Could this be Crohn's?

[CooCooCachoo]

Hey everyone,

I appreciate you taking your time to read this!

So I wasn't particularly familiar with Crohn's disease until I started having health problems two weeks ago and I was doing some online research. Two weeks ago I was vaccinated against hepatitis B. The day after I started having really bad joint aches, without swelling, and I was fatigued. The joint ache is only in three locations (ankle, knee, hands), but focused primarily on my knees. It is by far the worst of my problems; even Advil doesn't really help. I also feel feverish: sudden bouts of sweating, a feeling of burning up, night sweats. After about a week or so I also started to experience neck stiffness. Finally, I had some days of diarrhea (mostly in the morning), with green and loose stools, and even mucus on one day. I lack any appetite and have to force myself to eat. I lost about six pounds in a week. I have been on the BRAT diet with probiotics since yesterday evening and the consistency has already vastly improved, but the color has not. Anyway, the gastrointestinal problems came after my other problems. And I don't experience any abdominal pain or cramps.

I was initially worried this could be chronic fatigue syndrome, but the fatigue hasn't been that debilitating. The standard blood tests all came back negative.

Rationally, I think this has to be a severe reaction to the hep B vaccine, based on the timing of most of my symptoms and the list of possible side effects (on the Mayo site). But two weeks seems an awful long time to experience these side effects. I also have had some issues with my bowels before (rarely have solid stools) and am lactose intolerant. Could it be that the vaccine triggered Crohn's disease? Or that the timing is coincidence, and that this really is a case of Crohn's?

Thanks so much for any insights you might have!

 

[Cosmojo]

Hey,
I'm sorry you are dealing with these symptoms. I'm not a doctor but I wouldn't be concerned about Crohn's just yet, some vaccines can have major side effects that last for days, and compounded with something like lactose intolerance could give you symptoms for 2 weeks. I've never heard of a vaccine triggering Crohn's...

If this lasts for longer, gets worse such as vomiting and bloody stools then ya I'd set up an appointment. There would be no harm in talking to your general doctor to just make sure you are ok- but never rule out a stomach flu, even us with diagnosed Crohn's usually go through to make sure it isn't a basic thing whenever we start a flare up. There are situations were a vaccine can make you more vulnerable to other viruses while your immune system builds up the immunity to the vaccine. Just some thoughts.

Hope you feel better- but I wouldn't be too worried about anything yet.

 

[CooCooCachoo]

Thanks Cosmojo!

You are right, of course, but with each additional day I just got more and more worried. Good luck with your problems, which sound much worse than mine.

 

[Alley2231]

Crohn's started off very slowly for me....I noticed the need to go more often and the consistency of my stools was loose and liquidy. That was last summer...when I was eating much healthier and I made the excuse of my fiber rich diet, as well as a new birth control I was taking. After having the birth control switched, as well as me then eating a very bad diet (due to suffering a head injury at work - I was out of work, unable to exercise and I'm an emotional eater) and still noticed the multiple stools in one day and the consistency of them, I kind of thought it was weird. It was when I noticed blood and mucus in my stool where I got concerned and mentioned it to my doctor. I never noticed any joint and muscle pain until my second hospital stay (2 months after my Crohn's diagnosis)- due to Crohn's and while arthritis can be a symptom of Crohn's, my GI doctor believes it's from the Prednisone I was on.

I wouldn't take a couple days of diarrhea being a concern for Crohn's Disease. I don't think a vaccine would trigger it. However, as my GI doctor told me - if you're going to have Crohn's Disease, you're going to have it and there are certain things in life that can trigger it. For me - it was the head injury I suffered at work and I was on prescription strength Advil 3 times a day for the pain for over a month (Advil was something I was not taking due to another prescription I was on and for those people with IBD Advil and Aleve are not medications we can take).

I'm just letting you know of my personal experience.....if you're super concerned I would just contact your doctor. It doesn't hurt to go and I'm sure if they think it is IBD related they would test you for it or send you for a colonoscopy.

Best of luck to you!

 

[sadjourney]

There are a lot of bad reactions to vaccinations. Statically, most people seem not to have hard symptoms, but I believed vaccines take a toll on your system, so they aren't without risk. You sound like your immune system is having problems with the vaccine, so I would take more nutrient baths and probiotics like water kefir.

 

[UnXmas]

I don't see that Crohn's is a better fit for you symptoms than many of the numerous other digestive problems out there. What made you suspect Crohn's, other than it's one of the more common digestive conditions, and so pops up on Internet searches a lot?

If your doctor did blood tests, did they give you an idea of possible causes or of the next steps in diagnosis? You're unlikely to find many answers searching online at this point. You need to get more information from a doctor.