I may not have crohn's? Confused! Help!

[autumn_rose]

Accidentally posted this in the polls first. Sorry!

Anyway, now that I have it in the right place, here's my story...

So, two years ago I was diagnosed with crohn's disease. The method the doctors used for diagnosing was an upper and lower GI (x-rays), an ultra-sound, and blood work, which showed that I had a lot of inflammation in my body. But they never did a colonoscopy. Well, after I was diagnosed, I changed doctors. He reviewed my files and began treating me based on my previous diagnosis. I've been on 150mg of Imuran for some time now. My doc recently sent me in to have more x-rays to see how things looked, and everything looks completely normal. He asked how I was initially diagnosed, and I told him. He now thinks that since I never had a colonoscopy, that I may not have had crohn's this whole time. When I asked what else could have been causing symptoms that are identical to the symptoms of crohn's, he told me that a bad viral infection could cause the same symptoms. Has anyone else heard of this? Is this possible? I'm scheduled to go in for a colonoscopy on October 6th for biopsies. But I was just curious if anyone else had heard of something like a viral infection mimicking crohn's. Thanks, everyone!

 

[DustyKat]

Well I don't know that you could rule a virus out. What were your symptoms at the time of diagnosis and have you had any sort of continuing symptoms??

Based on your meds list it would appear that they were pretty adamant about their initial diagnosis. Could it not be the medications working that has resulted in your normal results?

Dusty.

 

[bushydougie]

I had a small bowel meal recently and they didn't find anything (I'm still undiagnosed but my GI believes I have Crohn's). The radiographer said that he wouldn't expect to find any signs of Crohn's as I was on Pred and it obviously gets rid of the inflammation. Would have thought that would be the same for you with the meds you are on? Did you ask him about this? Surely you are on the meds to help you with the remission of CD and the xrays would show this

 

[TMos]

You can get post infectious ibs after a bad virus. Apparently it can take years to get better. A good GI should be able to determine Crohn's alot of the time just by feeling around your belly. Apparently they can usually feel a mass around the lower right quadrant and you'll experience pain when it's pushed but everybody's different. Well, that's what my GI told me and he's supposed to be pretty awesome.

 

[autumn_rose]

My symptoms were extreme weight loss, pain in the lower right of my abdomen when I would eat, loose stools (but I had those after I had my gall bladder removed, so I thought it was normal for me) and eventually, vomiting. I also was under the impression that if my meds put me into remission that I would have normal test results while still having underlying crohn's, which could flare up at any point. Thanks for the input, everyone. I will ask my doc more questions.

 

[dreamintwilight]

TMos - I agree with your doc. My GI also does the "feel" test every time I see him. He actually let me feel once (in April after I recovered from a partial bowel obstruction) and you could definitely feel the inflammation.

I am baffled by your doc's conclusion, Autumn_Rose. I agree with others. You would think a doc's conclusion would be that your meds are actually working for you rather than determining you never really had Crohn's. But, hey, I'm no doctor. I suppose both scenarios are pretty good though. Either your meds are working really well or maybe you don't have Crohn's at all. Would be good to know for sure either way though Keep us updated!