I never know if it's a flare?

I have intense cramps/spasms that come and go...they last for about 10-15 seconds and the intensity is about a 8-9. They can come anywhere from 2-5 x an hour. I have some diarrhea about 2-3 x a day now. No blood as I am using rectal meds.

My doc now is testing liver, pancreas, and am getting a CT scan as well, in addition to stool testing.

This all started a few weeks ago after I drank a milk shake (dumb idea). The next day I did not feel right, although I do eat some dairy products such as an occasional piece of cheese. I started to get the urgency and reflux. (Bad Reflux has always been a part of my flares). Then last Friday is when the cramping started and it hasn't stopped since. I am getting frustrated with that. I have Bentyl and it is helping somewhat so that is good.

Does this sound like a typical flare? The part that confuses me is that when I used to get cramps I would immediately need to relieve myself. And that is not the case because the cramps are all day long.

A milkshake wouldn't create those symptoms for this long....once it's out, your symptoms would be done. Doesn't seem the case.

Are the cramps rectal and during bms or throughout the day not connected to any bms?

So it's good your doc will be doing further testing .
q

How long has this worse trend of symptoms been going on? Food born causes (like salmonella) can last around a week. Stomach flus around a few days. We can get sick like anyone else can. Flares are persistent.

Don't blame yourself for drinking the milkshake. It's not the likely cause, as hindsight is often perfect 20/20 vision, where we draw correlation when their is no causation. I would bet it's a coincidence.

To me, this sounds more like IBS than a flareup. Spasms and diarrhea are often attributed to IBS. An antispasmatic medication might help.

It could be a uc flare, they do happen without blood, but blood would make it more certain.

Make sure to get a stool test to check for cdiff.

Just Stud: my normal flare begins with bad gas, mucous and some blood and urgency. Turns quickly to alot of all that within days. I never had the intense cramps that I do this time. I have been given pred to treat flares and my doc isn't so sure this is a flare because in one sense the symptoms are milder but not the waves of pain.

quincy:The cramps are throughout the day and are not connected to BM's, although when I do go, I have the cramps anyway.

Kevin: I can eat dairy just not alot of it. I do not come up lactose intolerant but I do know what foods bother me. I cannot eat bananas, green peppers, orange juice or soda. I sort of feel like the shake pushed me into a flare.

Ipoop: My doc also thought it could be IBS flare up. I never thought I had IBS but I guess I could. I never thought the pain would be worse than a UC flare. I have had C-Diff and this pain sort of reminds me of that in the intensity, but I do get breaks from the pain which I didn't with C-Diff.
My doc prescribed Bentyl and after the 2nd dose I started to get relief. Hopefully, I just needed to break the pain cycle. Now, to get rid of the D.
One more thing, my doc asked if the pain got worse after i used the rectals and i really couldn't answer him as I wasn't sure. So I didn't do a rectal med today or yesterday and now I am wondering if that is it (he mentioned sometimes they cause pancreatitis) or is it the bentyl??

Time will tell, blood work is in, stools are in, just waiting for CT Scan Approval?

Thank you for all your responses.

So I had the CT Scan done and the results are:
Wall thickening involving a loop of ileum in the right lower quadrant consistent with an enteritis.

All of my blood work came back normal...just waiting for some more stool labs to be done and then he may put me on antibiotics.

Thank you quincy...I go back next week for more results and hopefully more answers. The pain is almost constant now just not as severe as the waves that were coming. For some reason, I also have pain in my vagina which feels like so much pressure.
On my CT Scan, they also found a 2.7 cm lesion in my uterus and said it is likely a fibroid or polyp. I had a large polyp removed a few years ago and it didn't affect me when I wasn't menstruating so I am not sure if this is causing the pain and pressure or if it's from the UC/Crohns.

Anyway, so very appreciative of this site.

Well, I know I was diagnosed with UC but at this point, all my tests are coming back negative for any infection so I wonder if it is Crohns. Years ago, my bloodwork was positive for Crohn's yet one of my first colonscopies at that time was clean.

I do have bentyl which does take the edge off somewhat.