Advice appreciated

[amberd5191]

Hi I hope you don't mind me posting this here, I have some symptoms that have been reccuring for a while now. I finally had a doctor that said he wanted to test because he thought I either had Crohn's disease or colitis, problem is then I found out I was pregant so I just dropped it. Well I had my baby 8 weeks ago and all of a sudden I'm facing the symptoms again. Right lower abominal pain, off and on constipation followed by diarrhea with bloody stools (they are also painful so I don't know if the blood is because I could have a fisure). I can't say much else because some of the other symptoms are from me having thyroid disease (dry skin etc). Do you think its actually a possiblity this could be Crohns? Or does it seem more likely to just be a reaction to the stress of having a baby? My co-payments are astronamical and if it sounds like it may be Crohns to you guys I will go get it checked further. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time!

[lizziecee]

Hi amber - glad you are going to get checked out. Blood in the stool always needs checking - could be something simple like haemorrhoids - especially after just having a new baby (congratulations!). If your doctor thinks it could be Crohn's or coeliac you will need an endoscopy/and or a colonoscopy. Blood tests can give an indicator if the white cells are out of range, but for a definitive diagnosis you need a biopsy of tissue from either or both the small intestine and large intestine.

Celiac is relatively easy to control - you just need to exclude all gluten from your diet. Crohn's is a lot more tricky and needs meds, but there are some great new ones out there now

Do come back and let us know the results and how we can help you further.
Liz..

[amberd5191]

Thank you for the advice, I had an appointment today. They drew a bunch of blood and the Dr. thinks it could be Crohn's or Celiac disease, so he is going to send me to a gastroenterologist. Thanks again.

[buckeyeroots]

I would have it checked out just for the peace of mind.  If I had done something five years ago after my youngest was born, maybe I wouldn't have some of the problems I have now.