Crohn's or IBS?

[JamesC6671]

Hello,

Here is my story. I hope you guys can add some input.

For the passed 3 weeks I've been confined to my bathroom, going anywhere from 10-20 times a day with nonstopped diarrhea. I've only recently had a little relief with Lomotil that's controlling my bowel movements and making my stools harder for the passed 3 days.

During these almost 3 weeks, I've been searching everything I could online and have really came up empty on what could possibly be causing this. Some sites say IBS and others Crohn's. My only symptom is severe diarrhea with a little cramping (when I really have to go). I haven't vomitted and am not nauseous nor have ever had a fever.

I originally saw a primary doctor at a walk in clinic, who didn't really do anything for me and said I probably have a bug, but after a few more days going around 20x a day, I decided to check in to the ER. They ran a blood test and checked my stool. The blood test was all normal, but the stool test detected a moderate amount of white blood cells in the stool. I was prescribed Donnatal and discharged. After the Donnatal didn't do anything, I just waited a few more days and after the symptoms still didn't clear up, I went back to the ER. They took my blood again and redid my stool test, and this time everything came back normal, and there was no white blood cells in my stool. I was then prescribe Lomotil and discharged. Both times, they did a physical examination of my abdomen and felt my stomach area, but didn't seem to feel anything abnormal.

I filled the Lomotil a few days ago, but I have to be very conservative with this prescription since I was only prescribed 12 tablets and my GI appointment isn't until Monday. I went a full 24hrs without diarrhea after starting the medication. I've had diarrhea only when I've had to go 12+ hours without the medication (since I'd run out), but when I'm on it, I seem to be going to the bathroom a normal amount of times with harder stool.

I've never had any GI issues in my life. I was taking 10mg of Lexapro, which my psych doctor told me to discontinue. I am diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression. I've been really a wreck the passed few months, and now that this has happened, I've been even worse emotionally (suicidal thoughts/plans), but after discontinuing the Lexapro about 5 days ago those thoughts are gone.

On Monday, I'll get the final say on what I have or tests are going to be done, but until then I'm just looking for input. Does this sound like Crohn's? At the hospital, I was told I'd be having a lot more pain than I do now if this was Crohn's, but some sites list the symptoms of Crohn's as just being excessive diarrhea.

I was a heavy marijuana smoker and also recently quit, and these symptoms appeared around a week after I stopped smoking. I am self employed, but my line of work is way too stressful, so I quit so I can pass a drug test for some 9-5 job to get myself out of the house. The marijuana relieved my stress a lot, but I needed to quit so I'd be able to pass a drug test if I needed to since the root cause of my stress was coming from my self-employed work.

So my question is, has anyone on here been diagnosed with Crohn's from only having excessive diarrhea? And is the white blood cell count in my first stool test an indication of something more serious (ie: Crohn's, Cancer?). The hospital didn't seem all that concerned, but it's making me a wreck.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate any input.

 

[Mr D.]

From my understanding, Crohn's and other types of IBD can start off as just diarrhoea, but generally there are other accompanying symptoms. It's very difficult to know what you would have considering diarrhoea is the only symptom you have and the white cells are the only test result we know of. It's a shame you didn't get more information from your blood test like your haemoglobin, iron, vitamin levels, etc. When you see your GI, I expect that he will have more of an idea about what it could be. Because you've only had your symptoms for 3 weeks, there is a good chance that you may have something which is less severe than Crohn's. I imagine that if the GI is unable to work it out after a relatively short amount of time, then he/she would probably recommend a colonoscopy to help diagnose, particularly if they suspect it could be Crohn's/Ulcerative Colitis/Any other form of chronic bowel condition.

Hopefully you'll get some answers soon!

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

Hi James & welcome to the forum! :welcome:

I'm sorry to hear what you're going through. I can say that none of us are alike. So, our symptoms won't always be the same either. But, going the amount of times you do as well as having constant diarrhea isn't normal either. But, there are many of us here who can support you and be there for you in this. Another thing to think about though, is if you have blood in your stool, wipe blood or have dripping blood. If so, that too should be brought to your doctor.

Normally, Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis or other types of IBD/IBS are not diagnosed just by excessive diarrhea. Other tests such as; colonoscopy, lower GI or endoscopy are more common to diagnose. I'm glad to hear that you will get your final say on Monday. I hope that you'll get the answers you need to find out how to take care of yourself.

We have lots of different groups such as: the undiagnosed club that I'd encourage you to check out. Many of us also talk on the chat room on here as well. I hope you'll feel free to look around. Please let me know if you have any questions. Also, please keep us updated on how things are going for you. Take care.

 

[JamesC6671]

Mr D.,

My hemoglobin is normal on the latest blood test they took. My Potassium (3.4), Blood Urea Nitrogen (6), and Calcium (8.4) are low, and my monocytes are high at 9. Those are the only things abnormal on my tests.


Cross-stitch gal,

Sometimes I do have blood when I wipe. My depression causes me not to shower for long lengths of time (sometimes > a month), so sometimes I get itchy down there and end up scratching hard and it bleeds. So when I go a lot I end up opening those scabs and it bleeds bright red. I told the hospital and they didn't see it as a concern, but I definitely will bring it up with my GI.


Thanks for the replies.

 

[UnXmas]

You don't necessarily have pain with Crohn's. As far as I know diarrhoea can be the only symptom in some cases.

The severity of your diarrhoea makes it seem unlikely to be IBS. I have come to think that doctors diagnose IBS when they aren't able to find the real cause. One word of warning: it is very common for doctors to diagnose you with IBS when you actually have something else. If you mention your anxiety to a doctor, or if it's mentioned in your medical records, it's quite likely that doctors will use this as a basis for diagnosing IBS, because IBS can supposedly be caused by mental stress. If this happens, you may have a problem getting a correct diagnosis.

The main symptoms that indicate a digestive problem is not IBS are weight loss, fever and bleeding.

As mentioned in the posts above, you may have to go through a number of tests (colonoscopy, upper endoscopy, etc.) to reach a diagnosis, and before you've had these you can't really tell what your diagnosis may be.

It's important to remember though that although IBS, Crohn's and colitis are some of the most common causes for diarrhoea, there are many many more possibly conditions that can also cause it.

 

[JamesC6671]

Removed.

 

[David]

Interestingly enough, marijuana withdrawal syndrome is a very real thing and can be characterized by diarrhea. I would expect it to taper off now if that what it was. I don't think you have Crohn's but it's a long shot. If your diarrhea comes back, it's time to head to a general practitioner for much more extensive testing. From there, if they can't find anything and it persists, off to a GI for you.

 

[JamesC6671]

Hi David,

I have an appointment with a GI on Monday. The primary doctors here are clueless, so I'm skipping the endless appointments with them and going straight to the GI who can figure this out.

Should I tell the GI about my passed marijuana use? I don't want him to just write this off as a marijuana withdrawal and tell me to wait a few weeks and waste more time.

I've been researching states where medical marijuana is legal, and the pain clinics I've emailed all said I'd qualify for a medical marijuana card based on my symptoms. But it would be ironic if this was really just a withdrawal and I got marijuana just to relieve myself of the withdrawal symptoms.

I've also done a little research and came across a disorder called "Habba Syndrome" which sounds exactly like what I have. My dad had problems with his gallbladder and had to have it removed years ago. He passed away last year, and I don't know exactly why he had it removed. So I do have a family history of gallbladder problems.

Have you ever heard of this condition?

I'll definitely ask the GI about that, and hopefully he knows something about it, or I will travel to Atlanta to see the Dr who originally discovered that ailment. I've heard patients tend to see symptoms disappear within a few days of treatment, so that's encouraging news if the GI can't find anything wrong with me and just gives me the broad IBS-D label.

Hopefully I'll know more after Monday's appointment about what's wrong with me than I do now.

 

[David]

While I've heard of Habba Syndrome I don't know much about it.

I'd definitely tell your GI about the marijuana. You always want to be upfront with your doctors.

Please keep us updated as to how you're doing.

 

[UnXmas]

Hi David,

I have an appointment with a GI on Monday. The primary doctors here are clueless, so I'm skipping the endless appointments with them and going straight to the GI who can figure this out.

Should I tell the GI about my passed marijuana use? I don't want him to just write this off as a marijuana withdrawal and tell me to wait a few weeks and waste more time.

I've been researching states where medical marijuana is legal, and the pain clinics I've emailed all said I'd qualify for a medical marijuana card based on my symptoms. But it would be ironic if this was really just a withdrawal and I got marijuana just to relieve myself of the withdrawal symptoms.

I've also done a little research and came across a disorder called "Habba Syndrome" which sounds exactly like what I have. My dad had problems with his gallbladder and had to have it removed years ago. He passed away last year, and I don't know exactly why he had it removed. So I do have a family history of gallbladder problems.

Have you ever heard of this condition?

I'll definitely ask the GI about that, and hopefully he knows something about it, or I will travel to Atlanta to see the Dr who originally discovered that ailment. I've heard patients tend to see symptoms disappear within a few days of treatment, so that's encouraging news if the GI can't find anything wrong with me and just gives me the broad IBS-D label.

Hopefully I'll know more after Monday's appointment about what's wrong with me than I do now.

I'm very sorry about your dad. I've not heard of that syndrome, but family history is often a good place to start.

I would be a bit cautious when you find conditions that seem to sound like what you're experiencing. I did this a lot when I was undiagnosed. Unfortunately, the same symptom can occur in many different illnesses. Hundreds of things can cause diarrhoea. While you may read about a condition which seems to perfectly match your symptoms, it could well be that you actually have an atypical presentation of a very different condition, which, if you read about it, you'd dismiss as it doesn't sound much like you at all. It really is better to avoid doing too much guesswork.

I'm not sure about disclosing your marijuana use. When I've self-medicated with prescription medications, I've always been honest about it with my doctors, and they've generally been understanding about it - they could understand that after years and years of chronic illness, I would take anything that helped, even when it was not in line with official guidelines. However, I never did anything illegal, and I only told doctors who I trusted, so it might be different from your situation.

I was especially careful to make sure they knew everything I'd taken, even off prescription, when I had surgery, to be sure they knew if anything would affect the safety of the procedure. Most doctors know it's safer if the patient makes them aware of everything they've taken, so most will usually not give you too hard a time about self-medicating, because they don't want to make you regret telling them in case you start keeping it secret. But again, with something that's illegal they may feel they have more of a responsibility to stop you taking it.