Atypical Crohn's?

[cheeky]

atypical Crohn's?

heya!

my question, is there such a thing as 'atypical Crohn's disease'? or atypical initial presentation of Crohn's?

if so, what qualifies?

i had kinda been referring to myself as atypical after i heard someone refer to me that way... but i'm not sure if anyone else uses that reference.

 

[Kev]

I was diagnosed that... I have either both crohns and ulcerative colitis or a rare form that has the worst symptoms of both. Usually, crohns hits in patches, but it eats deeper into the tissue of the g i tract, whereas uc typically spreads but does not form fistulas (usually only affecting the surface layer). mine spread thoughout my system like wildfire, and was thought (at first) to be just UC. That diagnosis was changed, and the change confirmed, when I developed my first fistula. That is my particular case (I think about less than 2% of people get this) but there are other 'atypical' cases, amounting to about 11 - 12% in total.

 

[Delahar]

I`d like to know what exactly is "typical Crohn`s" because I have yet to hear of two people with the exact same symptoms.
Maybe Crohn`s isn`t really one disease at all,but just a cover-all phrase for a variety of IBD`s which no one really understands or knows how to treat.

 

[crohnsappleadams]

I`d like to know what exactly is "typical Crohn`s" because I have yet to hear of two people with the exact same symptoms.
Maybe Crohn`s isn`t really one disease at all,but just a cover-all phrase for a variety of IBD`s which no one really understands or knows how to treat.

Crohn's is pretty commonly accepted to be caused by the presence of paraTB bacteria in the digestive tract. It's pretty well understood.

 

[Delahar]

Crohn's is pretty commonly accepted to be caused by the presence of paraTB bacteria in the digestive tract. It's pretty well understood.

Thanks!
At least SOMEBODY understands it!:lol:

 

[Creepy Lurker]

Crohn's is pretty commonly accepted to be caused by the presence of paraTB bacteria in the digestive tract. It's pretty well understood.

Erm, no it's not.

 

[Mazen]

Nobody knows for sure what causes Crohn's. The mainstream theory is an overactive immune system attacking normal or foreign bacteria or viruses in the gut. Other thories are that it caused by a Bacteria or virus, as well as overgrowth of bad bacteris in the gut.........

The theory that Crohn's is caused by the ParaTB bacteria is still controversial and not approved by medicine, else we would all be cured by taking antibiotics. There were big trials done on this and they didn't show any conclusive result.

 

[crohnsappleadams]

I have no desire to debate this in my present state, so I'll politely back out of this thread.

 

[cheeky]

I was diagnosed that... I have either both crohns and ulcerative colitis or a rare form that has the worst symptoms of both. Usually, crohns hits in patches, but it eats deeper into the tissue of the g i tract, whereas uc typically spreads but does not form fistulas (usually only affecting the surface layer). mine spread thoughout my system like wildfire, and was thought (at first) to be just UC. That diagnosis was changed, and the change confirmed, when I developed my first fistula. That is my particular case (I think about less than 2% of people get this) but there are other 'atypical' cases, amounting to about 11 - 12% in total.

interesting... well, people used the term for me because i presented stronger extra-intestinal symptoms for YEARS before i had more severe intestinal symptoms, and even in my case, i still haven't experienced diarrhea as a symptom...GI said that's unusual.

anyway, there is further investigation needed, the GI didn't completely conclude that it's Crohn's, but leaned toward the Crohn's diagnosis... he said he couldn't get past my stricture during the colonoscopy... and i guess the results he did get from the colonoscopy could indicate either UC/Crohn's....

i believe it's Crohn's because of the stricture and the extraintestinal symptoms, but the GI said that's not necessarily enough to conclude it's Crohn's.
but he was an ass anyway, so we'll see.

i'll update when i see my new GI, see what he says.

also, i'll add - i can keep weight on, i can gain weight easily... at the same time, it's not difficult to lose weight, when i make the effort to diet/exercise the pounds come off easily (and quicker than the average person).

but i would say i've mostly been within the average to overweight range throughout my life.

 

[Kev]

I will jump in once more just for the chance to display my sheer scientific ignorance of the topic (ignorance is bliss). My first onset followed shortly after the most, and I must stress this MOST, stessfull time in my entire life. Hence, I was an accident waiting to happen. Was I in prior contact with pt A... quite possibly. I drank tons of milk, and like my steak rare.. bloody rare. If para TB A is one day positively linked to crohns, then.. well, you can put 2 n 2 together. I don't expect finding (one day, maybe) that pt A was part of the initial cause that it will result in a cure (for you, me, or anyone else afflicted). A vaccine? Yes, I can picture that (same as the one they have for TB). Supposedly, TB resides in all of us, dormant, and can't be erradicated, but not everyone develops TB. I believe (and my memory AND brain pan ain't what they used to be) that TB, and quite possibly its close cousin para, have the ability to hide themselves in healthy cells.. (so its akin to looking for a needle in a haystack only the needle can disquise itself to look like hay.. not so easy a challange). I won't compare directly HIV and pt A (virii and bacteria are vastly different, and most bacteria will succumb to anti-biotics, whereas virii supposedly are unaffected by them), but the big "THEY" have known for decades now what causes AIDs, and that hasn't led to a 'cure'. Pondering what gave 'you' (or me, or anybody) crohns is not a practical endeavour (in my humble opinion). Sort of like trying to wipeout one's own existence by first developing a time machine, traveling back through time to the night you were conceived, and slipping your dad some condoms.

 

[crohnsappleadams]

I will jump in once more just for the chance to display my sheer scientific ignorance of the topic (ignorance is bliss). My first onset followed shortly after the most, and I must stress this MOST, stessfull time in my entire life. Hence, I was an accident waiting to happen. Was I in prior contact with pt A... quite possibly. I drank tons of milk, and like my steak rare.. bloody rare. If para TB A is one day positively linked to crohns, then.. well, you can put 2 n 2 together. I don't expect finding (one day, maybe) that pt A was part of the initial cause that it will result in a cure (for you, me, or anyone else afflicted). A vaccine? Yes, I can picture that (same as the one they have for TB). Supposedly, TB resides in all of us, dormant, and can't be erradicated, but not everyone develops TB. I believe (and my memory AND brain pan ain't what they used to be) that TB, and quite possibly its close cousin para, have the ability to hide themselves in healthy cells.. (so its akin to looking for a needle in a haystack only the needle can disquise itself to look like hay.. not so easy a challange). I won't compare directly HIV and pt A (virii and bacteria are vastly different, and most bacteria will succumb to anti-biotics, whereas virii supposedly are unaffected by them), but the big "THEY" have known for decades now what causes AIDs, and that hasn't led to a 'cure'. Pondering what gave 'you' (or me, or anybody) crohns is not a practical endeavour (in my humble opinion). Sort of like trying to wipeout one's own existence by first developing a time machine, traveling back through time to the night you were conceived, and slipping your dad some condoms.

I'll jump back in long enough to state that this is a high quality post, but also to state that understanding and accepting the root cause of Crohn's will likely be more useful than understanding the root cause of HIV. Crohn's disease isn't spread by sex, so in essence we all acquire it from the root cause. With HIV it may have been as small as a single person acquiring it from the root cause (more than likely a few dozen in actuality, but it ostensibly could have been just one) and infecting the population.