My symptoms - Are these related to IBD like Crohn's?

[AKD]

I am 30 years old (male) and I have been underweight all through my life. My parents say I was OK until the age of 4 but after that my growth was delayed/stunted. I am now 92 lbs and 5"3. The weight has remained the same for a long time now and never gained weight (just gained bone weight since childhood). If I try to increase my diet to gain weight, I would end up having diarrhea like situation. Even if I don't take extra food than normal, I do get occasional diarrhea like situation (not watery, just loose) maybe one in a week. It would be ok the next day or after 2 days, so usually I think it must have been something to do with the food. When I was a kid (like 4 - 14 years) I used to have vomiting and frequent fevers. Doctors who checked me mostly did blood tests and since everything was normal in those tests, I was told that I just need to eat more food and would give appetizer tonics. None of them ever helped and I remained underweight.

Since I desperately want to gain weight, the diarrhea like situation whenever I take more food has been frustrating me. I started Googling if I can find if it is any disorder and that's how I ended up reading about IBD, Crohn's, etc. I do not have any of the major symptoms like constant diarrhea (I just have occasional or when I have more food), abdominal pain, blood in stool or reduced appetite. The only major symptom is related to weight as I never gained any weight since childhood (from 4 years old), which makes me believe I could have some disease related to food mal-absorbtion since childhood and IBD/Crohn's is what I could relate based on my own research. My growth was stunted since childhood and so I don't look anywhere near my actual age. I look like I am half my age and its been like that since childhood. Even though I am 30 now, my beard grows in patches. I do not have any other health related issues though.

I understand that the only way to know is to get tests like Colonoscopy done and I am planning to meet a gastroenterologist soon. Since I do not have constant flare-ups I would like to seek opinion from others here if there could be any chance of a IBD/Crohn's for me? As I do not have a constant diarrhea problem and since I do not have any other issue (except being extremely underweight with stunted growth), I am not sure how to convince the doctor to get a colonoscopy test done.

Thank you for reading and sorry for the long post.

 

[valleysangel92]

Hi there..

Hmmm... This is a tricky one, stunted growth and weight loss/inability to gain weight can certainly be part of crohns, but usually other symptoms would be present, especially after such a long time suffering.

The occasional D could also be crohns . It doesn't have to be frequent.

I suppose my answer would be that it doesn't scream crohns or IBD to me, there are lots of conditions that can cause stunted growth.

One thing that does come to mind for me is coeliac disease. Coeliac is a condition where the immune system reacts to the ingestion of gluten ( found in wheat, barley, rye and oats). When gluten is eaten, it triggers an unusual immune response, causing the immune system to attack the lining of the small intestines, flattening the finger- like villi that line the walls and causing difficulty in absorbing nutrients. This can then cause stunted growth and D.

The reason this springs to mind is that there are different levels of symptom severity, some people only get very mild or strange symptoms which are a nuisance but don't really seem like much, others will get extreme symptoms like that of a severe allergy. For me, my symptoms started generic and weird, now, if I accidentally eat gluten, my lips swell up and I feel like I've got the worst flu on earth. It struck me that you feel worse when you eat more food, and if you eat gluten, that would mean you eat more of that too. If you think this is a possibility for you, you need to ask for TTG and AGA blood tests, these are the most significant markers for coeliac in the blood. After that, youll need an endoscopy to take some biopsies.

I hope this has helped you a little. IBD is a possibility still, but I'd say it's a small one.

 

[bellekeat]

Hi AKD. I'm in an uncertain situ also. Suffer abdominal pain. Doctor says colitis but until my colonoscopy is done I'm unsure what to think. I too have no diarrhoea, guess we should be thankful eh For me it's mostly pain and nausea. Sorry to hear you're having a rough time at the moment and until diagnostic tests are performed we are in limbo. What a nuisance. All I can suggest to you for what it's worth is to take care of yourself the very best you can which I suspect you do already. Keep pushing for the colonoscopy although in fairness I'd easily not have it. It scares the crap out of me
literally...hahaha. Keep us posted on your findings and good luck

 

[AKD]

Thanks for the replies, valleysangel92 and bellekeat!

One thing that does come to mind for me is coeliac disease.

Thanks for the information.. haven't come across it before, I will research more about it.

Keep pushing for the colonoscopy although in fairness I'd easily not have it. It scares the crap out of me literally...hahaha.

:lol: yeah nobody would want that. However the mental depression due to being severely underweight all through my life is more painful that the thought of doing a colonoscopy, hoping it will find something.

 

[happyballerina]

Hi AKD and welcome!

I just wanted to mention that another possible explanation for your failure to thrive/lack of weight gain is hyperthyroidism. Have you ever had your thyroid checked?

Hyperthyroidism can make it difficult to maintain or gain weight and one of the symptoms is also diarrhea. This is an avenue I would consider worth checking, especially since it won't involve more than a blood test and possible an ultrasound of your thyroid if there's a need for it.

You said you don't have any other symptoms, so it's probably a long-shot. For reference, or in the case that this might be of help, here are some usual symptoms of hyperthyroidism:
Weight loss or inability to gain weight
Diarrhea
Increased appetite
Exophthalmos (eyes that bulge out more than normal; in a less extreme case of exophthalmos where it is less obvious, you can tell by looking at the whites of your eyes -- do you see white above and below the colored part of your eye?)
Rapid or irregular or pounding HR/pulse (ie. tachycardia, arrhythmia, palpitations)
Heat intolerance or feeling hot all the time
Sweating
Tremor
Anxiety/nervousness/irritability
Skin thinning
Fine or brittle hair
Muscle weakness
Fatigue
Difficulty sleeping
Goiter

Obviously a lot of those are nonspecific and some of those you can experience simply as a result of being undernourished or too thin.

But yeah, I would consider this something worth checking at your next dr. appt.
I don't think you need to plan on how to convince the GI to give you a colonoscopy. At least see how the first appointment goes or, if you really want to or feel it's needed, just bring it up and ask him ("do you think it would be helpful for me to have a colonoscopy so that something might be ruled out?" or some other variation on that).
When was the last time you've been to the doctors? Do you have a GP?

Good luck, keep us updated