Under investigation for RLQ Abdominal pain

[Tracey1788]

Around two years ago I went on the lighterlife diet and lost 4 stones in weight in 3 months. 3 months after the diet stopped I had an episode of explosive bowels and a very gassy tummy. Although the gassy tummy continued it was on rare occasion the bowel issue returned. Periodically I had Proctalgia which would wake me up and I put this down to stress related IBS. In January this year I underwent biopsies following an abnormal mammogram. Thankfully I was cancer free and this was put down to periductal mastitis. Two weeks after the biopsies were taken I presented with breast sepsis at my local casualty. Further aspirates and several different types of antibiotics for 8 weeks cured the problem.

2 weeks after stopping the antibiotics I started getting right lower quadrant pain close to my belly button and presented to casualty as it was so bad. one dr said he thought it was my appendix another thought it was IBS as my bloods were ok.

I went back to my GP and she thought I had IBS. I insisted it wasn't as I have never had pain like this before. I had a whole heap of bloodtests done and an ultrasound and was referred to the GI team at my local hospital. All bloodtests came back normal with the exception of Folate defieciency. The US said I had a gallstone with some sludge so an MRCP was done. This also confirmed a cystic lesion on my Pancreas.

Before going to see the GI team my gp did a faecal calprotectin test as I was still symptomatic. The reading was 139 so indicative of inflammation, A Colonoscopy was organised and although normal in appearance the biopsies revealed inflammation in the terminal ileum. The Gi team suspect I have Crohns and now have organised a small bowel mri and capsule endoscopy. An Endoscopic ultrasound to take a sample of the cystic lesion for cytology

I have been unable to work for 3 months due to the pain, explosive bowels, tiredness and generally feeling very unwell. I also feel a bit depressed because I feel that I am not getting any better. Dr prescribed Mezavant 1200. I know its early days but day 3 I feel no benefit.

Dr asked me if I have been in contact with anyone who has TB and have read that GI TB can present symptoms of Crohns. Im sure I would have known if I had, also I had the BCG as a kid.

On a positive note I am not bleeding and I have not lost any weight. I am also rheumatoid factor positive and there is no family history of Crohns

Does this sound like Crohns or do you think it may actually be related more to taking highdose antibiotics including trimethroprim

 

[Trysha]

Hi Tracy
Sorry to hear you are having a bad time and hope the GI team finds an early resolution for you.
You have certainly had all the right tests to cover for IBD and you still have some more scheduled to undergo.
It sounds as if you have a good GI team who are on the track of something, and it could be crohn's or another IBD.
Hopefully you will soon be able to have the right diagnosis and treatment.\It is very difficult to endure all the tests and the waiting up to diagnosis.
We will all there for you on this arduous journey, so please let us know how things go for you.
There will soon be others along to give you advice and relate their experiences.
Feel better soon
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha

 

[UnXmas]

Hi, I'm sorry you're having a hard time getting diagnosed. A lot of us had to go through a long diagnostic process, getting dismissed with IBS and a lot of misdiagnoses along the way. (If you haven't already, you might want to look at the undiagnosed club here: http://www.crohnsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=75) .

What makes you think the antibiotics might be the problem? (I don't know much about them.)

It sounds like it might be you have more than one issue going on. An awful lot of illnesses can cause abdominal pain and other GI symptoms. Crohn's is a fairly common cause, but the only way to find out is to undergo adequate testing. I found it very unhelpful to try to guess what was wrong with me. When we guess, all we can go by is trying to match our symptoms to descriptions of illnesses, however, not only do many illnesses cause the same symptoms, we might be a very atypical case of an illness, and so our symptoms may not seem to resemble the textbook descriptions at all.

It's good if you can find the right doctor(s), someone who you feel is taking you seriously, and don't worry if you have to try quite a few different doctors to find one you can work with. But most of all don't ever put your life on hold waiting for a diagnosis, or even for treatment. It can take a while to go through all the testing, and some conditions, including Crohn's, can't be cured. It's much better to expect to be undiagnosed for a while, and to get used to living with a chronic illness. Then if you do get a quick diagnosis and a cure, treatment or remission, it will be an added blessing.

 

[Tracey1788]

Thank you for your reply Unxmas.

With regards to the antibiotics trimethrprim can exacerbate folate defieciency. also because I was on several types of highdose antiobiotics for a period of 8 weeks apparently it gets rid of all the natural flora in the gut. In fact I was told my body would be sterile ( as in germ free)

 

[Jennifer]

Lots of things can cause inflammation in the intestines but with the inflammation being in the ileum that's a very common location for Crohn's disease and many members on the forum also don't have a family history of the disease. The fact that you've been having symptoms for years already may mean that you were misdiagnosed with IBS which happens quite often unfortunately (although it is possible to have both). Keep us posted on what the results of your tests say.