Okay, so... long story!
My mum has Crohn's, as does my first cousin (her niece).
Thinking back on it, I don't think I've had normal bowel movements since I was in my early teens (29 now). And I've certainly had sporadic abdominal pain throughout that times, which sometimes has me doubled over. I get lots of gas. Sometimes I go to the loo eight times a day, sometimes I go once or not at all. Usually it's loose, rarely it's hard, and even more rarely it's 'normal'. Even when it's loose, I have some difficulty passing. Occasionally pencil thin, usually broken up. Sometimes very pale. Sometimes nothing but a smearing of mucus on the paper.
Over the last year or so, I've started getting a pain in my left side, just under my rib. It nags and nags before I have a BM, and usually feels a bit better a short while after. When I lean forward or bend over forward, it feels like there's something there under my rib that's filling me a bit - like it will pop under my rib if I bend a certain way.
I also started getting, about 2 years ago, chronic urticaria. I take antihistamines daily to control it, and I spring up in hives if I forget to take one.
Additionally, I started getting really bad acid indigestion around a year ago.
I've explained these things to my doctors on several occasions, including times when I've needed to get hemorrhoid medication and movicol, but they don't seem to really take much notice. They dismiss it, so I figure it's probably nothing serious and drop it. The one time I was insistent, the doc had me lay down on the bed, prodded the bottom-right of my abdomen a little (throuh my clothes), then said "you probably have a little bit of IBS or something".
One thing - I am overweight. I'm in the 'obese' category, but not the 'morbidly obese'. I recall my mum and my cousin losing a LOT of weight before their diagnoses, so this makes me think it's not Crohn's - but then I also recall them both telling me they ignored symptoms for years too (when not doing so might have meant they'd both have avoided the major surgeries they'v had). I'm pretty sure the doctors take one look at me, think 'fat chick', and ignore the possibility of anything other than a crappy diet effecting my GIT. But the symptoms have been the same, even when I've been eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise.
So I guess my question is - does this sound like an IBD? If so, how do I get my doctor to take next steps instead of palming me of with 'a little bit of IBS'?
My mum has Crohn's, as does my first cousin (her niece).
Thinking back on it, I don't think I've had normal bowel movements since I was in my early teens (29 now). And I've certainly had sporadic abdominal pain throughout that times, which sometimes has me doubled over. I get lots of gas. Sometimes I go to the loo eight times a day, sometimes I go once or not at all. Usually it's loose, rarely it's hard, and even more rarely it's 'normal'. Even when it's loose, I have some difficulty passing. Occasionally pencil thin, usually broken up. Sometimes very pale. Sometimes nothing but a smearing of mucus on the paper.
Over the last year or so, I've started getting a pain in my left side, just under my rib. It nags and nags before I have a BM, and usually feels a bit better a short while after. When I lean forward or bend over forward, it feels like there's something there under my rib that's filling me a bit - like it will pop under my rib if I bend a certain way.
I also started getting, about 2 years ago, chronic urticaria. I take antihistamines daily to control it, and I spring up in hives if I forget to take one.
Additionally, I started getting really bad acid indigestion around a year ago.
I've explained these things to my doctors on several occasions, including times when I've needed to get hemorrhoid medication and movicol, but they don't seem to really take much notice. They dismiss it, so I figure it's probably nothing serious and drop it. The one time I was insistent, the doc had me lay down on the bed, prodded the bottom-right of my abdomen a little (throuh my clothes), then said "you probably have a little bit of IBS or something".
One thing - I am overweight. I'm in the 'obese' category, but not the 'morbidly obese'. I recall my mum and my cousin losing a LOT of weight before their diagnoses, so this makes me think it's not Crohn's - but then I also recall them both telling me they ignored symptoms for years too (when not doing so might have meant they'd both have avoided the major surgeries they'v had). I'm pretty sure the doctors take one look at me, think 'fat chick', and ignore the possibility of anything other than a crappy diet effecting my GIT. But the symptoms have been the same, even when I've been eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise.
So I guess my question is - does this sound like an IBD? If so, how do I get my doctor to take next steps instead of palming me of with 'a little bit of IBS'?
)
