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What is the difference between colitis and crohns?

I was told by my doctors back in 2014 when I was diagnosed with IBD that I had crohns, been through alot of pain since then and tried many medications and now Im on humira and its like Im back to normal! Anyway, I had an MRI done recently after a particularly bad flare (the doctors being worried it might have been some serious damage) and it showed no inflammation of the small intestine, so now Im being told I likely have colitis. I guess Im relieved, I mean once I was diagnosed with crohns I studied everything I could on it and its such a horrible disease, but now Im told I have colitis and the only things I do know of colitis is from sources I studied that included crohns. So basically I would like to know whats the big differences between the two. Cheers. :ybiggrin:
 
Crohn's Disease can affect anywhere in the intrestines from the mouth to the anus. Ulcerative Colitis is limited to the colon. Crohm's Disease can skip areas whereas colitis is in one straight area
 
And to complicate things, there is also Crohn's Colitis, which I have. This is Crohn's which only affects the large bowel (for the moment, at least). At first it was thought that I had UC, but a scope showed gaps between the inflamed areas which you don't get with UC, and on a later date I developed the 'cobblestone' appearance which is typical to Crohn's.

Also, UC is limited to affecting the inner lumen of the large bowel wall, whereas Crohn's can erode all the way through causing abscesses and fistulas.

By definition, 'colitis' just means inflammation of the colon, and so there could be many different causes of colitis. You should ask your doctor to be more specific so that you can find out more about your own particular condition.

I'm glad you have had successful treatment. I have just started on Humira, so hopefully things will improve soon.
 
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