Flaring after 12 years? (Crohn's)

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Nicnack

Nicnack

Joined
Jan 10, 2016
Messages
16
Hey everyone. I am new here. I don't really know what I am looking for. I think maybe just ears that understand. I think I might be flaring up after 12 years of being in remission but I honestly don't know. I know that sounds really strange. How can I not know. The truth is I have felt like crap for months. I am starting to feel like a hypochondriac and like maybe it is all in my head. I hope this all makes sense but I am in a little but of rant/vent mode... I'm going to backwards a bit here. In the the last few years it is not unheard of for my GI to question how I have been feeling. When I say I am doing good he has indicated that my labs had suggested some inflammation but if I had been feeling ok and repeat labs were better he didn't get concerned. I am currently in a job situation that I hate and it is causing me a great deal of stress. Switching careers isn't so easy as I have great benefits and I need the benefits. I am also single so I need the income to pay the bills. I'm 42 so re-educating to start all over isn't appealing and not financially feasible either.... For the most part, when I am in remission (as I have been for 12 years. My last flare was January 2004) I can eat anything. The only foods I seem to have a problem with are pizza and spaghetti. I have not figured out why these two foods bother me, but they do. I noticed in perhaps late September or early October that if I ate lunch I would feel gross and bloated by dinner time so I quit eating lunch. I still ate breakfast every day. After a few weeks I started to eat a sandwich at lunch time and I seemed to do okay with that. I have noticed over that last three months that there have been more days when I have had to take loperamide. I have had a stiff hip for the last three months. Over the last week I have noticed my feet and knees have become more stiff too. I always have stiff wrists and fingers (even in remission when I am close to needing Remicade). I have been exhausted for the last three months. In December I had labs done. My iron, B12, thyroid are all good, My doc even checked me for Mono!! When I saw my GI on December 14th my labs have not been showing signs of inflammation and this time I thought for sure they would be!!! I have been waiting since June for an appointment for a contrast ultra sound. Apparently, there is only one person in Canada who does them?? Last night I made myself a stir fry for dinner. I tasted great until I was hit with the pain, nausea, and diarrhoea a few hours later! I have never had problems with stir fry before. The pain settled down after a couple of hours. I took loperamide and that seems to be controlling the diarrhoea but now I almost wish I would poop! I ate a bowl of oatmeal today and an english muffin with a scrambled egg. I still feel just a general sense of blah and exhasution and bloated. My lower back is a little sore and I'm a little tender in the belly. The discomfort is nothing compared to perforated colon I had 11.5 years ago though!! :yfaint:

I don't know? Is this a flare? Am I losing my marbles? I had to take loperamide last weekend too....
 
Welcome. I have had the disease for twenty five years but not always sure when I am flaring. Have you had a fecal calprotectin? That can measure the inflammation. I think the symptoms could indicate a flare but not sure. Let us know.
 
Thanks Ron. I was diagnosed almost 14 years ago. I will call my GI in the morning and see what he says.
 
Hi - both my daughters have Spondyloarthritis and my younger one also has IBD. In her case, the IBD and the SpA flare independently of each other. Hip pain and stiffness are very common in SpA and other joints like knees, elbows, feet, shoulders can also be affected. It also can affect the SI joints and spine.

CCFA has a good explanation of the various types of arthritis that are associated with IBD. I'd definitely try to see a rheumatologist if you can. SpA often does not show up in bloodwork, so you could have it even if your ESR and CRP aren't raised.

http://www.ccfa.org/assets/pdfs/arthritiscomplications.pdf
 
Can fatigue accompany SpA? My labs for my gi were all good. I so tired of feeling lousy. I just want to cry.
 
I did have my trough levels done for the Remicade. They were good but on the low end so we increased my dosage.
 
Inflammation anywhere in the body causes your body to work harder
Therefore get tired more easily
So fatigue can accompany SpA
 
what about your vitamin d? we are in the middle of winter and your in canada so your D levels are probably pretty low, ask your doctor about taking 3000iu per day perhap suntil end of feburary, the slowly bring it down to 2000 then 1000 for the summer. it has been shown in studies to reduce some symptoms of crohn's.
 
My GI ordered some labs (blood work and a stool sample). I go for a flex sig on February 1. I will see my GP about a referral to a rheumatologist and I will start on the vitamin D again.
 
I went to my GP yesterday. He ordered a whole host of labs. My flex sigmoidoscopy had be moved to February 3. My contrast ultrasound has been booked for February 19th. I have also had a chronic dry cough that started back in October. Right around the same time in stopped eating lunch because eating lunch made me feel bloated and gassy by dinner time. It was also around the same time that my hips started with the stiff feeling and the fatigue kicked in.

The new thing in the last week or so is the numbness in my left hand and my hand ands and feet falling asleep.
 
For the part about hands and feet , we have a section called Extra Intestinal Manifestations. Try there and see if they have any ideas.
 

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