Years of symptoms, could it be crohn's?

[T990]

Around fall 2011 I started having stomach cramps that would come out of nowhere, by november I had nausea, and by december of 2011 I started having loose stools and felt awful. I had a ct scan done in may 2012 that revealed "possible thickening" and my occult blood test was positive. I was referred to a GI doctor who performed a colonoscopy and endoscopy and told me everything was normal and diagnosed me with IBS. By mid 2012 I started having low grade fevers(99.5-100.3) daily whenever I move at all, even just walking around the house. I continued to try and find an answer to why I felt horrible and my primary care doctor had an ultrasound of my neck done since I mentioned several swollen lymph nodes along my jaw area. The lymph nodes were significantly large, so he referred me to a surgeon who said he knew something was going on because of my constant fevers and swollen nodes, but pretty much gave up and said he didn't know what was wrong. I decided to try and move on with my life the best that I could, but every morning I wake up with TONS of gas and bloating, then proceed to have loose stools. I decided to see a GI doctor last month, who ordered many blood tests and an MRI scan. The doctor's nurse said I had a "slightly elevated" crp of 8.4, and my vitamin D level was 18, other than that my blood work was normal. My MRI was also normal, so now my doctor wants me to have a colonoscopy and endoscopy done. I've tried cutting out gluten, dairy, sugar, etc and nothing is helping my symptoms. If not crohn's, what else would cause loose stools, fatigue and fevers?

 

[oathy]

Hi.

Behcets disease can affect the bowel and mimics Crohn's disease very much the treatments are very much the same. Key difference with Behcets you can get areas of inflammation and ulcers etc that clear up within days and only a biopsy can tell anything was going on there. from 1990 it took them till 1997 to finally see Behcets active in my bowel and finally get a diagnosis.

the thing with a Behcets diagnosis they like 3/4 required elements (mouth and Genital ulcers) etc. but there are cases it will only affect the bowel and joints

 

[StarGirrrrl]

I'm so sorry about your troubles and I hope the scopes give you answers.

Many auto immune diseases can cause the symptoms that you describe.

There was a pretty good list posted in the Undiagnosed Club which is located here

In case it is not clear I have linked to both the club and the post with the list :rosette1:

 

[DEmberton]

I had a ct scan done in may 2012 that revealed "possible thickening" and my occult blood test was positive.

Have they ruled out thickening with subsequent tests? The endoscopys can only peek into the ends of the small bowel; it's possible to have a stricture caused by scarring from previous inflammation even if you don't have active inflammation now.

 

[T990]

Have they ruled out thickening with subsequent tests? The endoscopys can only peek into the ends of the small bowel; it's possible to have a stricture caused by scarring from previous inflammation even if you don't have active inflammation now.

I had a barium swallow done this past july, which was normal.

 

[ConnectheDots]

If you can I would do the following

- CPR Test
- ESR test
- Calprotectin Test
- CSA Test
- Allergies test IGG and IGA
- Occult Blood

Then you will need to have these test evaluated by a Naturopath or a Dr.

They will look at all the result but these are the ones they will focus more:

If Calproectin > 200
If Lysozyme & Lactoferrin from CSA is positive
If CPR is positive

Then it's more towards the IBD....

Else IBS or dybiosis....

There is no exact science yet.

This is just an overview, I suggest you get a good Naturopath or start reading on all those tests I've mentioned.

Good Luck

 

[Stoner]

I also had a normal barium test before diagnosis. Colonoscopy is what finally pinpointed Crohn's for me.