Crohns or something else?

Hi, I am new to the boards here. I've been having some issues and saw this and thought hey maybe they have advice or help for me?
Sooo here is my deal. For the last two months i've been pretty sick. It started with a bad, painful outbreak of canker sores in my mouth. They hurt very bad and made eating impossible. Around the same time I started feeling down, tired if you will. The sores went away but the feeling of exhaustion did not.
A month later the sores came back but worse. I was incorrectly diagnosed by a dr. for herpes. This alone was a hard diagnosis which left me upset only to find out it was false. At this point my exhaustion was severe. I slept all the time, didn't wanna get out of bed, and couldn't do things that used to make me happy. Added to this my spine hurt, my lower back in particular, my hands started to ache and I couldn't grip as well as I used to. I figured it was like mono or something but it wasn't.
On top of this was my bowel movements. I guess since they have been like this for so long (maybe like 5 months?) they were not something i mentioned to doctors when i went in. But basically I had diarrhea a lot. Some days I wouldn't have a bowel movement and would get so bloated it would hurt. then the next I would go like 8 times at least. I never felt emptied, if that makes sense. Also i started to notice that my stool was white... and i referred to them to my parents as "mummified". weird description i know. but basically, it is mucus I think. The mucus caused some embarrassing leakage. Now there is blood (alot of it) in my stool on a regular basis.
My pain has gotton worse, my bowel movements are more of an issue than they were before. My doctor blood tested me and said I am perfectly normal. The IBD tests arn't coming in for a while but she wants be to see a GI and get a colonoscopy. I think i should also mention that my grandfather died of colon cancer, my cousin has crohns, and my dad's cousin has crohns as well. I also have had issues with kidney stones in the past and I am 22 years old.
My issue is that I am not so well off right now. My parents are helping me pay current hospital bills from my kidneys. I don't want to get tests that might not be needed and have to pay for them. Do you think i should go for the tests for crohns or IDB? or should i hold off and wait? Is it more likely that it is something else? where your symptoms similar ?I am very confused and scared right now. any advice or help is great.
sorry this is so long!

I remember when I was first sick. I had those canker sores as well, your symptoms sound like mine. I lost a lot of weight and was constantly in the bathroom. I had very sore joints, was constantly cold and had large sores that felt like bruises on my shins.

After my first colonoscopy I was diagnosed with colitis but after a series of test this past June, I have officially been diagnosed with Crohns. I would highly recommend you get all the tests you can and don't wait too long. I have no idea of the cost as I live in Canada and most of our medical tests are covered.

I wish you the best and hope you get to feeling better soon.

K

Thank You everyone for you kind comments! I just wanted to update you and say thank you! I went in to see a GI who scheduled me for a colonoscopy asap since I was producing a lot of blood and ran a high temp most of the time. He told me he saw signs of both Crohns and UC and that he took a biopsy to discern which on or both it is. I didn't even know you could have both? Also he told me, i was obviously groggy and my father wasn't much help, but he told me my appendix was very badly inflamed. Is this normal with IBD? I asked him what it meant and he said he would call me next week to let me know. should I be concerned about that? Thank you all so much! I hope that as I figure everything out I will be able to use these boards as a good helping tool and support system. My cousin also has crohns so I am fortuante to have him... however he is kind of a gypsy so I rarely can talk to him :)

Thanks again,
S

I do not think you have both UC and Crohns. If anything its just one or the other or what is called Crohns Colitis. That is crohns that affects mainly the colon.

My biggest tip to you is once you get on meds do not stop them. If diagnosed with Crohns you should know that it is a chronic and incurable bowel disease that must be treated at all times. There will be some meds that are just used to quite the inflammation down, but other meds which will be considered your maintenance med.

Stay with us, you will find that there is sure to be someone who has experienced what you are feeling and be able to provide you some experiences. Hugs!

Hello! I'm new to the forum as well. Your symptoms sound a lot like mine now & pre-diagnosis. When I have horrid mouth ulcers I know that all heck is about to break loose in my intestines as well as intestines. My advice to you would be to find a really good Gasroenterologist first and get he/she to perform an Upper endoscopy, colonoscopy & Barium X-ray. Since finances is a issue the colonoscopy, in my opinion, should be at the top of your list of procedures to get done.

 Until you see the GI I would reccomend just taking it easy, staying hydrated and not stressing out. Stress makes any medical condition worse. If you are having continuous bloody bowel movements I would take a trip to the ER.