severely swollen abdomen for a week can this be crohns?

[lilmisskris0307]

Hello everyone

I am a soon to be 22 female 5'2 about 123 lbs, with some strange symptoms going on. I originally went to my doctor a week ago for non gastroenterology symptoms but while checking me out, she said she felt some inflammation in my lower abdomen. I've been having digestive issues on and off for the past two years; some days getting severe cramping and very loose stools to times of severe constipation where my anus bled and there were small tears and a bit of a swollen vein on the outside of my anus. I chalked this up to IBS, stress from college, and not always eating the best at school aka not getting enough veggies and fiber. I noticed it got bad when I ate dairy so I've since switched over to soy. I also have had some acid reflux that occurs if I don't eat or if I eat certain foods (such as tomatoes) but its been manageable with zantac. But back to my current symptoms. So about a week ago my stomach ballooned to the size of a five month pregnant woman!  It is not hard bloating, its soft to the touch but very tender and warm and does hurt if someone presses on it hard enough.  I'm also experiencing hard stools and diarrhea intermittently, around 4 bowel movements a day sometimes more, but now it doesn't matter what I eat I'm still getting sick. I'm also having shortness of breath, like something is pressing against my diaphragm, having a stabbing pain of sorts in my upper left abdomen but no pain near my pancreas, liver,etc.

The pain in my upper left abdomen got so bad Wednesday night that I went to the ER. They examined me, did a chest xray for shortness of breath, did blood and pregnancy test (pregnancy test was negative which makes sense because I'm on birth control, bloodwork the hospital did was normal) and a transvaginal ultrasound to make sure it wasn't an ovarian cyst or fluid build up, and the tech says she sees some air pockets. But then  everything else was normal. I got told take an advil and go home cause it "wasn't serious" I go back to my regular doctor yesterday and she says its a soft bloat and not of a fluid variety. I see the gastroenterologist on Monday but my question is what could this be? I would be surprised of IBS could give me serious enough bloating where I can't fit into any pants but sweatpants.

I've taken gas-ex and any other anti gas med you can think of. I'm passing gas and having bowel movements very often but the abdominal distension hasnt changed in a week. I have a loss of appetite. I was weighing 126 but I've gone down three pounds in the past few days. I'm not stressed just feeling super fatigued and frustrated no one knows whats wrong with me. I've also had a low grade fever (99.5) on and off for the past week and the bloodwork my Dr did for my other health complaints came back with a positive ANA so I'm not sure if that factors in (my sed rate, complete blood count, etc are all normal.)

I'm currently on 50 mg zoloft for anxiety and depression and ocella birth control and have been for two years with no problems. Also I am very prone to migraines and have at least three headaches a week in addition to severe lower back pain and occasional swelling of my hands of I eat too much salt, and I lose feeling in my fingers and.toes randomly. IBS also runs in my immediate family.

Please help!
Kristin

[lilmisskris0307]

Yeah I don't have my appt with the gastroenterologist until Monday but hopefully they can give me more answers. I was thinking it was crohns more because I'm more prone to the diarrhea then constipation but every once in awhile the constipation will show up and I do get the bad stomach cramps before it happens which leave me running for the bathroom. I'm trying to remember is crohns autoimmune? because around the time all the digestive problems started I also started becoming more susceptible to more "severe" viruses and bacteria such as a bunch of bouts with strep, mono,swine flu, sinus infections, bacterial vaginosis which I was not prior to high l

[Megadodger]

That sounds a lot more like IBS then Crohn's to me. But Crohn's can be different in every person. Being as I have had Crohn's for about 4 years, I have NEVER experienced constipation, though, I think that would be nice for a change..
Crohn's is almost a constant battle to keep it stable and sometimes pretty tricky to find the right medications. But, like I said, sometimes it's not the same for others. I would suggest getting a scope done. Cit-mag is pretty hard on the insides, but I would suggest that over the 4L of "go lightly sh*t. They gave me that when I was in the hospital and 4L is just too much for a person to drink, especially when it tastes that gross. If you have already had a scope, have they come up with anything? you say some days it's really bad? I would try altering your diet even more. I had had to remove red meat (pork and beef + wild meat) from my diet.. as well as dairy, gluten, and high fibre veggies as they just cause a lot of pain and discomfort. You may be thinking "well, what is there left to eat?" and I can only answer that with one word.. Cardboard. lol. Kidding. Variety! There's lots of studies they say the Canadian/American diet is actually unhealthy and the cause of more problems then anything.
That pressure you get on your diaphragm is a mystery to me as well. I have been experiencing that since I was about 11 years old and by the time I would get to the hospital it would be gone. I would suggest not drinking lots of water before bed and, if you still get those pains, use a heating pad. I gave up on pain medications for it and my specialists have no idea what's causing it. I hope you find out what that is though!