I Just need to know

[sorcha]

I am a fifty year old woman and have been suffering
g from stomach pain diarrhoea mixed with constipation heartburn reflux sickness and bouts of illness for the last ten years, recently it has got much much worse i went to my doctor in June and he examined me gave me a higher dose of omeprazole and sent me away over the next two months i got so ill with my stomach i have been to the doctors at least ten times, at times i felt as if i could die, all my blood tests have come back normal or near to normal, i have begged for a n appointment with a gastro specialist, and now i have one for 29th january which seems so long away
surprisingly i feel well and have done for three days, the first three days since the beginning of june, I still have bad diarrhea every day but can live with that I just dont know what tio do if the pain comes back i don't think i can get through it again, I have researched on the internet, and the crohns symptoms are close to mine i feel the doctor thinks i am making it up and now i am desperate and scared I really dont know what to do I cant tell my family i could just do with some advice
sam

 

[Jennifer]

Hi sorcha and welcome to the forum!

I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well but I'm glad that you finally got an appointment coming up with a GI. They will probably want to do a colonoscopy and an upper endoscopy. Make sure they take biopsies because they are needed for a Crohn's diagnosis. Some GI doctors don't take any if things look ok and patients wind up needing another not long after just to get them.

If you do have Crohn's then going on a low residue diet may help with the pain if it returns and can also help to prevent it from returning if things aren't too bad inside. If it gets worse then you may need to try a liquid diet for a few days (always let your doctor know that you're doing this and let them know how bad your symptoms are). If your pain ever gets severe, you stop passing stool, or start vomiting then go to the hospital/A&E.

Be sure to write down all of your symptoms and share them with your GI even if they go away before your appointment. Keep us posted on how you're feeling and how the appointment goes.

 

[June9teen]

Hi, sorcha!

What blood tests have you got so far and what does "near to normal mean"? What about hemoglobin and inflammatory markers?

I dont know if this is bad advice, but If I were you and the symptoms are too similar to Crohn's to not be it and the blood/stool tests indicate it too, I would buy some over the counter Crohn meds (probably some 5-ASA), some Imodium, continue with Omeprazol. Either that or try weed (I'm joking, but not really). The thing is I dont think there's anything that will instantly take the pain away...

As I said, this is probably bad advice and you should at least informally ask a doctor if it would be safe to take a medicine usually prescribed for Crohn's. Either way, you should have the fecalprotectine test done beforehand.

Mind this, these suggestions are coming from a 22-year old, with no other illnesses, so please be careful whatever you do. I do also believe that the best thing to do is wait for the appointment.