that was so. She wanted me to stay off meds & stay on the diet until I saw her again in September. I decided that if it's only IBS & I can stay off meds, I can stay off the diet too. To keep up my weight I have been on what I call the 2 candybar a day diet. hee, hee. If I pack in the calories, I am able to do it. I ended up changing my doc to the DO I had been seeing for back/flank pain (& that hip/groin pain) & he felt the pain was tied to the GI problem or some type of visceral problem. He sent me to another DO for a different type of manipulation & her opinion, which ended up in a bunch of tests for Lupus & RA & who knows what. Nothing really showed up except the borderline anemia. He put me on ampytripline, 1/2 pill at night, which is supposed to help slow my gi tract down (I have very fast transit time) and help with weight. I also went on birth control to help with my bleeding (which it has helped immensely) & also hope to help with weight. I have been on those since June & I had gained about 7 lbs. I have lost 4 lbs this week. I figured the bleeding was from the 'roid too, but it was more than ever before & dark red. Nothing on tissue or in the bowl, just covering the stool.

So there it is. The story of the last year & 2 months. I want my life & old body back. Any ideas?

8 years ago I got super sick and it took the doctors 3 months to figure out what was wrong with me. I had the scope, they found Crohns and my doctor put me in the hospital for a week. Well since then it hasn't shown up every time I got sick. My current doctor wasn't 100% I had crohn's because he never saw anything on my scopes he has done. All my test always came back no active disease. Until this past April when I had another flare. He finally did a scope in June and saw my Crohn's. I also get bloody stool and lose weight when my crohn's is flared.
So it is possible for you to have it and them not to see it. I don't know how to explain it. This disease is crazy and I'm still trying to learn it even after 8 years of having it.

The problem is every doctor says something else. At one point all of them said crohn's. Now after biopsies, they just aren't sure. I told them no more colonoscopies. Obviously I don't have CD or UC. But now the PCP wants to treat it like UC. Ugh. But my GI said stay off everything except the diet. The other DO I saw disagreed with the GI completely. She said she would look at all my doc notes/results except hers because obviously there was something wrong with my bowels & she didn't agree with the GI. So what is a patient to do? I try to be proactive but it is all so confusing. I'm lost.

I don't understand how you can keep being tested & not find anything. And every doctor thinks something else. I am tired.