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Constantly feel full, even if I eat very little and abdominal pain

Hi All

I am not sure if I should be posting on here really as I have not yet had a diagnosis of Crohn's Disease. I was at the hospital today as I was referred to a gastroenterologist and he suspects that I may have Crohn's disease and wants to do a CT scan and colonoscopy.

I wanted to see if people who have CD think my symptoms could mean that I do indeed have it. Without going into too much detail I will tell you about my main symptoms:

I have always suffered from severe bloating and discomfort when I eat but about a year ago it got worse. I constantly feel full, even if I eat very little. There are times when I can eat a meal and then 2 or 3 days later I still dont feel like I have digested it. When this gets really bad my stomach is really sore - it feels like someone has hold of my stomach and is squeezing it - nothing makes it feel better, I just have to wait for it to pass.

Then in Nov 2008 I was admitted into hospital as I had a severe pain on the right side of my belly button. Appendicitis was rules out and I saw a gynaecologist and they ruled out Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. I was admitted again in Feb 2009 with the exact same thing but again nothing was diagnosed. I have had a total of 4 ultrasound scans but nothing has been found.

The pain on my right side has continued on and off since Feb and when I have it i tend to be constipated. About 9-10 weeks ago I went through a really bad time - I had terrible stomach pain, bloatedness and I alternated between constipation and diarrhea for about 3 weeks. I have also passed small amounts of mucus.

I had blood tests which showed I am aneamic and I had raised CRP/ESR levels which indicate some kind of inflammation.

Although I have alot of these symptoms the majority of the time, they are not always present - I have some days where I feel ok (apart from the bloating) - does this happen with CD?

Im sorry for such a long post but any comments would really be appreciated. When I have read about what other people go through with CD my symptoms dont seem as bad so I am doubtful as to whether they will positively diagnose it for me! Do my symptoms sound like it could be Crohn's? also can someone tell me how uncomfortable a colonoscopy is cos I dont like the thought of it at all!

Thank you so much

xx :confused2:
 
Crohn's seems to have many ways of making it's presence felt. A lot of us tend to do battle with diarrhea, but constipation is not unheard of. The bloating and feeling full could be indications of a stricture, but could be other things as well.

And you can go into as much detail as you like here as I'm sure you'll find reading this forum there isn't much that's going to gross us out :ylol2:

Colonoscopy's are the gold standard for Crohns diagnosis. The worst bit is the bowel prep... It has to be clear. For the actual procedure you are sedated so you don't tend to remember it and given pain relief. The doc's seem to tell you what they found - a friend can be useful to remember the details, so you don't have to go away and worry until the follow up appointment.

:welcome:
 
I did not have diarrhea either, mostly constipation. If anything came out at all I had to work at it. Now that I am getting better the D word is a part of my daily life :)

The team working with me took biopsies during one colonoscopy looking for Granulomas in the tissue. They keep deferring a definitive diagnosis until they find them. But treatment and appointments keep coming regardless.

One of the key points of my treatment was getting to meet with the staff Nutritionist during my stay in the GI ward. I feel learning how to eat and how to prepare food is moving me ahead more than the pills, although both are necessary part of dealing with the disease. Before my hospitalization I thought I was eating right for a healthy diet with Raw Spinach, Kale, 100% whole wheat everything ect... Turns out I was way off target. I hope you get access to someone like that, and if not, ask for it. Be it crohns or other IBD/IBS issues, what we put down there is really important.
 
J

JillianB82

Guest
You will learn from reading everyone's story on here that CD is different for everyone! Some days I feel GREAT! Maybe only 1 D that day...other days however, it's hard to get out of bed & the D can get pretty bad, up to 15 times a day.

You will also hear stories that blood tests, CT scans, & colonoscopies do not always find CD. It took me over a year, 5 Dr's & a GI to finally tell me that I have CD.

Best of luck to you luvie!!! Keep us posted!!! :)
 
i was a constipation Number as well..right side...pain like a B&&&&. Yupp...although those symptoms fight a lot of other things as well as my initial 9 USELESS visits to the ER taught me. :p

I'd hate to have to say welcome fellow crohnnie and I hope thats not it...but if so, we're all here for you...I hope they diagnose you soon and get you on the right meds to take that pain away...without being too graphic or anything...Ummm...no pain in the hiney or anywhere almost like liquid fire??? (just thinking of fistulas and fissures) - here's to hoping you have a mild case that is aggravated from not being diagnosed yet... Hope they get you hooked up soon!!! Dont let them drop the ball...WHINE WHINE WHINE if need be to get in and get taken care of...I know thats a bad policy, but after my last experience I WILL BAWL to the HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR if I have to...PLEASEEEEEEEEE HELP ME!!!!! - something along those lines. ;)

again, we're all here for you...hoping it's not even CROHN's!! Don't let them be giving you enemas though before you get this sorted out...been down the salt water enema route with fistulas and other tears...THAT my friends was joyous...I pretty much found my pain tolerance threshold that day i'll tell ya. ;)

DROP us a line anytime!! Looking for updates. :)
 
I think pretty much everyone can agree that the worst part of a colonoscopy is the prep. Kind of like a gallon challenge, but I hear some places give you three pills to take instead of drinking the liquid. I'd be all over the pills instead of liquid. I may be weird but in a way it's kind of neat to see what makes up your insides. I only woke up 2-3 times for 2 seconds during the whole procedure looked at the screen, went "huh," then back to sleep. Don't be afraid because we are all here for you, and will be praying you don't have Crohn's or any form of IBD
 
Hi and welcome,

As the others have said, Crohns is different for everyone. I was only doagnosed 6 weeks ago and so am finding there is a lot to learn.

I have had regular but not too close together bouts of D over the past few years labelled irritable Bowel.

This year I started having what sounds like similar to you where I felt kind of full inside all the time, like my insides were too big for my outsides? Weird but hard to describe. Not painful as such but uncomfortable, als with times where I felt like food was just sitting there for ages and not being digested.

6 weeks ago I ended up in hospital after having constipation, bad pain on lower right and across lower back as well as sweats and fevers and my inflammation markers were really high. They found an abscess as well as a stricture and inflammation in my ileum. everywhere else pretty much fine.

So, I tell you this because you sound like you are having a similar experience? Good you are getting things investigated. I would recommend until you find out to try eating lower fibre foods, drinking lots of liquids and maybe getting something for constipation?

Colonoscopy wasn;t that bad. I was wide awake for mine as the drugs didn;t do much but make me hyper! But it was all over in a flash - then you can look forward to the hours of satisfying farts afterwards! :)

Good luck and keep us posted

Shaz :Flower:
 
Welcome Vickiec! Your story sounds A LOT like mine so far...except for the blood work, mine is always frustratingly normal. Anywho, welcome!!
I am not diagnosed either and have had a whole roomful of tests, a colonoscopy next week actually--i have my wonderful prescription of a whole ton of liquid to be forced into my already full-feeling tum tum. I had one (colonoscopy) a few months ago, seriously the worst part is the prep, which for me was drinking a TON of stuff and then going to the bathroom every 1-20mins all night, fun!

One thing i have been doing to help control my symptoms is keeping track of my food intake and how i feel (pain level, temperature, level of exhaustion, joint pain) and what kind of stools result. This helps me eliminate food items that hurt me repeatedly and review how i have been feeling before I go to the doctor.
 
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