Frustrated with non-crohn's symptoms

[skigirl]

I have crohn's affecting my terminal ileum and have been in remission for about 2 years. Lately i've been having abdominal pain, weight loss and nausea and saw my gastro who had me get a CT which showed no inflammation so my doc thinks it's all stress/ibs.

Obviously, i'm glad not to be having a flare, but frustrated that i'm not able to tell the difference - makes me feel like i'm an annoying patient. Plus i don't want to ignore the early symptoms of a flare and end up in trouble (last time i did that ended up steroid unresponsive and getting admitted).

How do you tell the difference? Should i just be sucking it up and waiting longer to call the doc with problems?

Thanks!

 

[corey2250]

I am dealing with the same thing. Hard to tell the difference.

 

[tracycat79]

I am too. I'm waiting for a colonoscopy at the end of the month. I haven't had one in years so the doc is also unsure as to whether my symptoms are crohns related or ibs. :stinks:

 

[Racheld]

For years I thought mine was IBS until the pain got really bad. I had a camera pill which showed Mild Crohns. My ultrasound and bloods were normal.

 

[David]

Bleeding, fever, weight loss, and persistent severe pain are not symptoms of IBS and may indicate other problems such as inflammation

Source

I suggest printing that out, highlighting the above, and taking it in to your doctor so that you can get the necessary tests to determine what's really going on. If they brush your concerns aside, get a new doctor. You're not an annoying patient, you have a serious condition and symptoms should not be brushed aside as IBS and stress as proper treatment as early as possible is of utmost importance.

 

[skigirl]

Thanks for all of the advice. I have some mild lab abnormalities (sed rate up, anemic for the first time). So even if there is an IBS component, this can't explain everything, right? The frustrating thing is I only know about the lab abnormalities from getting copies of my lab results - doctor's office didn't even tell me.

 

[David]

You have weight loss, abdominal pain, nausea, increased sed rate, and new onset anemia and they said IBS and stress despite a previous Crohn's Diagnosis?

If it was me, I'd get a second opinion.

 

[DougUte]

Skigirl this sounds like a Crohns flare, not like IBS. Get another opinion.

 

[skigirl]

But my CT enterography was normal - do you think it's just missing the areas of inflammation?

 

[David]

It's possible. Click through the link in your post above and you'll see that CTE's are not infallible. And there's other possible causes for your symptoms, but IBS isn't going to cause all of them so whatever is causing them needs to be determined.

 

[David]

Hey skigirl,

I was out in the yard and started to think about this thread. I should have been a little more discerning with my response. For example, if you weigh 130 and lost two pounds, then that would change things. If you weighed 130 and 15 pounds, that's something more significant that needs investigated. If your sed rate increased just a couple points, then that would change things. If it's a much greater increase, then that's something more significant.

Maybe printing up the article I posted and going in to see your doctor and share your concerns. "I found this which says weight loss isn't a symptom of IBS and I'm concerned about my sed rate and new onset anemia and and and..." and see what they say.

Sorry for not saying that up front.

*hugs*