New to Crohn's - Worried about a flare

[dj_tano]

Hi everyone,

I am 25, been diagnosed with Crohn's 2,5 years ago after a really nasty flare that put me in the hospital for 3 weeks. I was on infliximab for about 2 years and it went great, stopped taking it about 6 months ago.

I have been going through a really stressful time with work for the past 2 months and had a little bit of bright red blood in my stool a little over a month ago. Now I've had some more bright red blood in my stool over the past 2 days, and I'm getting a little bit worried.

My question: How much should I worry about this?

Its not the first time I had some bleeding, and last time I just took some mesalamine and it went away fine, however at the time I had not been diagnosed with Crohn's yet so I'm not sure if there is a difference now. I recently moved country so I was thinking of finding a gastroenterologist but that might take some time, so I am not sure if I should just go straight to the hospital or wait until I get an appointment (hopefully in the next weeks).

 

[DJW]

Hi
Bleeding does happen. I think its important to play it safe and get it checked out. If for no other reason than to put your mind at ease.

 

[teeny5]

I agree get it checked out. You don't need more stress due to worrying about it. I went to urgent care before when I didn't feel right. My GI said the meds were working, but still I had so much pain and added symptoms. He told me any change and I should go in. I felt stupid, but just kept worrying and googling stuff all day. Finally, I decided just to go in. They figured out I was getting worse and changed my meds that day. Better to be safe than sorry and if it is something to catch it early. The worse it gets the harder it is to get under control. They can't blame you for taking charge of your health.

Stress aggravates my symptoms...I do yoga, color (yes in coloring books), paint, read, or go out into my garden to help relieve stress. For me stopping the stress means getting my brain to stop thinking about everything.

 

[dj_tano]

Just wanted to follow up on this older thread.

I took 500mg mesalazine for 10 days and the bleeding stopped, however at the beginning of August I ended up having a flare up anyway. Right now I guess that this bleeding was the first sign something wrong, and by not paying enough attention I ended up making my situation worse.

You live and you learn.