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Celiac or crohns.

hello my name is joe, I have found out that I have erosions in the proximal section of my small intestine via capsule endoscopy. I have also had other scopes which were negative. the tests were done due to anemia. the doctore ordered blood work for some antibodies. one had elevated values but only in the moderate range. I have other arthritic and joint issues and have not worked in almost two years. about 8 years ago is when my right upper quadrant pain first appeared. at first it was just nagging. after it became worse I had my gallbladder removed. I was told to expect a little of the pain for a while. the pain never went away. for years I had the pain. and found that eating fatty foods made worse so I changed my diet. soon more and more foods caused the pain. which I now describe as almost constant and aching. I seem to have it most all the time. sometimes it makes me feel bloated. and very uncomfortable. I haven't got a diagnosis of either disease yet. however my rheumatologist just recently ordered a new med. sulfasalazine. he told me this is going to eventually. fix everything. he told me it will get rid of my abd pain and joint and muscle pain. I am a little skeptical. since I have just had arthroscopic surgery on both hips. and have knees and feet that hurt more than my hips. I am 49 years old and have always been active. I am a nurse so I worked on my feet all day. the way I feel now is that I will never be able to do bedside nursing again. with all my aches and pains I don't know what I will do in the future. does anybody else have experience with ibd and arthritis and used this medication? can anybody give me some advice on minimizing the abdominal pain? I have tried to narrow down what foods. even tried gluten free. then dairy products started effecting me. as a nurse I learned to really learn about something is to ask and listen to those who know. the patient. thank you.
 

valleysangel92

Moderator
Staff member
Hey, welcome to the forum.. I have both coeliac and crohns disease..

Your symptoms could be attributed to one or both of these conditions .. The best way to work out whats happening is to have some bloods and depending what they show have imaging tests such as an mri to see if things have progressed any more since your capsule endoscopy.
How long did you come off gluten for? Sometimes with coeliac the symptoms can take anything from a few months to a year to settle down. If you arent eating gluten at the moment and plan to get tested for coeliac its important to start eating gluten again before your tested

My advice would be to ask your doctor to investigate you for both conditions as both need treatment as soon as possible.
I think crohns sounds more likely though.

Good luck :)
 
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thanks angel. I was only off of gluten for a couple months. I still try to watch what I eat. but its weird. wheat bread causes pain. but wheat cereals are ok. greek yogurt causes pain and other yogurts don't. I am really curious about this medicine sulfasalazine. my rheumatologist says it should take care of most all problems I experience like bloating abdominal pain and muscle and joint problems. from what little I know about crohns and celiac. I am skeptical. thank you again. and I hope that your doing ok.
 

valleysangel92

Moderator
Staff member
Hmm that does sound a bit more like crohns, with coeliac any sort of gluten would normally make symptoms worse.. Ive done a little research on sulfasalazine and it is sometimes used to treat some forms of inflammatory bowel disease, so it might be helpful but really you do need a diagnosis rather than just blind treatment.

Ive just had a thought on what could help your pain.. when I get that kind of pain, I find heat really helps, either in the form of a nice hot bath/shower or a hot water bottle or heat pack. Some people find things like peppermint oil helps relieve symptoms but some say it makes them worse, so that's a bit of trial and error, for me it settled the bloating a little sometimes. A few people here also find they get relief from tylenol. Avoid anti-inflammatory medicines like ibprophen though.
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
You only need to go off of gluten if you have celiac disease. Some people are gluten sensitive but they can handle small amounts of it. Have you been tested to rule out celiac?
 
thanks angel I will try the heat. but I have to ask what do you do with peppermint oil? apply it topically? and nogutsnoglory I have had some blood work, scopes and ct scan. I haven't been told one way or another if its crohns disease or celiac.
 

valleysangel92

Moderator
Staff member
You can get peppermint oil capsules that you take orally or i think you can get it as a liquid as well that you would swallow
 
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