Hi everyone! My name is Jenny, and I live in Australia. I've been lurking around the boards for a while, learning heaps, and I thought it might be time to introduce myself. I'm undiagnosed, but unfortunately, I think it will only be a matter of time until I join your ranks.
I started experiencing some symptoms probably over 5 years ago, but it never occured to me that there was anything wrong. On the multiple occasions that I had to sprint with cheeks clenched to a public restroom, and then continually courtesy flush during the ensuing horror, I put it down to either a stomach bug, or eating to much fibre. When I had mystery joint pain, I figured I'd overdone it at gym. Then, just over a year ago, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and had a complete thyroidectomy. Over the following months, I was very hypothyroid, so I blamed various symptoms, such as fatigue, joint pain and change in bowel habit, on that. Well, I'm not hypothyroid anymore, but the symptoms are still here and worsening.
I have had alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea and trouble with recurring hemorrhoids, but over the last few months I've been having increasing pain in my stomach and lower back. My hemorrhoids (or what I thought were hemorrhoids) became excruciating, and the pain extended throughout my whole genital area. The last straw came after a particularly painful bowel motion which resulted in a toilet bowl full of blood, which scared the heck out of me! My doctor suspected IBD, and sent me for a colonoscopy. All my symptoms had settled down by then, so the only findings were a few polyps, diverticulosis (which I've had for years), and granulation tissue in the rectum. They didn't do a biopsy.
In the weeks following, everything is ramping up again. The pain in my rectum became too much, and I went back to my doctor to have a look at my hemorrhoids. Upon examination, he told me that I didn't have external hemorrhoids, but large skin tags! Yuk! I have a referral to see a rectal surgeon next week. After learning what I have on this forum, I wouldn't be surprised if I have anal fissures or even an abscess brewing in there, the pain is driving me crazy, and I'm still losing a lot of blood during bowel movements.
So, that's where I'm at. I must say that this forum has been an absolute wealth of information, and your community seems very friendly and supportive. I really admire how you all can be so open and sharing with this horrible disease, and how you've all managed to keep your sense of humour. (I cracked up at the "You know you have Crohn's when..." thread!).
I look forward to getting to know you all, and be prepared to be bombarded with heaps of questions!
I started experiencing some symptoms probably over 5 years ago, but it never occured to me that there was anything wrong. On the multiple occasions that I had to sprint with cheeks clenched to a public restroom, and then continually courtesy flush during the ensuing horror, I put it down to either a stomach bug, or eating to much fibre. When I had mystery joint pain, I figured I'd overdone it at gym. Then, just over a year ago, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and had a complete thyroidectomy. Over the following months, I was very hypothyroid, so I blamed various symptoms, such as fatigue, joint pain and change in bowel habit, on that. Well, I'm not hypothyroid anymore, but the symptoms are still here and worsening.
I have had alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea and trouble with recurring hemorrhoids, but over the last few months I've been having increasing pain in my stomach and lower back. My hemorrhoids (or what I thought were hemorrhoids) became excruciating, and the pain extended throughout my whole genital area. The last straw came after a particularly painful bowel motion which resulted in a toilet bowl full of blood, which scared the heck out of me! My doctor suspected IBD, and sent me for a colonoscopy. All my symptoms had settled down by then, so the only findings were a few polyps, diverticulosis (which I've had for years), and granulation tissue in the rectum. They didn't do a biopsy.
In the weeks following, everything is ramping up again. The pain in my rectum became too much, and I went back to my doctor to have a look at my hemorrhoids. Upon examination, he told me that I didn't have external hemorrhoids, but large skin tags! Yuk! I have a referral to see a rectal surgeon next week. After learning what I have on this forum, I wouldn't be surprised if I have anal fissures or even an abscess brewing in there, the pain is driving me crazy, and I'm still losing a lot of blood during bowel movements.
So, that's where I'm at. I must say that this forum has been an absolute wealth of information, and your community seems very friendly and supportive. I really admire how you all can be so open and sharing with this horrible disease, and how you've all managed to keep your sense of humour. (I cracked up at the "You know you have Crohn's when..." thread!).
I look forward to getting to know you all, and be prepared to be bombarded with heaps of questions!
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