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Does Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis show up on a CT Scan

Hello and thank you for reading my post. First I have not been diagnosed with CD or UC but am having several symptoms and an looking for some advice and would appreciate to hear others experience of being diagnosed. My doctor has referred me to a GI Specialist and I am currently awaiting for my apt which will hopefully be soon. My symptoms include:

5-10 bm a day-seems it is increasing
constipation and diarrhea
abdominal pain, bloating, gas and discomfort
blood in stool a few times
rectal bleeding often
fatigue
headaches
lower back pain
any yesterday threw up bloody tissue
I can not eat anything without it bothering me anymore, this has been going on nearly 3 wks and getting worse.
Today I ate (1st time in 2 days) and within mins had an accident in my pants : ( this is just horrible, I feel so defeated and overwhelmed!

My doctor did an abdominal x-ray, urine, blood, stool sample pap and a physical exam of my bum. The only thing that has showed up is a high white blood cell, elevated liver enzymes and she felt what she thinks is an internal hemorrhoid.

Today I had a CAT scan and it showed no concern, so I am just wondering if CD or UC shows up on a CAT Scan? At first my doctor said he thought it was UC and would need to go to the specialist for a colonoscopy, but then after the cat scan results can back with no inflammation he said maybe IBS, he sent me home, reassured me they would get me into the specialist ASAP, gave me a prescription for nausea and another to help with the diarrhea and told me to stay well hydrated and call if ANYTHING worse happens


Any thoughts will be very much appreciated, thank you!
 
Hi there,

In fairness to everybody that has been here like, ever ! . . nobody can give you any medical advice that would align with there own situation.

Also i think that the best advice you could/can get is get yourself into either an A and E or a hospital clinic.

It is definetly not normal to be bleeding from any orifice !

I wish you very good health and "be persistent"

good luck

Bruscar
 
Oh I apologize, I do not want to offend anyone and I know 3 weeks is a "drop in the bucket" to many here and I have no right to complain among so many amazing individuals who battle a disease daily...for years. I am just worried and not knowing what is wrong with me, is the hardest part!

I guess more than anything I am just wanting to know if I should rule out CD or UC b/c the CAT scan can back fine? Or have other people had Cat Scan be fine and then found out other ways such as a colonoscopy that they did in fact have the disease...

Thank you very much for your comment though bruscar, I was sent home today by my doctor and told to take it easy but to call immediately if my symptoms get worse ( I also have his home phone number just in case) and that I should hear back within the week about the GI Specialist, but yes I was scared seeing the blood, I know that is not normal...just wish I knew what was going on!

Good luck to you as well

(((hugs)))
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
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You're right, blood is not normal and more importantly, people who suffer from IBS DO NOT BLEED. You can still have IBS but that's not the cause of your bleeding. Cat scans are not the only tests out there, neither are blood tests or barium xrays. You can learn a lot from endoscopies and colonoscopies by taking a look and doing biopsies which can say yay or nay for IBD but even then people have a hard time getting a diagnosis. There are some people on this forum who are still undiagnosed and it's been years but there are also people (like me) who were diagnosed within a couple months and I'm sure some get diagnosed sooner than that. It sounds like IBD as you have all the symptoms I did (all of those listed above are symptoms of IBD) but it may take a while to get a diagnosis. Keep pushing for a specialists so you can get ALL the proper tests done and so you can get a diagnosis soon.
 
it took my docs and gi nearly a year to dx me,i had weight loss,pain,no appetite lack of sleep,severe D and my inflamed bowel would stick out my gut.even after dx by specialists my doc(who was a bit of an eidjit)said oh its onlt ibs.i could have knocked him clean out,anyhoo i hope you get the answers your looking for.chin up.
 
Thank you crabbyrelish- your post is very encouraging and informative...just what I was looking for! I called my doc office this morning to check on the referral and she said she would now something for me no later than tomorrow morning
hainman-sounds like you went through a mess, so sorry, hope you have it all figured out now. How did they decide to treat your symptoms and how did they finally make the diagnosis?
 
Hey man no apology neccessary at all if anyone suffers then they deserve as much help as the next person.

Keep on putting pressure on your docs !!

Cheers for now
 
Thanks bruscar, I did call the office today to see if they heard back from the GI specialist and she told me not yet but she would call them by the end of the day if they hadn't heard back and let me know in the morning. Fingers crossed I get in soon. I just started Dicyclomine 4 times a day..not really sure it is doing anything for me other than making me even more tired than I already am!
 
hey idreamofpeace it was a long process of elimination i think.eventually after a couple of colonoscopys they descovered my bowel was in a bad way and that they were certain it was crohns.they put me on asacol and pred steriods that worked for a while but eventualy the gi sent me to speak with a surgeon who had me in theatre in 2 weeks and they removed 40 cm of bowel and part of colon, it was pretty scary stuff at the time but im gettin to grips with it now,havnt worked in 4years as ive been pretty bad with the D and because of my job when i'd take time of here and there i didnt get paid so i eventualy left plus my bosses were unsympathetic arseholes :) and were more interested in the work than my health so f*** them lol anyhoo enough of me moaning hope your ok??
 
I have my apt with the GI Specialist on April 11th, not as soon as I hoped but better than most, I read where some people have to wait 6wks! So I am thankful to be one step closer. I also called and left a message with the scheduling coordinator and asked for her to put me on a cancellation list if possible
 
hainman-wow so sorry you have been through so much. My worst fear is surgery! Scares me to death. I just hope nothing is serious and hope I can be seen before any damage is done!
 
thanks idreamofpeace its been a bummer lol but dare say theres worse of people than myself.the surgery was actually straight forward and very much needed,im still in and out as far as the crohns goes but no where near as bad as pre op.no more pain for a start which is good,sometimes you just have to go with the flow.hope your well??
 
UPDATE-Possible gallstones
Just wanted to update on what is going on... I stopped taking the Dicyclomine for 2 days b/c I felt it was doing more harm than good. It made me have painful bm and more rectal bleeding with each one, still was having 3-5 bm a day (better than 10 times a day!). On the third day of not taking the meds I ended up in the bathroom feeling like I was in labor with horrible diarrhea. Then everything I ate went right through me the rest of the day, so needless to say I started taking them again. I did notice two dime size ball looking things in my stool...wasn't sure what that was about so after doing some online research I think it may have been gallstones??? Who would have thought you can pass them in your stool? Not me! But it happens.
I am feeling better today (day after taking meds) and just gonna wait for my apt with the GI doc and in the meantime try and find a balance of the Dicyclomine that works for me. The doc prescribed 4 a day, which was way too much and I couldn't get out of bed so I went to two a day to one a day at night time. I am able to eat when I take them and well....I like to eat, so maybe the painful bm and rectal bleeding is the less of two evils at this point
 
The only thing that got me through (and is still getting me through) is my local support in prayer. They don't understand what I'm going through and can't do much for me but they do pray for me. I still think my diagnosis is wrong and I'm looking for treatment that will help to resolve me problem with (crohns/uc/ibs and adding to?) Do you have a support system ?

I know some of my tests looked like things although were still not completely conclusive, so tests can be misleading sometimes. I hope the best for you.
 
UPDATE-1st GI VISIT

First I just want to thank everyone for their comments, input and support. I had my 1st GI apt today. It went really well. Dr Daniels is very nice, he did not rush and took the time to go over all my symptoms and recent testings. He def thinks I have IBD, he thinks UC is likely. He scheduled me for a colonoscopy this Friday, did a blood test today that checks antibodies and likeness of IBD and an X-RAY of my lower back to check for damage from possible arthritis or sciatic nerve damage. He also wants me to get my eyes check to see if I have inflammation in my eye. So I plan to call and make an apt today. At this point I just wait for Friday and see what the colonoscopy shows.
Any tips on the prep? And what to expect...
Thanks so much
: )

Below is the symptoms/issues I typed up and discussed with Dr Daniels:
******************************************************************
Issue for the last 6 months, 3 “episodes” starting with cramping, blood in stool and followed with frequent diarrhea. 1st time was a couple days, 2nd time about a week and 3rd time lasted 4 weeks.

Rectal bleeding and irritation around rectum after bowel
Pain inside rectum-sharp stabbing that last less than a min
Constipation and Diarrhea
Diarrhea and floating stool 3-10 times a day
Blood and tissue in stool- 3 different occasions
Vomit bloody tissue- 1 occasion
Abdominal cramping-Right lower abdomen, right upper, left upper-sharp and dull
Bloated
Gas
Nauseous
Headache (right eye)
Dizzy/light headed/shaky
Low fever, often feel warm to touch (back and tummy) but have no fever
Fatigue
Lower back pain
Feeling like I need to use bath...but don't
Have to go to the bathroom really fast, accident in pant

No know food triggers
Pain and symptoms seem to be worse in evening

Went to Fayetteville Primary care, urine test, blood test, stool sample, lower abdominal X-ray, physical exam and CAT Scan---all was fine with the exception of high white blood cell count, elevated liver enzymes and internal hemorrhoid.
Last PAP with Gynecologist was 4-8-11—everything normal, no concerns.
******************************************************************
I am going to post this to more than 1 thread, since I have different people who comment on other threads, sorry if you run across it more than once. Just want to update ALL those who have been nice enough to respond. : )
 
UPDATE-
Hello All, had the lovely colonoscopy today..it actually wasn't bad at all but the prep was a bit of a challenge. The first two hours I felt like I was in labor and questioned if I could continue the rest, but luckily once the food passed it was pretty manageable.
The procedure it self was a breeze. I went into the room, undressed, gave me an IV and had me rest for an hour. A WHOLE hour of silence! It was wonderful, I read a book and relaxed. (I have small children, this was a treat! lol ) Anyways, so they rolled me back to the room talked to the nurses and doctor a bit and I was a sleep before I knew it. I woke up in the recovery room. My doctor came in shortly after and told me that he expected me to be in bad shape with all my symptoms but said things looked really good. A relief..yes! But know what?! He said the only thing he found was Grade 1 internal hemorrhoids and a small polyp in the ascending colon, which he removed and sent for testing. He said he took a few biopsies for testing over random areas of the large intestines and colon (I think) but overall he thought everything looked good.
He told me his office would be calling me within a week or so once they get the results back from today and from my blood work and X-RAY to schedule my next apt with him. He sen t me home with a copy of his report and pictures, which I thought was pretty neat, I now know what the inside of my colon looks like YAY! j/k of course, but I have to laugh about it...what else can I do?!
So I am very grateful and relieved nothing serious is wrong but am a bit worried that I may continue to have these symptoms and no answers : (
All I can do is wait for my next apt and in the meantime watch what I eat!
Take care


Also I had an apt with the eye doc on Thursday, 20/20 near and far and no signs of inflammation and no concerns, so that is god. He also told me if I get the headaches again and pain in eyes to come in and he can check again!
 
you should ask for a ct enerogrophy which is a special cat scan of the small intestin which will confirm crohns if you have it. good luck
 
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