Need thought...Crohns??

[tlabruyere]

My daughter is 14 and she was brought to ER thinking she is having appendicitis.Bad pain in LRQ. Nausea. Very small fever. Blood work showed fighting infection. The dr did CT with contrast and it showed her ileum was swollen and inflamed.We were then told this is usually a sign of crohns and we definitely got to see a GI dr. Besides the pain in belly she has about four ulcers in her mouth.Her cheeks and lips are swollen. Now this was a shock. Never even crossed my mind of crohns. Now besides this episode let me go back on her history some. Prob year and half ago I brought her in to see her pediatrician because she was bleeding out of rectum. Bright red blood. Enough to feel up toilet. Her dr pushed on her stomach and said she felt tender. She asked about last bowl movement. Was given antibiotics and was told her intestine was irritated and that's reason for bleeding. That's when my daughter's constipation started. She is always constipated. Must take miralax to use restroom. There is another time I brought her to ER for same pain in belly about 6 months after bleeding. CT was done with contrast and was told severely constipation. It took 2 enemas and lots of miralax to get things moving again. Does this sound like crohns? We see GI hopefully soon.

 

[shamrock15]

Could be - same sort of issues I had when mine started up. Write down your questions so that you don't miss anything when you speak with your GI.

 

[tzvia]

I agree that it could be, especially with the inflammation of the ileum. They should do a colonoscopy/ endoscopy next to confirm

 

[tlabruyere]

I wanted to add to symptoms. After she eats her belly will get very bloated. She also complains that her belly hurts almost every morning. I always thought maybe cause she was backed up or needed restroom but she just said it doesn't feel like that kind of hurt.

She has been on prednisone for 6 days now but is still hurting if she doesn't take pain meds. Kinda concerned because she is out of prednisone after today.

 

[tzvia]

Call the doctor who prescribed the prednisone and let them know how she is feeling and your concerns. To help with the pain, have her try just eating liquids for a few days like broth, a simple smoothie, or store bought nutritional drinks.

 

[2thFairy]

Pain meds will add to her constipation, which will add to her discomfort. She should be drinking plenty of water to help counter some of the constipation.

Also, since Crohn's disease is suspected at this point, she should not take anything that has ibuprofen in it like Motrin or Advil, and stick with Tylenol for headaches or other pain.