Hi, I'm new around here and I'm just wondering if there is anyone can help me with a couple of questions I have. To give a bit of background, I am currently undiagnosed and am awaiting an appointment with a specialist.
I'm 24 years of age, and about 8 weeks ago I began to notice some bright red blood in my stool. About a week later I started to experience some mild discomfort and pain in the lower left area of my stomach. I saw a couple of GP's and they checked for the usual cuts or Hemorrhoids and found nothing so referred me to a GI specialist. In the meantime, the pain in my stomach became slightly worse, and I began feeling light-headed, nauseated, fatigued and generally just unwell. I also began to experience some glandular issues, with the glands in my neck swelling and becoming tender and also experiencing some pain under my arms. My bowel movements were loose with occasional diarrhoea, but generally were limited to one or two per day and nothing too out of the ordinary. I continued to see blood with virtually every bowel movement.
Eventually I saw the specialist, and as I was actually away from home at the time, he informed me that I would need a colonoscopy, and advised me to return home to investigate further. He also assured me that this was most likely mild colitis, and there was almost no chance of someone of my age with no family history having colon cancer so he wouldn't even entertain it as a possibility.
So at the moment I am at home waiting for a new specialist appointment in order to get a scope or whatever is needed to have a look. However I have a couple of questions that hopefully someone may be able to answer.
Along the way I have gotten blood work and stool samples done. My CRP and ESR are completely normal, and also the stool samples showed absolutely no white blood cells. This would appear to indicate that it is not IBD that is the issue. Is it possible to be having a very mild flare up with normal blood work and no white blood cells in the stool? Also, having read many stories here and elsewhere, I haven't really come across many cases of colitis where the sufferers are not experiencing a lot of bowel movements daily. Also I am continuing to experience some glandular activity, particularly pain under my arms. All of the doctors including the GI and my own GP have seemed unconcerned by this, but has anyone experienced anything similar with IBD?
All of the above seems to indicate that it is not actually IBD related, which is a bit worrying to be honest. Any help with any of these questions would be greatly appreciated, and apologies for the long winded spiel!
I'm 24 years of age, and about 8 weeks ago I began to notice some bright red blood in my stool. About a week later I started to experience some mild discomfort and pain in the lower left area of my stomach. I saw a couple of GP's and they checked for the usual cuts or Hemorrhoids and found nothing so referred me to a GI specialist. In the meantime, the pain in my stomach became slightly worse, and I began feeling light-headed, nauseated, fatigued and generally just unwell. I also began to experience some glandular issues, with the glands in my neck swelling and becoming tender and also experiencing some pain under my arms. My bowel movements were loose with occasional diarrhoea, but generally were limited to one or two per day and nothing too out of the ordinary. I continued to see blood with virtually every bowel movement.
Eventually I saw the specialist, and as I was actually away from home at the time, he informed me that I would need a colonoscopy, and advised me to return home to investigate further. He also assured me that this was most likely mild colitis, and there was almost no chance of someone of my age with no family history having colon cancer so he wouldn't even entertain it as a possibility.
So at the moment I am at home waiting for a new specialist appointment in order to get a scope or whatever is needed to have a look. However I have a couple of questions that hopefully someone may be able to answer.
Along the way I have gotten blood work and stool samples done. My CRP and ESR are completely normal, and also the stool samples showed absolutely no white blood cells. This would appear to indicate that it is not IBD that is the issue. Is it possible to be having a very mild flare up with normal blood work and no white blood cells in the stool? Also, having read many stories here and elsewhere, I haven't really come across many cases of colitis where the sufferers are not experiencing a lot of bowel movements daily. Also I am continuing to experience some glandular activity, particularly pain under my arms. All of the doctors including the GI and my own GP have seemed unconcerned by this, but has anyone experienced anything similar with IBD?
All of the above seems to indicate that it is not actually IBD related, which is a bit worrying to be honest. Any help with any of these questions would be greatly appreciated, and apologies for the long winded spiel!
