Are these Crohns symptoms?

[CragenPlant]

I have been diagnosed with Crohns since 2007 when a colonoscopy discovered a small inflamed area in the lower bowel. I've never suffered with diarrhea or lower bowel pains as all my pain is situated in my upper abdomin.

I suffer around 2-3 attacks per year, which is barely on the radar compared to many people on here, but I just wondered if anyone else has simialr symptoms to me, or if they think as i do, that i may have a stomach ulcer or h-pylori bacteria, maybe in addition to Crohns disease?

Certain foods trigger an attack, but the danger foods for me are things like crisps, fish n chips, sponge cake (chocolate) and chocolate bars.

Once eaten, I feel a burn in my stomach after around 5 minutes. This then remains fairly tame for a few hours, sometimes its cramps, sometimes a constant burn. The time when it explodes is at night, in the early hours.

I always awake and vomit up to three or four times. By this time my stomach is rock hard and i feel terrible. I am sweating although do not have a fever.

The next 5 days is about recovering slowly and by the fifth day, i am back to normal although any food will cause a slight ache in the stomach for a few weeks afterwards. There is no diarrea, stools are as per usual.

In 2007, the helicobacter virus was detected prior to the Crohns diagnosis and this was treated and cured but the attacks continue.

My last attack was last Tuesday night and involved a hospital visit (6 days). A CT scan was done and narrowing of the small intestine was also discovered in two places in addition to the colon.

The doctors have advised surgery or treatment with drugs.

My only question is does anyone else have diagnosed narrowings and blisters in the bowel/intestine yet has all the pain in the stomach literally minutes after eating?

I have asked for another test for Helicobacta in case this has returned as my symptoms seem to follow those of an ulcer rather than Crohns, crohns being possibly a secondary reaction once the stomach is inflamed.

Any advice gratefully received.

D

 

[Nica]

I only have inflammation in my colon and at times in a really bad flare it takes literally minutes to send me running to the bathroom doubled over in pain from the time I start eating. So yes, that could be crohn's. I would imagine having it your small bowel as well speeds up that process.

I also deal with the sweating and severely distended stomach, it literally looks like I am 7+ months pregnant.

Usually when I start a new flare my GI orders a battery of tests to rule out any other infections than Crohn's.

 

[tummygirl]

This sounds really similar to my attacks, although I was having about 8 per year... and the I've never had issues with the foods you listed. I have issues with things like corn and peas and green peppers, lettuce, tomatoes etc. So lots of times I would eat, feel uncomfortable, get bloated, vomit probably 3 -4 hours later?, D, and then vomiting for hours. It was so painful too! Then there was always 3-5 days of eating very little, very plain food.

My ct scan showed narrowing in my small bowel, resulting in an obstruction... (or maybe partial obstruction? - not sure). They hospitalized me for a week. I've been on various medications since then; and I've had one attack - just last month - I think this one is due to something I ate, since I decided to try some salad after eating low-fiber for 11 months...

They checked me for Gall Bladder originally, because they thought it was high-fat foods causing my attacks; but when I did an accurate food diary, that wasn't the case.

 

[Sandy]

Hi CragenPlant, the pain immediately after eating sounds to me like reflux disease, where acid from the stomach leaks back up into the esophagus and causes severe pain. I had that for years before getting it diagnosed properly. I'm now on Prevacid (in addition to my Crohn's disease treatment) which stopped the problem in its tracks. I don't know if my acid reflux was due to Crohn's or is independent, but either way I got both. And I've had problems with acid reflux when lying down. You might mention it to your doctor.

Good luck, both of you!

Sandy

 

[Rebecca85]

I had ulcers, and at its worst I could be doubled over in pain within minutes of eating a 'wrong' food (seeds, skins, high fibre). Strong painkillers would see it off, with no vomiting at all, and just a residual tenderness for a few days. However before I was diagnosed and treated with Pred, it was more typical for me to have the slow build up, usually in the afternoon (ie after lunch) with hunger-type pains. By late evening I would be vomiting, which would maybe give me enough relief to go to bed with a hot water bottle, and I would wake in the morning feeling sore but OK.

 

[Chuck2008]

Sounds like Crohns to me...

 

[Astra]

Hi cragenplant
and welcome fellow Brit

Familiarise yourself with IBD, and you'll soon find out that crap like crisps, chocolate, fatty fried foods and cake are a huge no no for a Crohnie!
You're asking for trouble there!
Give your bowels a little rest, try a low residue diet, you can find this on the ForumWiki.
Sounds like an IBD like Crohns to me too, and inflammation will cause strictures/scarring over time, resulting in narrowing, resulting in blockage, hence the vomiting! And so on.
Glad you found us, lots of support here for you
lotsa luv
Joan xxx

 

[crazycanuck]

Sounds a bit like an IBD to me too but these things are mysterious. As Astra said a lot of those things are generally no no's for us its actually like diet control for some people. You eat junk and your bowels let you know about it haha. Best of luck and welcome to the forums.

 

[CragenPlant]

Thankyou

Thank you for the kind words of advice and support. It makes things a bit clearer for me at this confusing time!

I've been advised to cut out all fibrous foods (which as you know is a big list). I fail to remember any instance when these foods caused a flare up.

The list recommends eating sweets & crisps!! I have cut all these out as I know that all flare ups have been caused by fats & sweets :-(

I am not yet on any drugs, although they are pushing Azathioprine on me. Aren't there some fertility issues here?

My condition at this time seems very diet dependant and so I am being very strict with the strictures!

I hope not to have to go down the surgery route for quite some time, but have a meeting with my consultant next week.

He told me that my narrowing in the first area of small intestine under the stomach was only 1mm in diametre with the CT Scan whilst i had my last flare up two weeks ago.

My question is how wide does this intestine receed to when not inflamed? Stools are as ever, totally normal and I have never had diahrea (can't spell!) with the condition.

CP