- Joined
- Sep 3, 2010
- Messages
- 61
Hi, everyone;
My story's pretty deceptively short, despite this long post. Aside from two small bleeding duodenal ulcers back in November of 2005, I have had no real outstanding GI issues in my life. Well, I did have what I assumed to be a bad case of bacterial dysentery when I was thirteen — hoo-boy, memories — but it's worth mentioning in case it was something else.
My (deceased) dad had a ruptured appendix at around 21-22, and had his first bout with what was then diagnosed as ulcerative colitis about a year later. Mind you, I remember his telling me this when I was pretty young, maybe ten. He said he was laid out on the couch and never wanted to move, was bleeding when he passed stools, and it hurt whenever he ate. He went into remission, but it came back with double force when he was 44 and I was six. I remember getting a glimpse in the hospital of what he was producing, just days before his three-foot large bowel resection. At six, I unabashedly announced (as kids do) that it looked like 'grape jelly'. Needless to say, the entire experience left an impact on me, and I've been aware of my own inherited risk, though to my knowledge no one else has developed IBD on that side of my family.
In case it doesn't show in my info, I'm 28 (29 in October). A week ago I awoke with a sensation throughout my bowels I can't quite explain. Not pain, but very bad discomfort. I passed three to four movements a day, all rather thin (in shape, no consistency) but no diarrhea. Still, that's not normal for me. The pain that has developed is in my lower right—an intermittent burning, aching pain right next to my hip that worsens with sitting. I've asked one doctor so far if they thought appendicitis. It hasn't advanced, so I assume not. It's not excruciating. There is no blood that I can see (I've never had that).
I guess what I really want to ask is what other people have experienced when they first developed IBD. I normally have what I tell people are "guts of steel". Hit me with anything, I'll get over it. I haven't even vomited (knock on wood) since I was four. Yeah, four years old, so twenty-four years no vomiting. These stools are weird, the pain is weird, the extreme fatigue that comes with the bouts of aching pain are very strange for me, and I'm losing a lot of weight. I never lose weight. 122lbs from 135 in about two months, I think? and I'm 5'6½". I have occasional appetite loss but I figured that was my nerves (I'm easily stressed).
Now, the reason I'm inquiring is because I'm on warfarin for factor V Leiden, a condition where I form clots easily and don't break them down readily. The condition saved my life with the ulcers I had in 2005, as I actually healed myself in a couple days from their appearance. But, as you can imagine, if I start bleeding from Crohn's, I'm in a world of danger. Might be worth mentioning I also have very mild hypothyroidism (medicated—TSH 5-6 without it), mitral valve prolapse/regurgitation, and suspected chronic fatigue (FMS, IBS and CFS run in the maternal family).
I'm weighing my chances, here; I don't want to risk the procedures yet, but I also don't want to fool around with this if it means bleeding out. I know no one's qualified to really know here, but any input on personal experiences actually helps me out a lot. It's odd because I was able to diagnose my friend on the spot when he told me his symptoms, something like a week in advance of doctors finding out. But it's so hard to tell with myself without the classic symptoms, and I just want to be very cautious.
I apologize for the long post, and thank you so much to all of you who do respond. Hopefully I can add my two cents here and there as I read, as well. You're all very strong people for going through this!
-Sorb
My story's pretty deceptively short, despite this long post. Aside from two small bleeding duodenal ulcers back in November of 2005, I have had no real outstanding GI issues in my life. Well, I did have what I assumed to be a bad case of bacterial dysentery when I was thirteen — hoo-boy, memories — but it's worth mentioning in case it was something else.
My (deceased) dad had a ruptured appendix at around 21-22, and had his first bout with what was then diagnosed as ulcerative colitis about a year later. Mind you, I remember his telling me this when I was pretty young, maybe ten. He said he was laid out on the couch and never wanted to move, was bleeding when he passed stools, and it hurt whenever he ate. He went into remission, but it came back with double force when he was 44 and I was six. I remember getting a glimpse in the hospital of what he was producing, just days before his three-foot large bowel resection. At six, I unabashedly announced (as kids do) that it looked like 'grape jelly'. Needless to say, the entire experience left an impact on me, and I've been aware of my own inherited risk, though to my knowledge no one else has developed IBD on that side of my family.
In case it doesn't show in my info, I'm 28 (29 in October). A week ago I awoke with a sensation throughout my bowels I can't quite explain. Not pain, but very bad discomfort. I passed three to four movements a day, all rather thin (in shape, no consistency) but no diarrhea. Still, that's not normal for me. The pain that has developed is in my lower right—an intermittent burning, aching pain right next to my hip that worsens with sitting. I've asked one doctor so far if they thought appendicitis. It hasn't advanced, so I assume not. It's not excruciating. There is no blood that I can see (I've never had that).
I guess what I really want to ask is what other people have experienced when they first developed IBD. I normally have what I tell people are "guts of steel". Hit me with anything, I'll get over it. I haven't even vomited (knock on wood) since I was four. Yeah, four years old, so twenty-four years no vomiting. These stools are weird, the pain is weird, the extreme fatigue that comes with the bouts of aching pain are very strange for me, and I'm losing a lot of weight. I never lose weight. 122lbs from 135 in about two months, I think? and I'm 5'6½". I have occasional appetite loss but I figured that was my nerves (I'm easily stressed).
Now, the reason I'm inquiring is because I'm on warfarin for factor V Leiden, a condition where I form clots easily and don't break them down readily. The condition saved my life with the ulcers I had in 2005, as I actually healed myself in a couple days from their appearance. But, as you can imagine, if I start bleeding from Crohn's, I'm in a world of danger. Might be worth mentioning I also have very mild hypothyroidism (medicated—TSH 5-6 without it), mitral valve prolapse/regurgitation, and suspected chronic fatigue (FMS, IBS and CFS run in the maternal family).
I'm weighing my chances, here; I don't want to risk the procedures yet, but I also don't want to fool around with this if it means bleeding out. I know no one's qualified to really know here, but any input on personal experiences actually helps me out a lot. It's odd because I was able to diagnose my friend on the spot when he told me his symptoms, something like a week in advance of doctors finding out. But it's so hard to tell with myself without the classic symptoms, and I just want to be very cautious.
I apologize for the long post, and thank you so much to all of you who do respond. Hopefully I can add my two cents here and there as I read, as well. You're all very strong people for going through this!
-Sorb
