Anxiety, help!!

[jt5]

I had some salami and noodle soup yesterday and was in a horrific pain this morning, had a bm and saw blood in my stool. I've never had that before, usually just abdominal pain. Is it a sign that my crohn's is flaring? Should I give a GI a call? I've been really stress with school and family and this disease is making me so worry. Is the blood in stool a common thing for crohns? or is it something serious i need to let my GI know asap??? my apetitie is not bad lately, but i feel quite tired most of the time and my adominal pain keeps come and go. please help! has this happen to you before, if yes what did you do?!?

 

[Jennifer]

Hi jt5, sorry you aren't feeling well.

While blood in stool is listed as a possible symptom of Crohn's disease its not normal in general. There's an open wound from somewhere which could be from hemorrhoids, inflammation, ulcers, a fissure etc. Any new symptoms should be reported to your GI as soon as possible so they can figure out what's going on and adjust your treatment to help make it stop. Blood loss can lead to many other problems so its best to get it taken care of as quickly as possible. If its just a hemorrhoid, great but you need to have your doctor take a look to be sure.

I had bright red bleeding off and on coming from my ileum when I was younger. It was from inflammation and ulcers. I almost needed a blood transfusion the first time because I lost a lot of blood but luckily I didn't have to and my doctors were able to get the bleeding under control with steroids and bowel rest (I was kept in the hospital for over 2 months). The toilet was filled with blood so I was taken to the ER the first time. Another time it was less but I still went to the ER.

Even though blood has been a symptom of mine in the past I still take blood loss seriously and go to the ER if its a lot. If it were a small amount then I'd call my GI right away and let them know about it so they can adjust my medication.

Let us know what your GI says and keep us posted on how you're doing.

 

[jt5]

Hi jt5, sorry you aren't feeling well.

While blood in stool is listed as a possible symptom of Crohn's disease its not normal in general. There's an open wound from somewhere which could be from hemorrhoids, inflammation, ulcers, a fissure etc. Any new symptoms should be reported to your GI as soon as possible so they can figure out what's going on and adjust your treatment to help make it stop. Blood loss can lead to many other problems so its best to get it taken care of as quickly as possible. If its just a hemorrhoid, great but you need to have your doctor take a look to be sure.

I had bright red bleeding off and on coming from my ileum when I was younger. It was from inflammation and ulcers. I almost needed a blood transfusion the first time because I lost a lot of blood but luckily I didn't have to and my doctors were able to get the bleeding under control with steroids and bowel rest (I was kept in the hospital for over 2 months). The toilet was filled with blood so I was taken to the ER the first time. Another time it was less but I still went to the ER.

Even though blood has been a symptom of mine in the past I still take blood loss seriously and go to the ER if its a lot. If it were a small amount then I'd call my GI right away and let them know about it so they can adjust my medication.

Let us know what your GI says and keep us posted on how you're doing.

Thanks for the advice! Just called my GI, but his office is closed so I guess I'll try again tomorrow Just a random question, how often do you see your GI? I usually see him once or twice a year, but whenever I feel like I'm flaring, it's so hard to reach him and I end up suffering until the appointment date. Are GIs usually this busy? LOL

 

[Jennifer]

GIs are definitely busy but that doesn't mean its ok to not contact you. When I'm in a flare my appointments are set up for every three months but if my symptoms get worse I call and leave him a message and get a call back either that day or at most 3 days later. When my flare seems to be getting under control my appointments are every 6 months. During remission they are once a year.

Always leave a message when you call yet most GI offices have an emergency line where they can tell you what to do. If they think you should go to the ER then they tell you to. Otherwise they will contact your GI (or whichever GI is on call at the time) and they or the on call doctor will give you a call back that day with the doctor's instructions. After you leave your message, call again the following day before their lunch hour (or two hour lunch).

I've never been left to suffer with either GI I've had. If possible you may want to find another GI if this one doesn't give you the time and attention that you need.

Hope you feel better soon. :hug: If it gets worse then you might want to consider going to the hospital to be on the safe side.

 

[jt5]

GIs are definitely busy but that doesn't mean its ok to not contact you. When I'm in a flare my appointments are set up for every three months but if my symptoms get worse I call and leave him a message and get a call back either that day or at most 3 days later. When my flare seems to be getting under control my appointments are every 6 months. During remission they are once a year.

Always leave a message when you call yet most GI offices have an emergency line where they can tell you what to do. If they think you should go to the ER then they tell you to. Otherwise they will contact your GI (or whichever GI is on call at the time) and they or the on call doctor will give you a call back that day with the doctor's instructions. After you leave your message, call again the following day before their lunch hour (or two hour lunch).

I've never been left to suffer with either GI I've had. If possible you may want to find another GI if this one doesn't give you the time and attention that you need.

Hope you feel better soon. :hug: If it gets worse then you might want to consider going to the hospital to be on the safe side.

Wow your GI sounds awesome! Seems like they actually keep track of your condition My former GI used to do that, but then I was at a kids hospital (before I turned 18). I just recented transfer to a regular hospital, and the GI there definitely seem busy and kinda rushed things up. I think I'm gonna keep calling him about my new symptoms and hopefully he will acknowledge me and give me a date. Oh and btw, what do you usually tell the nurse when you call? It seems like at my hospital, you have to do everything on your own, like they don't give me appointment dates. Just randomly call me 3 months prior the appointment which I really hate :confused2: I usually call and ask for when's the next appointment date, but how to you explain your condition over the phone? I'm not even sure if my secretary nurse even cares. I just hope she understands how serious crohns can get and give me a date instead of 5 months after when I'm flaring and half dying sighh

 

[Jennifer]

My GI calls me just to see how I'm doing, calls to let me know my test results (even blood work) and always calls before going on a trip/vacation/holiday. Most of the stuff we need to discuss gets done over the phone so a few times I've had to cancel appointments because there isn't anything more to talk about (I make sure I ask him while I have him on the phone before I cancel). So ya he is a pretty good GI.

I'm not sure how things are supposed to be in Canada, is it normal for appointments to be made for you? All appointments here in the USA need to be run by the patient. That would bug me and I'd be calling over there all the time to see when my appointment is or to change the date and time etc.

If you had better care with a pediatric GI then it is possible to have the same quality of care with an adult GI. My first adult GI was terrible and I only saw him twice (first appointment then my scope, never came back for the results because he did a horrible job with the scope). My second adult GI though is about as good as my pediatric GI.

When I call to leave a message for my GI I say, "Hi this is Jennifer Hope and I'm a patient of doctor _______'s and I'm calling to leave a message for him." They reply with, "Ok, hold on. What's your date of birth? What was your last name again? What's the message?" Then I say, "I wanted to let him know that I'm having a lot of abdominal pain and have mucus in my stool." Then they say, "Ok I'll let him know. Either he or I will give you a call back later today or tomorrow." The amount of time it takes for him to get back to me really depends on what's wrong. I know that if I had blood in my stool my GI would call back that same day. When I go to the ER my GI is informed by the doctors there and has a say in my treatment that day (within an hour at most). Just today I left a message saying that I forgot to ask him how long I should take 3mg of Entocort before I can come off of it completely and I just had an appointment with him yesterday (next one isn't until 6 months from now). I'll get a call back on Friday at the latest, which is fine because I don't start taking 3mg until tomorrow anyway.

I hope you can get through to your GI.

 

[jt5]

My GI calls me just to see how I'm doing, calls to let me know my test results (even blood work) and always calls before going on a trip/vacation/holiday. Most of the stuff we need to discuss gets done over the phone so a few times I've had to cancel appointments because there isn't anything more to talk about (I make sure I ask him while I have him on the phone before I cancel). So ya he is a pretty good GI.

I'm not sure how things are supposed to be in Canada, is it normal for appointments to be made for you? All appointments here in the USA need to be run by the patient. That would bug me and I'd be calling over there all the time to see when my appointment is or to change the date and time etc.

If you had better care with a pediatric GI then it is possible to have the same quality of care with an adult GI. My first adult GI was terrible and I only saw him twice (first appointment then my scope, never came back for the results because he did a horrible job with the scope). My second adult GI though is about as good as my pediatric GI.

When I call to leave a message for my GI I say, "Hi this is Jennifer Hope and I'm a patient of doctor _______'s and I'm calling to leave a message for him." They reply with, "Ok, hold on. What's your date of birth? What was your last name again? What's the message?" Then I say, "I wanted to let him know that I'm having a lot of abdominal pain and have mucus in my stool." Then they say, "Ok I'll let him know. Either he or I will give you a call back later today or tomorrow." The amount of time it takes for him to get back to me really depends on what's wrong. I know that if I had blood in my stool my GI would call back that same day. When I go to the ER my GI is informed by the doctors there and has a say in my treatment that day (within an hour at most). Just today I left a message saying that I forgot to ask him how long I should take 3mg of Entocort before I can come off of it completely and I just had an appointment with him yesterday (next one isn't until 6 months from now). I'll get a call back on Friday at the latest, which is fine because I don't start taking 3mg until tomorrow anyway.

I hope you can get through to your GI.

Thanks Jennifer. That is very helpful Your first adult GI sounds exactly like mine. First appointment then my scope, and never heard again from him. After the scope, (before they put me to sleep) was the last time I saw him. He never even explain the result for the scope with me, the nurse just said everything was fine. No calls, no messages til then. :confused2: I was wondering where do you find a different GI? Do you need referral btw? I'm gonna try calling my GI again this week, if I still can't reach him I think I have to change since I don't think I'm getting the care and attention a crohn's patient should get. Sigh, if only I live in the states, cause your GI sounds pretty great. haha :smile:

 

[Jennifer]

In the USA you often have to get a referral from your regular doctor/general practitioner to another GI or any specialist (depending on your insurance, some insurances let you just go to a specialist). I don't know what you have to do in Canada though. You could make an appointment with your regular doctor and ask them.