Hello. I would like to ask fellow forum members what they think about what I have experienced and what I should do. Sorry about it being so long but wanted to be thorough. I'm male mid 30's good overall health, diet and activity (not a health nut but I don't eat beef or pork, candy or fast food, etc. and I do a minimum of one physical activity a day).
When I was around 18 or so I developed duodenal ulcers, negative for H pylori. Took prilosec, prevacid and propulsid for a while then 100% better no recurrences. My stomach is very strong now no issues.
About 1998 I started having abdominal pain. Nothing happened as a precursor just came out of nowhere. Ended up having a perforated colon and sepsis. Colon resection of about a foot, no issues with post op, regained normal function. About a month later I got a small external fistula in my anal region, got it cleaned out and healed up no issues.
So for the next ten years or so I was doing fine, no medications and minimal issues. Sometimes I would have a slight pain in my rlq that felt like a small rough spot in my digestion and a bm would usually relieve it. I always assumed it was probably just a slight constriction from where they re-attached the colon. And every year or so I would have a 24 hour episode where I would get a real bad stomach ache that felt like my digestion stopped, but it didn't feel like it ever involved my lower GI. Vomiting all stomach contents down to the bile at the bottom would almost instantly relieve the issue like nothing happened. That occurred maybe 5-10 times over the course of 10 years and stopped happening completely a few years back.
So now that brings me to the most recent issues. About a year or two ago I started having minimal generalized abdominal pain that moved around and came and went but wasn't any big deal. It also started to seem like I couldn't empty out well sometimes. Like I would start to dump then almost like a valve would close and nothing more would come out. Then a few hours later the rest would come out. This would not occur all the time. Most of the time I would eliminate fine. Lately it has been starting to occur more often though. I have never had constipation and very rarely have I had diarhhea. I always have a bm every day with the very rare exception of maybe skipping one day. But the bm changes form, sometimes in the same day. Sometimes it will be totally normal, then loose stool, then long compact. Sometimes all in the same day.
In addition, I have been having episodes every month or two where out of nowhere I develop middle abdominal pain and nausea. I'll start the day fine then within a few hours I feel bad. It kind of feels like a partial SBO that happens because my lower gi tightens up and feels swollen (not distended, just tight and swollen feeling), then that works it's way up. I'll vomit if I try to even drink water. So I'll feel extremely lethargic and spend a day in bed, then within a day or two later I'm fine. Sometimes a fever will accompany it, sometimes no fever. A couple times the pain was bad enough I considered going to the hospital, but they would just give me pain meds and an NG. I just went NPO on my own until the symptoms passed.
So, what I did because I was having these symptoms was go to a Gastoenterologist I know to get checked out. Started with a blood test and did an O&P to check for parasites as that was a real possibility due to lots of third world travel, negative. Did a colonoscopy and endoscopy and nothing abnormal was seen. Also did CT with contrast and for the most part looked fine. Doctor said he might have seen a small amount of inflammation in the ileum but that's it. So he prescribed me budesonide, which I did not take for months because I really don't like most drugs. Once I had a recurrence I started the budesonide and finished it all. It did not make any change at all. I also started seeing a natural medicine doctor who I know from experience is real and just started drinking herbal tea with the goal of basically making me flow more freely. I also had acupuncture when I had my last episode and it definitely made a difference and stopped the pain just a few hours later.
So, I think that's enough info for now. What do you think? It very well could be crohn's but my symptoms are so all over the board. My bottom goal is just to have a more freely flowing digestion system. That seems to be the base of my episodes. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
When I was around 18 or so I developed duodenal ulcers, negative for H pylori. Took prilosec, prevacid and propulsid for a while then 100% better no recurrences. My stomach is very strong now no issues.
About 1998 I started having abdominal pain. Nothing happened as a precursor just came out of nowhere. Ended up having a perforated colon and sepsis. Colon resection of about a foot, no issues with post op, regained normal function. About a month later I got a small external fistula in my anal region, got it cleaned out and healed up no issues.
So for the next ten years or so I was doing fine, no medications and minimal issues. Sometimes I would have a slight pain in my rlq that felt like a small rough spot in my digestion and a bm would usually relieve it. I always assumed it was probably just a slight constriction from where they re-attached the colon. And every year or so I would have a 24 hour episode where I would get a real bad stomach ache that felt like my digestion stopped, but it didn't feel like it ever involved my lower GI. Vomiting all stomach contents down to the bile at the bottom would almost instantly relieve the issue like nothing happened. That occurred maybe 5-10 times over the course of 10 years and stopped happening completely a few years back.
So now that brings me to the most recent issues. About a year or two ago I started having minimal generalized abdominal pain that moved around and came and went but wasn't any big deal. It also started to seem like I couldn't empty out well sometimes. Like I would start to dump then almost like a valve would close and nothing more would come out. Then a few hours later the rest would come out. This would not occur all the time. Most of the time I would eliminate fine. Lately it has been starting to occur more often though. I have never had constipation and very rarely have I had diarhhea. I always have a bm every day with the very rare exception of maybe skipping one day. But the bm changes form, sometimes in the same day. Sometimes it will be totally normal, then loose stool, then long compact. Sometimes all in the same day.
In addition, I have been having episodes every month or two where out of nowhere I develop middle abdominal pain and nausea. I'll start the day fine then within a few hours I feel bad. It kind of feels like a partial SBO that happens because my lower gi tightens up and feels swollen (not distended, just tight and swollen feeling), then that works it's way up. I'll vomit if I try to even drink water. So I'll feel extremely lethargic and spend a day in bed, then within a day or two later I'm fine. Sometimes a fever will accompany it, sometimes no fever. A couple times the pain was bad enough I considered going to the hospital, but they would just give me pain meds and an NG. I just went NPO on my own until the symptoms passed.
So, what I did because I was having these symptoms was go to a Gastoenterologist I know to get checked out. Started with a blood test and did an O&P to check for parasites as that was a real possibility due to lots of third world travel, negative. Did a colonoscopy and endoscopy and nothing abnormal was seen. Also did CT with contrast and for the most part looked fine. Doctor said he might have seen a small amount of inflammation in the ileum but that's it. So he prescribed me budesonide, which I did not take for months because I really don't like most drugs. Once I had a recurrence I started the budesonide and finished it all. It did not make any change at all. I also started seeing a natural medicine doctor who I know from experience is real and just started drinking herbal tea with the goal of basically making me flow more freely. I also had acupuncture when I had my last episode and it definitely made a difference and stopped the pain just a few hours later.
So, I think that's enough info for now. What do you think? It very well could be crohn's but my symptoms are so all over the board. My bottom goal is just to have a more freely flowing digestion system. That seems to be the base of my episodes. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
