Is an MR Enterography necessary?

[justintime]

Hi everyone, I really need your opinion about a test that my GI has ordered. She's scheduled me for an MR Enterography to rule out Crohn's. I've heard that this test is one of the best, but in my case it comes with some risks. I'm asthmatic and as a precaution I'll be given prednisone to prevent an asthma attack (which is possible due to the gadolinium). Last year I was given prednisone and my body reacted terribly to it, I was having hallucinations & it just messed up my body overall. I'm not ready to take such a risk when I'm not even sure if what I have is Crohn's. I'll list my symptoms and the tests I've done, and I'm hoping you could all help me out by telling me if there's an alternate test I could do. Any other info you guys want to share would be really appreciated.

Symptoms:
- abdominal distension (especially after eating)
- constant abdominal pain (pressure & fullness - even worse after eating)
- early satiety
- nausea
- heartburn (I'm taking Zantac 150 twice daily)
- weight loss (40 lbs in 11 months)
- occasional constipation

Tests:
- gastroscopy (celiac and h pylori) - normal
- ultrasound (abdomen and pelvis) - normal
- ct scan without contrast (abdomen) - normal
- stool sample - normal
- blood tests - normal
- gastric emptying test - awaiting results

Thanks so much!

 

[Jmrogers4]

What about a pill cam? We have not done one but there are quite a few other people who have done one.

 

[Ihurt]

I had all the symptoms you are describing years ago. I would be sooo bloated and would feel like I ate a huge dinner only after eating a couple bites of food. I suffered for a few years like this. I then decided to go Gluten free. After being Gluten free for 4 months, I noticed a Huge difference. I do NOT have celiacs either. I am just sensitive to gluten. You may want to try going gluten free for awhile and see if it helps.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

An MR enterography is a great test and I have had many but it's looking for structural differences. I'm not sure how great it is for diagnosis purposes in terms of overall disease. It's good when you are already diagnosed to monitor the illness. Why aren't they doing a colonoscopy?

 

[justintime]

Thank you all of you for your answers. I really appreciate you giving your input on alternate tests.

One more question, would you mind telling me what test you had to diagnose your Crohn's? I just need as much information as possible and I'd rather hear real life experiences and not just read articles.

Thanks guys!

 

[nogutsnoglory]

My crohn's was undetected via blood and stool tests (all came back normal) it was my colonoscopy many years ago that was what I got diagnosed from.

 

[Trysha]

colonoscopy diagnosed my crohns in left colon.

 

[SupportiveMom]

colonoscopy & endoscopy with pathology confirmed my kid with indeterminate colitis (in other words, you have one of the IBD's we just aren't sure which one). MRE confirmed crohn's. Without either an MRE or a colonoscopy/endoscopy i would not consider it being an official diagnosis. MRE is the best test going in my opinion. Pill cam is a good one too from what I hear. We just haven't done it.

 

[Jmrogers4]

Endoscopy and colonoscopy with biopsies although the GI was 95% certain from blood tests but I think that was because we knew dad had Crohn's