No blood. can this with crohn?

[kenvh]

Hi

I am Ken from belgium 33 years old and have now 2 months GI problems.
I have loose stools 3 - 6 times a day.
I had campylobacter and when it was gone.. immune stuff happens..

stooltest was negative for campylobacter or any bacteria after antibiotics..
calprotectin test showed 107 and showed inflammation.
conclusion: auto immune problem (MC, UC or crohns).

I also have bladder inflammation (bladder pain syndrome / IC) immune disease.

so im very sure this all seen is also an immune problem/disease.

questions:
I have very loose stools.. but no blood in it.
Is this because im only 2 months in disease stage?
did u guys have blood after 3 weeks or so?

I started at 2 months on pentasa and this helped a little bit. 3 * 500mg.
Then i switched to asacol because pentasa hurts my bladder pain disease.
asacol didnt hurt me.. but im not as good as the pentasa..
Im not sure what to do here.

If asacol doesnt work to well.. will the entocort work for me? asacol disolves only in ileum and large intestine. entocort does the same location?
can i do other things?

my lifestyle is already changes 2 years ago due my bladder pain.
I was living very healthy.. so i cant change much on lifestyle anymore
the bacteria triggerd an immune response

Im also cleaning the gut at night with bentonite clay.
Im willing to try REISHI mushrooms and start LDN.

 

[InstantCoffee]

Only once in my life did I have blood and I'm pretty sure it's because I ruptured a hemorrhoid, not because of crohn's.

Blood, or lack of blood, is not an indicator of crohn's.

 

[24601]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear of the health issues you are dealing with.

Yes, absolutely you can have Crohn's without blood. I've never had blood, except briefly with hemmorhoids.

Have you had a colonoscopy? And did they take biopsies? As sometimes Crohn's can be diagnosed definitively from the biopsies.

Also have you had a CT scan, MRI or camera pill? It's important to know the location of all the disease so that you can target the treatment appropriately. As you know, some medications only release in the terminal ileum and colon so can't treat disease elsewhere in the bowel. Entocort releases in the terminal ileum and ascending colon.

Have you had a repeat fecal calprotectin test?

I'm afraid I know nothing about bentonite clay or reishi mushrooms. There are people on the forum who are using LDN and you'll find a lot of posts here in the sub-forum

It could be that you need a faster acting treatment to get you into remission. Have you ever tried exclusive enteral nutrition?

 

[kenvh]

so there are people with crohns that dont have blood in stools? they just have mucosal inflammation like microscopic colitis? but located in small and large intestine? so a mild form of crohn?

 

[kenvh]

Only once in my life did I have blood and I'm pretty sure it's because I ruptured a hemorrhoid, not because of crohn's.

Blood, or lack of blood, is not an indicator of crohn's.

so there are people with crohns that dont have blood in stools? they just have mucosal inflammation like microscopic colitis? but located in small and large intestine? so a mild form of crohn?

 

[kenvh]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear of the health issues you are dealing with.

Yes, absolutely you can have Crohn's without blood. I've never had blood, except briefly with hemmorhoids.

Have you had a colonoscopy? And did they take biopsies? As sometimes Crohn's can be diagnosed definitively from the biopsies.

Also have you had a CT scan, MRI or camera pill? It's important to know the location of all the disease so that you can target the treatment appropriately. As you know, some medications only release in the terminal ileum and colon so can't treat disease elsewhere in the bowel. Entocort releases in the terminal ileum and ascending colon.

Have you had a repeat fecal calprotectin test?

I'm afraid I know nothing about bentonite clay or reishi mushrooms. There are people on the forum who are using LDN and you'll find a lot of posts here in the sub-forum

It could be that you need a faster acting treatment to get you into remission. Have you ever tried exclusive enteral nutrition?

I didnt have other tests then 1 calprotectin test.
another test would show less inflammation i suppose because of the asacol and pentasa. but im not fine at all.
camera pill? this sounds nice? means that i can skip the colonscopy? Im not having that one done.

So crohn without blood.. does this mean we have a very mild case?
do u guys go faster in remission? with or without meds?
Is it live-able for u guys?

 

[Jmrogers4]

My son has never had blood except for one time when he had a c-diff infection. His Crohn's is pretty severe but in remission right now with the use of biologics. It has been the only thing to work so far. Since he started on remicade a year and half ago he has had no issues and is living the life of a normal teenage boy. He will be 16 in July and was diagnosed when he was 10.

 

[24601]

I don't believe that whether you have blood or the amount or frequency of blood is an indicator of how severe your disease is. There are so many ways that Crohn's can affect you - whether it's fistulizing, stricturing or purely inflammatory, which part(s) of the GI tract are affected etc.

I'm afraid I'm another severe case and struggled to get the disease under control with any meds that are available - but that's not to say that meds and surgery haven't been very valuable. But lack of blood has not been an indication of a mild case of Crohn's. It may be partly the location of my disease that affects the fact that I've never actually seen bleeding from inflamed bowel as my disease is in the jejunum and ileum. In spite of that the inflammation has caused many strictures that have had to be surgically removed and I now have borderline short bowel syndrome - so there are definitely other concerns besides the amount of blood.

It's really important to look at the whole picture with Crohn's and minimize inflammation wherever it is in the bowel and regardless of symptoms . Good ways to monitor that are fecal calprotectin and imaging.

I do think you need to go back to your doctor to repeat some tests and find a treatment that will help you feel better and minimize your chances of future complications :ghug:

 

[tlattin]

An important note: if blood is found, one should not get worried and flip out because there are many reasons for it, but one should let their doctor know.

 

[araceli]

Daughter with severe crohn's in small intestine and perianal. She had never had blood except from a small anal fissure. Currently in remission with remicade.