the diagnosis doesn't always make sense

I have a 6 yo son who was diagnosed at the age 5 with CD, after being hospitalized with severe salmonella poisoning. Granuloma were found in biopsies taken during a colonoscopy. That was his second GI related hospitalization in less than 2 years. He mostly has good days, but sleep is extremely important and he has symptoms that don't make sense, at least to me. He has frequent extremity pain in his arms and legs, he will have frequent tummy aches, or if he gets a virus or is ill, it can take 2-3 weeks for him to get better, when it might take others only a couple of days. The confusing part is that whenever has seems to have a flare up or is ill, we take him to our specialists and he will order labs and stool studies, and all of his labs come back perfect. If this is CD, and he is having these symptoms, shouldn't it show up in at least some of the labs? Any ideas?

Welcome to the forum and I'm sorry to hear about your son. I agree with kazbern, it's not really unusual for lab tests to come back within normal ranges when it comes to Crohn's, and enteropathic arthritis happens in about 25% of patients, if memory serves me. I remember a story in a CCFA newsletter of a little boy having trouble walking to his bus because of his joint pain - a story that resonated with my childhood memories. One of the first indications that I had something wrong was joint pain and fatigue when I was young. Stomach viruses or other illnesses are harder for us to get over, and if your son has been treated with immunosupressants recently, that can add to that effect. So, what seems to not make sense to you is pretty well "normal" to some of us when it comes to Crohn's. You may find some helpful information at CCFA.org if you haven't already. I hope your son feels better soon. -Joy