Normal blood work and stool studies but still sick...is this typical??

[Nurse Nausea 2016]

So I'm currently undiagnosed but GI is leaning towards CD. I had blood work at my first GI appt and found out today that everything was normal. I've also had a "normal" stool study. My question is, does anyone here with known CD ever have normal results?? I'm still waiting for a scope appt, but I'm so frustrated and confused with what the heck my body is doing!! Thanks in advance.

 

[b-positive]

Hi!

I can really empathise with your frustration. Before I was diagnosed with CD my main symptom was constant right side abdominal pain. After other conditions were ruled out, I ended up at a GI Doctor who did blood work and stool tests. My tests all came back normal. The next step was a colonoscopy, which showed acute inflammation and ulceration in my terminal ileum. The pathology from the test confirmed IBD. I know it's really frustrating trying to get to the bottom of your symptoms, hang in there!!

 

[Orchid]

Yes, even with "normal" bloodwork and stool cultures you can easily have inflammation. Did they check CRP or just bacteria types? In any case, a colonoscopy should be much more informative.

 

[Nurse Nausea 2016]

Thanks for the quick responses! You guys are awesome. My symptoms seem to have chilled out some...in November I was making 10-15 trips to the bathroom a day...now the diarrhea has eased up to only a couple times a day or every other day even. My biggest problem now is nausea...I wana hurl 24/7 -.- I'm just ready for this to go away even if it's just temporary!

 

[Nurse Nausea 2016]

And Orchid: I know they tested for bacteria and parasites in the stool but I'm not sure what all they drew blood for.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Yes, absolutely tests can miss things or be "normal" or inconclusive even when something like IBD is going on. I have presumed IBD as well but I'm also not fully diagnosed in spite of having had many tests. My test results are always frustratingly normal, sometimes IBD just hides really well and bloodwork isn't always 100% reliable (for example, I've read that CRP & ESR - inflammatory markers in the blood - can be normal in about 10% of the IBD population, even during a bad flare - my CRP & ESR are always low/normal so I presume I'm in that 10%). For Crohn's specifically, it can manifest anywhere in the digestive tract, literally anywhere from mouth to anus - in other words, that's a lot of digestive tract that they have to check, and it's not easy to see (or particularly to biopsy) the small intestine. And something like microscopic colitis is just that, it's microscopic - meaning when they do a colonoscopy, everything will look totally normal. They can only find it on biopsy. Also, with both Crohn's and microscopic colitis, they have "skip patterns" meaning the inflammation is patchy and they basically have to biopsy the right spot to find it, particularly with microscopic colitis. So, when you have your scope, make sure they know to take lots of biopsies! Good luck with the scope, I hope you can get some answers soon. Hang in there!