Ibd and ibs??

[klyn610]

Hello and thanks for looking.

I was diagnosed with (mild) Crohn's 2 years ago. I had a colonoscopy in 2011 to rule out polyps (runs in family). They said no polyps but ileitis. They thought it could be due to NSAID use and told me to stop all NSAIDS and come back in a year. NO symptoms of IBD!

2nd colonoscopy showed ileitis, cryptitus, colitis, all kinds of "itis's". Still asymptomatic. Blood markers did not indicate Crohn's however - so diagnosis was IBD/colitis w/possible mild crohn's.

A few weeks ago I started having some pretty significant pain in lower abdomen. Pain started to subside but having diarrhea and bloating. I thought it was initially uterus related but went to gastro - order blood, fecal and xrays. Xrays showed fecal loaded colon! WBC's in fecal and slightly elevated in blood. Took two days of Magnesium Citrate and flushed out. 3rd colonoscopy scheduled for July 1st... Wants to medicate me but colonoscopy should how aggressively to treat... Felt better... but diarrhea not going away.

Increasing difficulty moving bowels, extreme pain and cramping during a BM. Called doc yesterday, he called in Dicyclomine 20mgs to take 4x a day/as needed. Had uneventful BM this morning!

So, reading about Dicyclomine, it's a treatment for IBS. Doc thought it sounded like I had spastic colon. Since the meds are helping, but we already know I have IBD, is the root of my pain/problem IBD or do I have both IBS and IBD?

Does anyone with IBD have IBS symptoms? I read a few articles on here when I googled it (thus joining the forum), but it all seems to be vague.

I feel mostly OK it was just actually having the BM that the pain, nausea, sweating, etc felt like I was dying. Otherwise, I have a little lower back pain and am tired.

Since I was asymptomatic for so long, I'm wondering if this is what it's going to be like for me, ie: IBS symptoms due to IBD.

Thank you all so much for your time. oo:
KL

 

[SarahBear]

Welcome to the forum, KL!

Are you certain you don't have IBD and IBS? That's certainly possible. I've been diagnosed with both. However, they can have very similar or even identical (in some cases) symptoms.

What exactly are your symptoms though? Have you ever had blood in your stool? Do you ever wake up with stomach pain and/or bowel movements? Do you experience night sweats?

When you were diagnosed with Crohn's, did they diagnose off biopsies taken during the colonoscopy? Have you been on any medication for Crohn's?

 

[klyn610]

Hi SarahBear

Thanks for writing back.

I guess I'm not sure if I have IBS as well as IBD, I just thought that was what the doctor is treating with the dicyclomine. It seems to have helped a bit! (Only going by today's bm!)

For the 2nd colonoscopy, there were several biopsies taken, indicating inflammation/colitis. I still had the ileitis, which led them to tell me it was "mild" crohn's, since at the time I had no symptoms. Bottom line it's IBD, but which one is still a bit hazy. I'm hoping to get more specific answers after colonoscopy coming up. I only started really researching it once I started having problems :-(

So, symptoms for May started out with lower constant abdominal pain for about 2 weeks, then (obviously) constipation since the xray showed "fecal loaded colon". Took the Magnesium Citrate and cleaned out, but diarrheah and pain during BM's increased until the pain was so bad during a BM I called them yesterday and they put me on the dicyclomine.

I had some pretty dark stool occasionally (which I know could mean blood) but the past few days it seems normal (although painful). I haven't seen any bright red. I've also got hemorrhoids and some rectal bleeding, but I think they are isolated to the hemorrhoids. The stool test he did was just for WBC's which was positive.

I've always had night sweats, so I can't tell if they are any worse?

No, I've never been on meds for Crohn's. When they told me I had it and have inflammation everywhere I couldn't believe it because I had felt fine up until last month. They did tell me I would not be asymptomatic forever. I sorta hoped it would be the case. :confused2:

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me!

KL

 

[klyn610]

On an interesting note - I know I have an overactive immune system. Besides some strange skin allergies, when I was pregnant with my daughter my WBC's were very high. I had to see a hematologist every month to make sure they didn't go any higher. They say WBC's do go higher in pregnancy but not as high as mine did (up to 19 and 20, where the threshold is like 10 or 11) Had I not been pregnant, the next test they would do is a bone marrow test! It was scary!

Had my daughter, healthy, all is well. Went back 2 months after having her and WBC's went back down to normal.

I REALLY think I was allergic to being pregnant! I was SO swollen, my toes were separating on their own. Even pics of me from the hospital, my nose is even swollen.

Bottom line, I do think I have an overactive immune system!