What's wrong with me?

[elle49]

Well, I've been trying to find out what's wrong with me for several on years now. Im 20 years old and a female. I have been having abdominal pain for several years but over the last year it has seemed to be getting worse so i have seeked out medical help. Even my friends tell me that im always complaining of a stomach ache. It seems to always occur after I eat something, but sometimes it will occur even when I haven't eaten for hours. I haven't had a normal bowel movement for several years. I have colorful shades of diarrhea: black, green, lately yellow. I even once had a day where my stool was so watery that I thought that I was peeing from my anus. I've had my galblatter removed after a test was done to show that it was no longer functioning properly. My Doctor told my that I would still have stomach pain for a few months but that it should dissipate. But it never did. So I had more tests done: a colonoscopy and endoscopy. A biopsy showed that I had microscopic lymphocytic colitis. But other than that, they said my bowels, stomach, and esophagus looked fine. I took a blood test, not sure what it was called, but the results were that I had Inflammatory Bowel Disease, most likey Chrone's. So I was put on Entocort,a steroid, three a day (3mg each), and Colazol, nine pills a day. I feel that my doctor doesn't seem to be helping me much because I still have pain, all the time! I'm currently taking one entocort every other day, nine colazol pills, and immodium for diarrhea. Over the past week I feel that im feeling at my worst. I have abdominal pain all day, and I'm getting terrible headaches accompainied by nausea every night. When the headaches are gone, the nausea still remains. I don't know what to do anymore. I just want to know what is wrong with me. If anyone has ever had any of these symptoms and know of any solutions, please help.

[CalGal]

It's possible you could be putting out the factors that are found in some with Crohn's, but that you just haven't shown a full-blown case yet. And most times, the only indication some people get that they've got Crohn's is some small indication at the terminal ileum. But if the blood test says Crohn's, then at some point it will emerge, unfortunately. I hope it stays quiet for a long time to come.

[elle49]

Thank you for your help.

The problem one of my doctor's (the one who put me on the medication) is having is that my colonoscopy and endoscopy looked normal, other than the biopsy, there was no apparent inflamation. However, the blood test returned positive for inflamatory bowel disease.

I haven't however read much on MC, i've mainly been focusing on Crohn's research. I visited the site you suggested and found some helpful information.  I'm still curious, however, why my blood test came up positive for crohns but when the doctors inspected my bowels, they didn't see anything wrong, and the biopsy only returned an MC diagnosis. And also i am wondering why, after all of the meds, i'm still having pain?

I also wanted to mention, didn't know if it meant anything, but after I eat, my stomach and intestines are like a symphony. I can hear and feel where my food is, or I can at least feel where the noises are coming from.

[CalGal]

Elie, you need to clarify with your doc which condition you have. Both microscopic colitis and Crohn's are inflammatory bowel conditions and they have to be treated as such. But MC and Crohn's are very different. If they found inflammatory patterns in your large intestine and you small intestine, it's more probable that you've got Crohn's colitis.

If what you have is MC, that's a different form and besides some meds there are also some diet changes you might want to try that might make a difference. You can check and read some information about MC on the www.enterolab.com website.

If this problem is a form of Crohn's you need to work closely with your doc to try to bring the Crohn's under better control if possible. But for many with Crohn's, diarrhea may unfortunately be a daily occurrence.

If you're feeling worse than normal, it could be (if this is Crohn's) that you're having a flare - it means the inflammation is active and causing worse problems than usual. Your medications dosage may have to be changed, or the doc may have to change the medication itself.

Have you read up on both conditions?

And for some with Crohn's, diet changes can help. So have you tried to figure out what foods you can tolerate, and the ones you can't handle?