Worried and unsure

[bexymum]

I have been reading thus amazing forum for a while now and could really do with a little advice / support.
In march I went to the gp with chronic heartburn was tested for helicobacter which was positive. I was given triple therapy with lansoprazole, metranidazole and amoxicillin, whilst on the treatment I began getting pains around but mainly to the left of ny tummy button. I went back to gp as still having heartburn and pain and told to stay on lansoprazole to allow for healing and the heartburn went and I weaned off it but the pain continued intermittently. I went back in may and was given bloods and sent for an abdominal ultrasound which all texts were clear.
Now (sorry tmi coming!) I began passing strawberry red blood within my stools and pain is still there so I returned to my gp. She was off and I got a new registrar who had been there a week. She examined me and said my bowel felt abnormal. She couldn't feel any lumps but the surface wasn't smooth as it should instead it was like corrugated card!!!
She feels this has either been damaged by pregnancy (ivhad 2 large babies!). So she has taken more bloods and testing stool for proteins and feels it is more ibd than anything.
I don't have enough red flag symptoms to be urgently referred so I have to wait up to 8 weeks!
My symptoms are
Passing blood
Abdominal pain that has become more or less continuous
I have lost nearly a stone (i am very petite anyway and bow weigh 7 stone).
I'm exhausted all the time

The thing that worries me the most is her saying my bowel felt abnormal has anyone else had this and are these signs of ibd.
I'm in my early thirties also.

 

[DJW]

Hi and welcome.

I'm sorry you're not well. The doctor could be feeling inflammation. That would be in line with IBD. I'm glad you've got a referral. If it's not suggested (I'm sure they will) request a colonoscopy with biopsies and an endoscopy.

Sending you my support.

 

[bexymum]

I'm sorry I didn't say that is what they have referred me for (the colonoscopy not an endoscopy), I have always had ibs type symptoms with extreme bloating and changeable bowel movements for as long as I can remember too.
In the past I have also had very mucasy stools and episodes where I get watery discharge from my behind (this has only happened a few times).
I have submitted a sample for protein testing? Does anyone know how long it takes.
Sorry to ask so much,I didn't take much in after the gp told me my bowel felt abnormal apart from she wanted to investigate for Crohns.
Thank you for replying

 

[UnXmas]

If the blood you're passing is red, it's likely from the lower end of the digestive tract, which means the colonoscopy should find the cause. An upper endoscopy would examine the upper parts of the digestive system, which could be useful for evaluating the issues around the heartburn, so you may be referred for that later also. Bleeding from the lower bowel can be from causes besides IBD, such as internal haemorrhoids, so there's the possibility this is something fixable, however, losing weight is quite a significant problem, so it's good that you're getting things checked out.

I have to say I'm not sure what your doctor meant by saying the bowel felt abnormal?! What type of examination did she do?

I'm not sure about protein testing, but I've had stool samples tested for various things, and it's usually a couple of weeks wait for the results, though this can vary quite a bit. If they're concerned something serious may be wrong, they may speed tests up to be on the safe side. The same goes for the waits for tests and to see consultants. The NHS can vary hugely over waiting times, depending on where you live, but the urgency of the problem should be taken into account. If you feel the need to get answers more quickly, it doesn't hurt to ring up and see if they can get you seen earlier. Your GP can also do this on your behalf, if they see a reason to - such as symptoms deteriorating.

Your weight could also be an issue that should mean you need to get seen promptly. Do you know the cause of the weight loss - are you not eating so much due to lack of appetite, or do you think you are not absorbing food properly, or both? This could be a "red flag" symptom, depending on the speed of the weight loss, so it might be worth stressing it to your GP, if you've lost the weight quite rapidly.

Crohn's is one of the most common causes of digestive problems, so it's often top of the list of things that doctors think to diagnose or rule out, and it's what you'll keep coming across when you search your symptoms online, but there are so many other possible causes. You may have to go through a few tests to get an idea of the problem.

I know it sometimes feel like you're waiting on endless waiting lists for tests, test results, and appointments, so try to spend some time focusing on other things. It can be a while before you make progress with getting answers and treatment, but perhaps the most useful thing is to find doctors who you feel comfortable with and who you feel you can trust to take you seriously. Hopefully they will get things sorted for you soon.

 

[bexymum]

Thank you unxmas, I got my choose and book forms through today and they gave me 3 hospitals to choose from, one is miles away the other was October and then there was a health centre that is only open during office hours and is private but runs nhs procedures and I managed to get in around 3 weeks time.

She did an internal examination and said the walls of my bowel felt ridged when it should feel smooth but she said pregnancy can damage your bowel but it definitely felt abnormal.

I've been reading through the posts on here and apart from soft stools and mucas in them my bowel movements although changeable don't seem anywhere near as changeable as people's on here and I do have terrible pain around my tummy button (it's to the left) again it doesn't seem anywhere near as bad a some peoples on here.

I think I just feel very confused still and am not sure what to make of the sitiation as I feel almost like a phoney as my symptoms don't seem as obvious as lots of others if that makes sense!

 

[UnXmas]

Don't feel like a phoney - passing blood, losing weight and pain are problems which need to be diagnosed and sorted out. It may turn out that you only have some minor, temporary problem, but until you're certain of that, you deserve to be taken seriously by your doctors, and you deserve support here.

Sometimes conditions classed as gynaecological can cause similar symptoms to conditions classed as gastroenterological - because all our organs are so close together in the abdomen, both types of condition can cause abdominal pain, and some gynaecological problems can affect bowel habits. So I think it makes sense that your doctor is considering possibilities resulting from complications from giving birth as well as considering IBD.

You may not have the severe and frequent diarrhoea that is more typical of Crohn's, but people here have gone through the same tests that you're having, and many have experience of pain, passing blood and weight loss, so whether or not you do turn out to have Crohn's, you can learn a lot from this forum. Many people here are undiagnosed when they first join.