Normal Labs

[Indy516]

I have been diagnosed with Crohns Disease, officially in 2015 but have been fighting symptoms since 2006. I am currently having a Flare with pain nausea the works and my doctors say that I am fine because my labs are normal. Because of this they refuse to fill out my leave paperwork for being out sick. I have almost never had abnormal labs in my entire life including when I had appendicitis. Has anybody else ever had this problem with doctors not believing the symptoms because the labs are "normal"?
Ps I am on remicade and imuran currently for treatment and though they say my labs are fine they put me on 2 months of prednisone

 

[ronroush7]

I wonder if you should get a second opinion.

 

[valleysangel92]

Hello, I'm similar in that my bloods are almost always normal and I believe that this caused a significant delay in me getting scans and treatment sorted out. I would suggest asking your GI to perform a fecal calprotectin, this is a much more sensitive tests for inflammation and has the added benefit of being quick and painless. If they refuse to do this then it's probably worth seeking a second opinion.

 

[eleanor_rigby]

Yes I'm another one. My GI makes me feel like a liar and a drama queen. She puts it all down to anxiety. I'm hoping I will be able to change GIs soon. The only really revealing test I've ever had was a colonoscopy but unfortunately they are invasive and costly so I can't have (and don't want) them all the time. It's been a year since my last one and I have had unchanged symptoms in that time but due to other normal testing my GI says my disease is inactive.

Sounds like they may be listening to you if they put you on prednisolone. Do you have any reliable tests that show when you are in a flare?

 

[Blu's Tale]

Hello, I'm similar in that my bloods are almost always normal and I believe that this caused a significant delay in me getting scans and treatment sorted out. I would suggest asking your GI to perform a fecal calprotectin, this is a much more sensitive tests for inflammation and has the added benefit of being quick and painless. If they refuse to do this then it's probably worth seeking a second opinion.

Hi would a feacal calprotectin test show inflammation when your not bad. I got a letter from my doctor yesterday and he has more or less disregarded the colonoscopy results I had back in September and has now referred me to a dietitian as he believes I have IBS variant. Going to give the dietitian a go and if I'm still having problems go for another colonoscopy and second opinion

 

[ronroush7]

Hi would a feacal calprotectin test show inflammation when your not bad. I got a letter from my doctor yesterday and he has more or less disregarded the colonoscopy results I had back in September and has now referred me to a dietitian as he believes I have IBS variant. Going to give the dietitian a go and if I'm still having problems go for another colonoscopy and second opinion

I agree with you