Might be Flaring with unusual symptoms

[blakesangel90]

Hello, I'm a student in the midst of her exams 23 diagnosed with crohn's at 17. Have flared once since my diagnosis. Now on 6mp for the past 5 years. And have been fine. Till recently. I am having swelling of my legs and its becoming painful to walk. I also have recently had bright red blood in my stool and painful bloating. It sucks don't know if i should see someone right away. I have an appointment for scoping a week and half and feel like i should just wait i just hate being in so much pain around exams.

 

[theOcean]

Welcome to the forum! I'm also a student, though I'm 22. I was in a very similar situation to you -- I had a scope not even a week away, and wanted to wait for it... but I ended up in the hospital before I could get to that appointment. I ended up getting an emergency colonoscopy at the hospital anyway, so it kind of worked out.

Those symptoms don't sound unusual -- if anything they sound like absolute proof that you're experiencing bad inflammation. If you're able to, I would go to the hospital because of the bloating in your legs, which sounds very alarming. If you do think you're able to wait, please, please try to contact your GI immediately. Even if you aren't able to get an appointment, tell them your symptoms over the phone and ask them what you think you should do.

I think you likely need to be put on prednisone immediately, and if when you taper that doesn't help, you may need to add some more maintenance medication, possibly a biologic or a 5-ASA if that works for you.

 

[shamrock15]

Yes, the swelling in the legs sounds a lot like edema. Lots of possible causes for it, and many of them are not that good. It is worth checking out soon. Make sure your doctors know about it in any case as steroids can seriously aggravate edema. For me, a combination of steroids and the flu made it impossible for me to get my winter boots on in the middle of an Ottawa winter. Not nice. If the bleeding is new to you, or if there are significant quantities, go sooner rather than later.