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Crohn's Disease Forum

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Dec 5, 2011
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This will be long, so my utmost apologies.

Just a bit about me. 22 y/o male and I serve in the US military. US Naval Hospital Corpsman and im stationed in Okinawa, Japan. About two years ago I started developing some GI problems. A bit of LLQ abd pain which was diagnosed as constipation however I was still having frequent bowel movements. I received an Acute Abdominal Series and the ER Doc stated that there was rather large amount of stool in my intestine. With my limited knowledge of Xrays it looked more as if it were just some gas and I referenced it with a civilian PA who said that I really didn't have that much stool. A week or so passed I was still having the pains but additionally I was experiencing an increasing amount of acid reflux. The PA was so kind as to give me some zantac which alleviated both of the symptoms. She stated that this was probably an ulcer and if it came back to see her. About six months passed and after I ran a PT Test pushups/situps/1.5 mile run I felt terrible I couldn't visually focus on anything, ect. I eventually got nauseous and vomited a ton of blood. I had vomited twice before I decided to go into the ER where i was rushed to the surgery suit to get an endoscopy. My stomach looked horrible, like tenderized meat at the butchers store is the best way I can explain it. I was diagnosed with Helicobacter Pylori. The surgeon stated that there wasn't enough tissue to chance a biopsy. She was afraid i would perforate but was certain It was infact h-pylori I went in and got another endoscopy 3-4 months later where there was still inflammation of the gastric tissue and this time she got a biopsy... which of course came back negative. Long story well... not as long is they say I didn't have H-Pylori. They say its a stress related issue. However, after going to Mental Health they think that I manage my stress rather well. To this day I still deal with rather annoying symptoms.

I no longer have normal stool. Its usually either super loose yellow stool that is rather slimy and sticky and usually laden with what looks like plant matter, lower abdominal pain followed by extremely watery diarrhea that nearly brings me to tears due to the burning. Or just painless watery diarrhea. Ive noticed it goes through phases. I know when its going to get bad when I start getting very... very "noxious" flatulence for about two weeks followed by a rash on my torso which usually spans from my axillary regions to my hips and sometimes on my upper back, thighs, and anticubital spaces. A week or so of this and ill experience stomach (ruq) and LLQ pain with increase of frequency of the diarrhea. I've never visualized what looks like bloody stool. Also I'm a rather husky gentleman when I go through these phases ill drop anywhere from 5-20 lbs. If anyone would be so kind as to give me a bit of guidance so I can start pressuring the doctors to start pursuing a more definite path I would be most gracious.

Thank you for your time,
Daniel
 
:welcome: Daniel! Also thank you for serving your country. LLQ is mostly the common area of Crohn's disease. And along with that , they have to get the exact biopsy spot or then it will become negative. It took me a full year of tests whilst being in extreme pain. Lost 40 lbs in 1.5 months. I vomited and lots of bloat and gas. We dont have the exact criteria as to bms. Some constipate which could be narrowing in the bowel and you will vomit and or have extreme pain. Then you lose mucous and blood at times with the bowel movements.

You really need a colonocopy pronto. Dont be surprised if they cant get past the Appendix area as the inflammation stops the scope from moving into that area. Did they give you any antibiotics or Prednisone? Usually if they do and it comes back after a course it is usually meaning it is diseased. Please dont let it go too long, you could be abscessed and it could burst and cause very serious health issues. Not trying to scare you, just seriously think you should get a scope and fast.

Please keep us updated on you... and go see a Gi , it is an order :nonono:
 
WElcome Daniel,
Serving and feeling like that must not be great... I hope they find what is the issue with your health soon. Did they run series of blood tests yet? These, as well as colonoscopy would probably be needed. Are you feeling a lot tired and feverish at times? Do you have any digestive disease story in your family? The doctor should do something like 1+1 with your symptoms and at the least be willing to do a screening. I wonder why they did not at first? Have they told you something about crohn's when they did your endoscopy or they were just focussed on HP?
 
Im on nexium / Zantac BID 30mins before breakfast/dinner. When I went for treatment due to my allergy of PEN i was given Flagyll and tetra for two weeks initially. Now im just on the PPI. Prednisone had a tendency of making me vomit blood at the beginning. I was given some when i was experiencing some shortness of breath and it made me bleed. However that was fairly soon after my first bout of gastric erosion. I've been through 3 different surgeons and they seem a bit reluctant to refer me to the GI doctor and seem rather unconcerned about what I have to say, often to the point where I get frustrated and forget to tell them everything.
 
Dont take no for an answer, Go see a Gi and demand it, could be life saving. Doctors are not always equal in determining what is best for us, sometimes you have to be your own advocate. I want to hear from you that you got an Gi. This is serious stuff!
 
Jane, For the first 8 months or so they were "certain" it was H-pylori but i kept ending back up into the ER they started calling it stress related now they dont know what it is and "might" start looking for "zebras". No GI issues in my family that I know of. I'm not close to my fathers side at all so unfortunately I dont know of any history that would be indicative to Chron's. I'll get the occasional feeling that i'm getting a fever but it only lasts a few minutes at most. When I had the first instance I felt like i had the flu and took motrin/tylenol which more than likely exacerbated the bleeding. The only labs I've recieved were from when I had the initial outbreak which were just LFT/CBC/BMP everything was normal in that department with the exclusion of a WBC count of 17.51 and neutrophil of 87.4. I do sleep alot when I can I'll often conk out for 10-12 hours and I have to nap often for lunchtime. Im usually pretty tired throughout the day.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. First off, thank you for serving our country. I am sorry that you are feeling so unwell. I agree with Pen, you really need a colonoscopy. Your symptoms align with Crohn's, and you need to see what is going on in your colon. I hope it's not Crohn's, but it's better safe than sorry. Hang in there!
 

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