New here & newish to Crohns-

This might be long, but, by all means skim if need be, or bear with me! If you get bored, I post my direct questions at the bottom!

I am a 26 male. Pretty thin, 5'11, 120 pounds. Long list of auto immune diseases, also have tested for HLA B27. Have had Iritis twice, been diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, and generally have sore joints, but haven't been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (yet )

Last fall, I was visiting my girlfriend who at the time lived an hour away. We had drank pretty heavily that night and in the morning I felt an awful pain in the center of my stomach, pretty much riding the line directly under my rib cage and leaning to the left. I attributed it to overdoing it that night, but as the pain would linger, even when I didn't drink, I started to wonder if it could be something else. I guess it was in November/December I noticed blood in my stool. It was the first time I had ever seen it (and ironically the only time. I scheduled an appointment with my PCP, who in turned referred me to a Gastro. So right away he wanted to do a colonscopy/endoscope. I was down with that, as I was somewhat concerned (side note: MoviPrep is THE worst tasting substance Ive ever experienced.)

I had my colonoscopy the last week of January (this year). Following the colonscopy, the doctor informed me I had light ulceration in my ileum, which I understand to be on the lower right of your body, a generally mild case of Crohns disease. Well, actually he told my mother because I had been so nervous of the procedure he gave me twice the sedation meds and I was still in la la land. In retrospect I found this odd though since I NEVER had pain in my lower right quadrant. My prognosis was Pentasa, four times a day and be cautious of my diet and take note of things that bother it, aka, no more drinking.

I noticed the Pentasa made me nervous. Maybe it was me being nervous (I take Zoloft for anxiety AND depression), but in any case I reported to my doctor it did not make me feel right, and he moved me to Asacol HD. Why Asacol HD instead of regular Asacol, I will never really know, but he told me it was basically the same thing and was no different. (Which is ironic since it actually says ON the Asacol HD bottle, "Not bioequivilent to Asacol". But whatever. I took Asacol HD for about a month, but actually noticed this pain under my left rib and wrapping around to my back getting worse! I kept taking the Asacol HD though because I was just happy to find a pill that didnt make me nervous.

Last week, I had my follow up visit with my doctor. I told him I had been having pains under my left rib pretty badly (which I have had all along) but he attributed the worsening of it to the Asacol HD and then put me on Entocort EC. I took Entocort for a few days, when I really started noticing the pain under my left rib and back becoming unbearable. I actually thew up yesterday and called his nurse to gain guidance. She said stop the Entocort immediately (though I think it might have been working) and directed me to take Prednison 10mg/ 4 times a day and also prescribed me hydrocodone for the pain, which is ironic as well because my Gastro told me sepcifically he doesnt prescribe pain killers, but luckily when I called yesterday he was out of the office and his nurse had to consult with another doctor.

I am now holding my bag of pills, in decent pain, and I am scheduled for a CT scan on Tuesday.

Now, I must disclose, I was NOT thrilled when the nurse said Prednisone, because Ive heard nothing but bad things about side effects, one of which is nervousness, and I obviously get nervous to begin with. Also not thrilled about the fact that it lowers your immune system and lowers your ability to fight infection. For the time being I am still taking the Entocort, holding off on the pain meds until I REALLY need them, and looking forward to the CT scan on Tuesday, that it will shed some light on whats happening.

Basically after all of my typing, I have a whole host of questions and will be thankful to anyone here who has experienced Crohns and takes the time to offer insight!

1.) I find it odd that in my almost six months since showing symptoms of Crohns, I have had only one bloody stool, and hardly ANY diarrhea, is that normal?
2.) For people who have taken both Entocort and Prednisone, is it worth me taking Prednisone instead of Entocort? Will I get faster pain relief? Is it true that it causes anxiety, etc. I guess Im wondering if the potential side effects outweigh the good it can do.
3.) It looks as if messalamine based drugs arent going to do the trick for me judging on the hit and miss with both Pentasa and Asacol, and I am not thrilled about being on ANY kind of steroid for a long period of time, what other drug classes and/or choices do I have? Humira? Remicaid? Others?
4.) I am not 100% convinced that my pain under my left rib and back is Crohns. I have certainly read people with Crohns getting pains here, but I have had these pains (although lesser) since the beginning and when he did my colonoscopy, not once did he mention any ucleration or issue with my descending colon and the pictures from that area looked fine. What else could this be? Pancreas? Spleen?
5.) Being new to Crohns, I am not really sure what kind of pain is normal pain and what kind of pain is "rush yourself to the ER" pain. I will say that I dont feel comfortable on a daily basis, but my current pain seems to be increasing. It is a pressure type pain, under my left rib and making its way down to my pelvis along the left side, as well as running across the center of my back. Again, pretty odd when my doctor diagnosed me with Crohns in the ileum. Whats even worse is when I went to see him, he said, "Hey great to hear you no longer are having problem with your ileum". Um, I never was, thats where you supposedly found it, my pain has been under my ribs.

Ok, Ive talked enough for now, for anyone who reads my entire post, you are great! And for anyone who offers guidance by answering any or all of my questions, thank you so much! I wish all of you guys (and gals) the best!

For me, the vast majority of my day-to-day pains come from gas. When it moves across certain areas, it can be incredibly painful. For me, it's usually on my right side just below the rib cage. When it's at it's worst, I apply some pressure to the area, and that makes it much more tolerable. If it doesn't go away (or at least move) after a bit, then it's not gas. If that's the case, I'd suggest visiting the doctor again and asking him... because each person experiences Crohn's in a different way, so what sounds like gas pain to me could be something worse, or nothing at all for you.

Humira and Remicade are both options, should they prove necessary. They are kinda heavy-hitters as far as drugs go, though, so most doctors will want to try as many lighter-weight drugs as possible before moving up to those. In my case, neither of those (or several others) worked well enough, so I'm between experimental drugs at the moment.

I don't recall ever taking Entocort, but I know I was on Prednisone. I don't think I had any side-effects, though this was 6 years ago and I wasn't on it for very long. Just enough to keep me from kicking the bucket, then get me on something else while I tapered off.

I have D on a regular basis. In fact, it's normal, well-formed poo that's irregular for me. Blood only shows up if I eat something that REALLY disagrees with my guts, like caffeine or Arby's. However, as I said, each person experiences Crohn's differently. Lack of D just means you spend less on toilet paper.

Thanks for everyone's comments so far, I very much appreciate it!
sweetnakira: Let me know how you handle Prednisone as it sounds like we both have big anxiety issues and a fear of taking Prednisone! Id be curious to know how you stomach it and I hope it works out OK!

I'm hoping that your CT scan sheds some light on all of this. I haven't heard of Pentasa or Asacol causing anxiety. The Crohn's diagnosis causes anxiety for sure! I'd hate to have you rule out the 5-ASA drugs based on anxiety alone (that's the Pentasa and Asacol), unless you are having other side effects. I tend to have constipation more then diarrhea. I can't detect blood in my stools, but when I get anemic I know I'm bleeding. It is so frustrating when you are in pain, and there are so many complicating variables...it's really hard to figure out. Try to stay patient...I know it is so hard to do. Good luck and let us know what your scan shows.