Concerned about some of my symptoms

[tiddymun]

Hi Folks

I've been quite concerned with some of what's been going on with my Stomach. Last August after an evening out with work friends I woke up with a pain in my abdomen just below the ribs. It was constant and remained all day until the evening when it calmed down a little. The next day it was mild when I awoke but had got pretty uncomfortable by the evening again. I can't say eating or going to the toilet had any effect. It wasn't a burning pain such as heartburn. In fact it felt too low down for that. It lasted for 3 weeks with normal bowel movements all the time, however i went to see the GP who suspected an Ulcer and proscribed Pump Inhibitors. It seemed to disappear within 2 days of taking these.

Leap forward 5 months to December just passed. Just before Christmas I started to feel a horrid vague fullness and a dull pain in my lower abdomen daily, It was hard to pinpoint where exactly in the abdomen as it felt so vague (why is the stomach so vague. Ahhh!). The pain this time was lower down than before and more like bad indigestion feels. It came late morning, hit it's peak around late afternoon then died away only to get worse late evening. After 2-3 weeks that pain went away and the same old pain just under my ribs re appeared. I went to GP and he ran tests for H pylori which came back negative.

Since Christmas the pain under my ribs went only to be replaced with a daily vague discomfort with occasional heartburn. I was referred to a specialist GI surgeon who said at this stage he wants to hold off doing a colonoscopy as he doubts with those symptoms anything would present at this stage.

Since seeing him In the last 2 weeks I have developed what can only be described as a constant mild ache in my lower right abdomen just to the right and below the belly button. I also fart alot(!) and have a rumbling stomach. I day last week I had a loose bowel movement in the morning and 1 today that coincided with the pain in my lower right side increasing temporarily but other than that bowel functions normal apart from passing gas a lot. My weight has stayed the same throughout.

I've been very concerned that it may be IBD. I appreciate that it's a varied disease in the way it presents but are there any of you who just had similar symptoms to mine? Am I worrying to much? I was hoping it could be IBS of some functional thing as opposed to IBD. Can you get lower right discomfort with IBS too? It's very mild down there and quite new as the discomfort was elsewhere before and felt different.

Thanks a lot.

 

[kello82]

hey there tiddymun & welcome

well, your symptoms do sound familiar to what many of us go thru. heartburn/indigestion/acid reflux is common, as is farting (lol!).
diharrea as well. for me the symptom i suffered most was pain with bowel movement, very bad cramping in my abdo from my bellybutton down. but after the poo the pain would disperse.

as you said though, IBD is such a varied disease and there can be SOO many different reasons for digestive problems in this world.

IBS and IBD frequently present similarly, so you are very right about that that it could be either or. many of the members here were diagnosed as IBS patients for years before being treated as an IBD patient. and even some members here are thought to have BOTH diseases!

one thing to look for, for it to be crohns (this doesnt pertain to UC) inflammation often presents in other areas than just the digestive tract.
be on the lookout for sores in your mouth or lips (on the lips they look and feel like cold sores, i didnt know they were related for the longest time and was using abreva!!), look for sores on your bottom or right near the exit hole there.
sometimes the skin can become inflamed and get a rash, joints can become inflamed and get a bit sore and swollen, and even eyes can be involved!!

i know thats a long list of things, dont worry, you wont suddenly get all these things and be a mess. these "extraintestinal manifestations" usually occur with more advaced cases of crohns, you may notice the odd sore here or there, but developing full blown arthritis right now would be really unlikely!

so look out for those things but dont worry about them

i hope i didnt scare you =/

let us know how you get on ok?

 

[tiddymun]

Hi there

Thanks for your message. It's nice to have a friendly ear with these things.

I've watched out for extar symptoms. I've not really noticed any. I sometimes get an itchy rear end but I've always had that. Sometimes I get a full feeling down there but not much happens. The different discomfort and pains only really started last Summer. I've not lost any weight. Does that normally acompany any symptoms with IBD? The pain has been more of a nagging discomfort on each occasion on each different location rather than large cramps when on the toilet. Most of the time my personal functions have been very regular apart from loose movements on two different occasions.

Apart from the obvious reasons to be concerned about Crohn's with myself a big fear is I'd lose my medical for my job (aircrew) and my career as IBD is a disqualifying condition in the UK :-((. Am I right that you don't get lower right pain with IBS or can that happen? I think I should see how it goes then if it continues see the specialist again. It's the not knowing that's the thing.

Thanks for your help.

 

[kello82]

to be honest im not sure at all if LRQ pain does not occur with IBS. hopefully someone with experience with that will have an answer for ya.

im glad to hear that you havent lost any weight either, weight loss IS a sign of IBD and its good to hear that your weight is stable. is your appetite stable as well?

sorry that a diagnosis could mean loss of job for you thats a really hard situation. keep in mind your safety and comfort too though ok? its not worth it to push aside all this in order to stay working and then end up running around lookign for toilets all day long anyways! i have made the mistake of ignoring symptoms and it really is worser off in the long run IMO.

would it be possible to speak to someone at work?? HR? maybe it would be better to be open about it up front (if/when you decide to seek treatment) that you have had some symptoms and are seeking help.
idk, just a thought.....

good luck