- Joined
- Nov 29, 2010
- Messages
- 3
Hi all! I could really use some advice, encouragement and direction!
I started feeling ill on 10 September. Well, there was not 'started feeling ill', more like I woke up one day and everything was wrong. I was nauseated, having what I call 'explosive' D, mucus and blood on the tissue after having a solid BM, utterly weak in the legs, completely exhausted, had no appetite, felt feverish but had no fever (it would alternate between feeling feverish and having chills), abdominal pain that would sometimes be extremely sharp and sometimes just crampy.
Being the trooper that I am, I waited it out for three days before seeing my GP, to make sure it wasn't just something I ate or the flu, etc. At my first appointment, after going over all my symptoms, my GP asked, "Do you have dogs?" I replied yes and she said, "I think it's giardia. That's really common this time of year. Here's a script for Cipro, take 500mg twice a day for 7 days." I did as she said and waited a full ten days before seeing her again, to make sure that whatever I was feeling was not a result of side effects. But I still felt the same.
After waiting the aforementioned 10 days, I went back to see her and told her that I still had all my symptoms. Curious, she did some blood tests and had me do stool samples to check for infection or food poisoning. She also did some allergy tests and found that I had severe environmental allergies (trees, plants and such) and asthma. The stool samples showed no signs of infections or parasites, but the blood test revealed I had double the amount of eosinophils. Another blood test revealed I was positive for mono. Still having my symptoms, she prescribed me Cipro at 500 mg and Flagyl at 500 mg twice a day for 10 days.
Ten days on I come back, still full of symptoms and worse. My joints were aching (most likely from the drugs I think), I had a strange redness and extreme tenderness on my scalp, the entire weekend prior I could not even stand up straight or lie on my back without being extremely dizzy and disoriented (I was walking around all weekend like I was drunk). The GP said, "If I take all of your symptoms and try to look at them collectively, they don't make sense. But if I look at them separately, it looks like you have allergies, asthma, mono, IBS, an inner-ear disorder and scalp dermatitis."
I was flabbergasted. Can I really have all these 'separate' issues going on at the same fracking time? My good friend is a nurse and she had been telling me that she thinks it's autoimmune, because it sounds like my immune system is attacking itself. My GP told me to take some probiotics and fiber for a few weeks and let her know from there. Meanwhile, I had to quit my job because all the symptoms were affecting me greatly. I could not afford to waste 2-3 more weeks testing out possible solutions. By this point I had been sick for two months.
My now (ex)-boss had recommended a particular gastro, so I went to him, told him my symptoms and he immediately recommended a gallbladder ultrasound, upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. They noticed a little acid reflux issue in my esophagus but otherwise the tests, including the biopsies, were normal. At this point the gastro's nurse called and recommended me to be on fiber for several weeks to see if it helps because they think it's IBS. But neither changes in my diet nor the fiber is helping. I think it could still be Crohn's that's hiding in my small bowel.
It's practically the first week of December and I wake up every day still nauseated, still having abdominal pains (occasionally severe), weak and tired. I still have blood and mucus on the tissue when I have a BM (I stopped having D and now have painful BM's about 2-3 times a week). Still can't work as it takes all the energy I have just to go from the living room to the bathroom or kitchen, nevermind standing up for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
All I know is that I don't think it's mono, as I have no symptoms of it (no swollen lymph nodes, no sore throat, etc.) other than my legs feeling like jell-o and feeling tired and weak. Nevermind that mono tests are notorious for being a false positive and mono doesn't explain my GI problems or severe abdominal pain. Plus, all the research I've done since September suggests that I have more Crohn's symptoms than IBS symptoms. I have to wait for the beginning of the year before I can proceed with more tests, at which point I'd like to push for a capsule endoscopy, sigmoidoscopy (?), CT, X-rays, small bowel follow through, whatever it takes. I'm convinced that just because they can't find Crohn's in my colon doesn't mean I don't have it--it could be hiding out in my small bowel and just not progressed yet.
Unknowingly, I've had these symptoms ever since I was a teenager, I just never thought much of it. They didn't last nearly as long (maybe for a week or so), but they'd go away again, then come back every couple of years, or even sooner if they felt like it. I've also had chest pains since I was 12 and has yet to be diagnosed (all the cardio tests come back negative), along with a bulging disc in my back and occasional back spasms. I've been tested for diabetes and thyroid disorders, but they've come back negative as well. My nurse friend is thinking Lupus or Crohn's (or heck, even both), but I'm extremely frustrated. Bills are piling up, Christmas is coming, and I feel miserable. Sometimes I feel like I'm overreacting to my symptoms, but I'm very good at listening to my body and knowing when something is wrong.
I'm so sorry for this being so long, but I wanted to be thorough. I know none of you are doctors (or maybe there are a few of you on here), but I would like your input. Do these symptoms correspond with any of your Crohn's symptoms? Do you think I should pursue this thing until they can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that it isn't Crohn's or should I just accept that it's IBS?
Thank you so much in advance for your answers. I've been reading this forum off and on since September, and everyone on here is so good and encouraging. It's been really informative to me as well--I never would have know about the small-bowel follow through or capsule endoscopy without reading these posts.
I started feeling ill on 10 September. Well, there was not 'started feeling ill', more like I woke up one day and everything was wrong. I was nauseated, having what I call 'explosive' D, mucus and blood on the tissue after having a solid BM, utterly weak in the legs, completely exhausted, had no appetite, felt feverish but had no fever (it would alternate between feeling feverish and having chills), abdominal pain that would sometimes be extremely sharp and sometimes just crampy.
Being the trooper that I am, I waited it out for three days before seeing my GP, to make sure it wasn't just something I ate or the flu, etc. At my first appointment, after going over all my symptoms, my GP asked, "Do you have dogs?" I replied yes and she said, "I think it's giardia. That's really common this time of year. Here's a script for Cipro, take 500mg twice a day for 7 days." I did as she said and waited a full ten days before seeing her again, to make sure that whatever I was feeling was not a result of side effects. But I still felt the same.
After waiting the aforementioned 10 days, I went back to see her and told her that I still had all my symptoms. Curious, she did some blood tests and had me do stool samples to check for infection or food poisoning. She also did some allergy tests and found that I had severe environmental allergies (trees, plants and such) and asthma. The stool samples showed no signs of infections or parasites, but the blood test revealed I had double the amount of eosinophils. Another blood test revealed I was positive for mono. Still having my symptoms, she prescribed me Cipro at 500 mg and Flagyl at 500 mg twice a day for 10 days.
Ten days on I come back, still full of symptoms and worse. My joints were aching (most likely from the drugs I think), I had a strange redness and extreme tenderness on my scalp, the entire weekend prior I could not even stand up straight or lie on my back without being extremely dizzy and disoriented (I was walking around all weekend like I was drunk). The GP said, "If I take all of your symptoms and try to look at them collectively, they don't make sense. But if I look at them separately, it looks like you have allergies, asthma, mono, IBS, an inner-ear disorder and scalp dermatitis."
I was flabbergasted. Can I really have all these 'separate' issues going on at the same fracking time? My good friend is a nurse and she had been telling me that she thinks it's autoimmune, because it sounds like my immune system is attacking itself. My GP told me to take some probiotics and fiber for a few weeks and let her know from there. Meanwhile, I had to quit my job because all the symptoms were affecting me greatly. I could not afford to waste 2-3 more weeks testing out possible solutions. By this point I had been sick for two months.
My now (ex)-boss had recommended a particular gastro, so I went to him, told him my symptoms and he immediately recommended a gallbladder ultrasound, upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. They noticed a little acid reflux issue in my esophagus but otherwise the tests, including the biopsies, were normal. At this point the gastro's nurse called and recommended me to be on fiber for several weeks to see if it helps because they think it's IBS. But neither changes in my diet nor the fiber is helping. I think it could still be Crohn's that's hiding in my small bowel.
It's practically the first week of December and I wake up every day still nauseated, still having abdominal pains (occasionally severe), weak and tired. I still have blood and mucus on the tissue when I have a BM (I stopped having D and now have painful BM's about 2-3 times a week). Still can't work as it takes all the energy I have just to go from the living room to the bathroom or kitchen, nevermind standing up for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
All I know is that I don't think it's mono, as I have no symptoms of it (no swollen lymph nodes, no sore throat, etc.) other than my legs feeling like jell-o and feeling tired and weak. Nevermind that mono tests are notorious for being a false positive and mono doesn't explain my GI problems or severe abdominal pain. Plus, all the research I've done since September suggests that I have more Crohn's symptoms than IBS symptoms. I have to wait for the beginning of the year before I can proceed with more tests, at which point I'd like to push for a capsule endoscopy, sigmoidoscopy (?), CT, X-rays, small bowel follow through, whatever it takes. I'm convinced that just because they can't find Crohn's in my colon doesn't mean I don't have it--it could be hiding out in my small bowel and just not progressed yet.
Unknowingly, I've had these symptoms ever since I was a teenager, I just never thought much of it. They didn't last nearly as long (maybe for a week or so), but they'd go away again, then come back every couple of years, or even sooner if they felt like it. I've also had chest pains since I was 12 and has yet to be diagnosed (all the cardio tests come back negative), along with a bulging disc in my back and occasional back spasms. I've been tested for diabetes and thyroid disorders, but they've come back negative as well. My nurse friend is thinking Lupus or Crohn's (or heck, even both), but I'm extremely frustrated. Bills are piling up, Christmas is coming, and I feel miserable. Sometimes I feel like I'm overreacting to my symptoms, but I'm very good at listening to my body and knowing when something is wrong.
I'm so sorry for this being so long, but I wanted to be thorough. I know none of you are doctors (or maybe there are a few of you on here), but I would like your input. Do these symptoms correspond with any of your Crohn's symptoms? Do you think I should pursue this thing until they can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that it isn't Crohn's or should I just accept that it's IBS?
Thank you so much in advance for your answers. I've been reading this forum off and on since September, and everyone on here is so good and encouraging. It's been really informative to me as well--I never would have know about the small-bowel follow through or capsule endoscopy without reading these posts.
