Hi there, I'm a 30 year-old male from the UK. New to the forum so thought I'd share what's been going on with me the past few months. I have lots of questions but I guess maybe they'll be better off in their own threads?
So yeah, I spent pretty much of January feeling ill. Just like I was fighting something off. Quite feverish, very fatigued. After a few weeks a mild sort of stomach ache came on which didn't bother me particularly but knocked me kind of sick if pressed in the right place. My GP didn't seem concerned really, did a few tests which didn't suggest anything.
Got to the start of February and after a few days of shivering under a blanket my temp just seemed to be going up and up, it got to 39.2c before I figured I'd best get down to hospital where they initally guessed it to be maybe an odd form of appendicitis or an ulcer but a couple of days later (and one night having to rub myself down with iced water after my temp went up to 40.2c lol) the CT scan showed evidence of Crohn's. Was started on Prednisolone (40mg) then the colonoscopy was done and showed ulceration in the terminal ileum.
Been tapering down the Pred since then (bumpy ride to say the least) and the doc at my clinic appointment said they were 'pretty sure' it's Crohn's.. I thought the biopsies were supposed to tell us that for sure but I guess not! Possibly the element of doubt is because I've had no bowel symptoms whatsoever which seems to be freaking the doctors out a bit, it's like they don't quite know what to do with me as they said for the amount of disease that seemed to be present I 'should be on the toilet six times a day'. Obviously I don't want those symptoms but I can also see how not having the usual signs might make things difficult as far as figuring out triggers, recognising a flare etc.
By their own admission they're hesitant about where to go from here regarding medication due to my symptoms. They're suggesting Azathioprine which sounds like fun stuff although I guess you tend to hear/read more of the bad than the good! Part of me wants to do whatever gives me the best chance of avoiding the Pred again and another part thinks that it was most likely something quite specific which triggered this (I took apple cider vinegar during December to try to ease the bloating problems I've had for years) so I might be OK without. Sort of feels like a dice roll either way though.
Can't really draw any conclusions from my father's Crohn's experience as it's very different to mine thus far: his symptoms are very classic and he just has a bad couple of days with it every now and again. He's never been hospitalised with it and hasn't ever taken anything for it (although they did try to get him on the Pred back when he was diagnosed) so he seems very lucky really.
Apologies for the massive post but it feels good to have hammered it out. No hard feelings if you skipped it though lol. I'd love to hear from anyone whose symptoms are similar to mine and what their experience has been
So yeah, I spent pretty much of January feeling ill. Just like I was fighting something off. Quite feverish, very fatigued. After a few weeks a mild sort of stomach ache came on which didn't bother me particularly but knocked me kind of sick if pressed in the right place. My GP didn't seem concerned really, did a few tests which didn't suggest anything.
Got to the start of February and after a few days of shivering under a blanket my temp just seemed to be going up and up, it got to 39.2c before I figured I'd best get down to hospital where they initally guessed it to be maybe an odd form of appendicitis or an ulcer but a couple of days later (and one night having to rub myself down with iced water after my temp went up to 40.2c lol) the CT scan showed evidence of Crohn's. Was started on Prednisolone (40mg) then the colonoscopy was done and showed ulceration in the terminal ileum.
Been tapering down the Pred since then (bumpy ride to say the least) and the doc at my clinic appointment said they were 'pretty sure' it's Crohn's.. I thought the biopsies were supposed to tell us that for sure but I guess not! Possibly the element of doubt is because I've had no bowel symptoms whatsoever which seems to be freaking the doctors out a bit, it's like they don't quite know what to do with me as they said for the amount of disease that seemed to be present I 'should be on the toilet six times a day'. Obviously I don't want those symptoms but I can also see how not having the usual signs might make things difficult as far as figuring out triggers, recognising a flare etc.
By their own admission they're hesitant about where to go from here regarding medication due to my symptoms. They're suggesting Azathioprine which sounds like fun stuff although I guess you tend to hear/read more of the bad than the good! Part of me wants to do whatever gives me the best chance of avoiding the Pred again and another part thinks that it was most likely something quite specific which triggered this (I took apple cider vinegar during December to try to ease the bloating problems I've had for years) so I might be OK without. Sort of feels like a dice roll either way though.
Can't really draw any conclusions from my father's Crohn's experience as it's very different to mine thus far: his symptoms are very classic and he just has a bad couple of days with it every now and again. He's never been hospitalised with it and hasn't ever taken anything for it (although they did try to get him on the Pred back when he was diagnosed) so he seems very lucky really.
Apologies for the massive post but it feels good to have hammered it out. No hard feelings if you skipped it though lol. I'd love to hear from anyone whose symptoms are similar to mine and what their experience has been
