I'm totally new to this. Being diagnosed with Crohn's this week has put some old symptoms into focus. I wonder if it could have been guessed at earlier?
About six years ago a proctologist diagnosed what seemed to be a skin tag as a fissure on my sphincter. Said I could have it surgically corrected if I was concerned about hygiene. I didn't. Every now and then it seemed to crack and bleed.
I would always get mysterious bruises on my thighs and butt. They appear while I'm sleeping.
In 2010 I found an enormous bruise on my shin. Dizziness, high fever, chronic diarrhea, and dehydration followed. No other flu symptoms though. Doctor send me for ultrasound to rule out blood vessel blockage. The bruise didn't heal for months though other symptoms were treatable.
In 2011, I was probably the happiest and healthiest I've ever been. Amazingly, I did not get sick with anything in a whole year.
Bleeding into the toilet started to be more common. I figured it was just that fissure thing.
Throughout this, my blood tests have always been perfectly normal.
In 2012, everything in my life went wrong all at once. As the stress grew and grew, I became permanently depressed, drank some heavily sulfited wine, and I got bloody diarrhea every day, going on four months until treated. When I went looking for help, I waited to see a counselor, then waited for a psychiatrist who treated the depression, then my GP, and finally a gastroenterologist who ordered a colonoscopy and diagnosed UC. I'm 41.
Lialda and mesalamine enema cured the symptoms immediately. Yay.
A week into that, I got stung by yellowjackets. Swelling, numbness, joint pain around the stings. Two days later I broke out in hives, with puffy eyelids and more giant bruises. I got my letter saying diagnosis is now Crohn's, not just UC. Called the nurse about hives, she guesses it's a reaction to mesalamine and said to try holding off meds for three days. That seems to help. (though NIH says rash and irritated eye are side effects of mesalamine as well as symptoms of Crohn's.) I feel my body is overreacting.
Now from reading others' stories, I suspect all these symptoms relate to Crohn's.
So much to learn.
About six years ago a proctologist diagnosed what seemed to be a skin tag as a fissure on my sphincter. Said I could have it surgically corrected if I was concerned about hygiene. I didn't. Every now and then it seemed to crack and bleed.
I would always get mysterious bruises on my thighs and butt. They appear while I'm sleeping.
In 2010 I found an enormous bruise on my shin. Dizziness, high fever, chronic diarrhea, and dehydration followed. No other flu symptoms though. Doctor send me for ultrasound to rule out blood vessel blockage. The bruise didn't heal for months though other symptoms were treatable.
In 2011, I was probably the happiest and healthiest I've ever been. Amazingly, I did not get sick with anything in a whole year.
Bleeding into the toilet started to be more common. I figured it was just that fissure thing.
Throughout this, my blood tests have always been perfectly normal.
In 2012, everything in my life went wrong all at once. As the stress grew and grew, I became permanently depressed, drank some heavily sulfited wine, and I got bloody diarrhea every day, going on four months until treated. When I went looking for help, I waited to see a counselor, then waited for a psychiatrist who treated the depression, then my GP, and finally a gastroenterologist who ordered a colonoscopy and diagnosed UC. I'm 41.
Lialda and mesalamine enema cured the symptoms immediately. Yay.
A week into that, I got stung by yellowjackets. Swelling, numbness, joint pain around the stings. Two days later I broke out in hives, with puffy eyelids and more giant bruises. I got my letter saying diagnosis is now Crohn's, not just UC. Called the nurse about hives, she guesses it's a reaction to mesalamine and said to try holding off meds for three days. That seems to help. (though NIH says rash and irritated eye are side effects of mesalamine as well as symptoms of Crohn's.) I feel my body is overreacting.
Now from reading others' stories, I suspect all these symptoms relate to Crohn's.
So much to learn.
Wow, you've been through a lot, I'm so sorry 
