Same symptoms but no solid diagnosis

[crohnsconfused]

A colonoscopy in August revealed inflammation in my rectum and sigmoid colon. I was put on Lialda which out of all my symptoms only treated the rectal bleeding. I had a sigmoidoscopy done yesterday and my GI said the inflammation was gone in the rectum and sigmoid colon. Why do I still have symptoms? I still have diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea. I also sometimes leak stool without knowing. Is there someway it can appear theres no inflammation but still have something going on? Please help!!

 

[Clash]

Since a flex Sig only goes so far up then it could be possible for you to have inflammation further up in the colon. If you have a CD diagnosis, it can affect anywhere from mouth to anus.

I would question the GI as to why the symptoms are stool present. Maybe ask for a fecal calprotectin stool test which can determine is there is inflammation in your GI tract and further tests to determine the source of your symptoms.

 

[UnXmas]

When they found inflammation with the colonoscopy, did they confirm you had Crohn's?

As Clash says, a sigmoidoscopy can't tell you much at all about what's going on in most of your digestive tract: you'd need another colonoscopy to assess the current state of the rest of your colon and an upper endoscopy to assess your upper digestive system (and maybe some other tests as well). Blood tests could also indicate if you currently have inflammation somewhere (though won't tell you where). If you previously only had inflammation in your rectum and sigmoid colon, I can see why the doctor used that as a basis for assessing the effectiveness of treatment, but just because those areas are healed now, it doesn't mean inflammation won't have arisen elsewhere.

Tell your doctor you're concerned, but if he/she still won't investigate, ask for a second opinion from another doctor.