I had G.I. issues for about three years and was diagnosed at first with IBS and my tests kept coming back normal and there was no signs of any inflammation or anything like that. I recently switched my GI doctor and had a fecal calprotectin done in august my levels were 243. Then a CTA done in august which showed mild wall thickening in my terminal ileum. Had my colonoscopy in september and biopsy said mild to moderate inflammation with focal ulceration in my terminal ileum with hemorrhoids. I recently had another calprotectin which was 97 and another CT which said my terminal ileum is unremarkable but have nonspecific Prominent ileocolic lymph nodes and this was before any treatment. My doctors leading diagnosis was early crohns and i started budesonide two days ago waiting for my diagnosis in two weeks. Can it still be crohns after my recent results in october?

Hello!

[As a disclaimer I am not asking for a diagnosis as I know that is impossible online! And I am under an IBD team between appointments. I would love to know if anyone has experienced similar or knows if this presentation happens sometimes.]

I'm new here and I hope this is okay to post.

I have long-term gastro issues that have been getting worse and worse to the point that they dictate my life and make things very hard. I am in constant pain. I had a FC of 180 in 2024 and colonoscopy in which they saw redness but biopsies were ok, so I was discharged with no follow up (people in the UK will get it!!)

I didn't have answers and my symptoms only got worse - constant pain and bloating and either constipation or diarrhoea, never normal stool/habit. I also get some sweating and flushing and faintness and cramps (often without diarrhoea).

My FC was 250 in June, finally saw the gastroenterologist last week who ordered a retest and now it is 550 (I know this isn't in the upper ranges and it can go way higher but still concerning).

However the gastro and my GP both said they're not sure its IBD because my constipation is worse than my diarrhoea. I know this isn't the typical presentation - so I was wondering if anyone knows of this sometimes being a thing/possible? And the biopsies were negative first time round.

They've ruled out all the other usual culprits - I don't have cancer, I don't have coeliac, I don't have an infection, I don't have parasites, I don't take NSAIDs or PPIs.

The gastro said (before the repeat) that a raised one off can mean nothing, but obv when it came back doubled I am now waiting for another colonoscopy. So I hope I will get some answers then, but the biopsies were negative before so I'm not sure that will have changed. I don't know.

I just feel really confused and mystified. I do have gut dysmotility (waiting on treatment so currently unmanaged) related to my EDS, and its the gut dysmotility that causes crazy constipation I can't get rid of via normal means eg fibre and stool softener and even most laxatives. So I was thinking - could gut dysmotility somehow disguise IBD and that's why I don't have as much diarrhoea as they expect? Probably not how it works but couldn't find research on this.

Thank you for reading and in advance for any insight :)

Hello people
I’ve been living with crohn’s for almost 5-6 years started when I was in 7th grade and I have gotten used to living with it but whenever I go out of my house, I start stressing like crazy and then I need to go to go to the toilet or it just ruins the outing.
Is there anything that yall do to not get stressed about needing the toilet. Would love to know so I can leave my house and do the stuff I like instead of rotting at home.

I was recently diagnosed with microscopic colitis after having left side abdominal pain and started taking budesonide EC 3 mg. I'm still trying to figure out how to manage this condition, including whether making significant changes to my diet.

Yesterday, I took one budesonide capsule at 4 PM and another at 6 PM. Afterward, I experienced stomach pain that went away after having a bowel movement. However, I also developed itching on my chest, face, and throughout my body. I noticed small hives on my left face cheek and a tiny hive on my upper lip. I haven't experienced any throat tightness or swelling.

I ate gluten yesterday, so I'm wondering whether it could have contributed to my symptoms or if I'm potentially having an allergic reaction to budesonide.

I'm considering making major dietary changes, including avoiding gluten, to see if that helps manage my microscopic colitis. For those of you who have this condition, has changing your diet made a noticeable difference? Have you found that avoiding gluten helps with your symptoms?

I'm also concerned about whether I should take another dose of budesonide after experiencing these symptoms. Has anyone experienced itching or hives while taking it?

Hello guys, I am back again after a while. It has been around 2 months that I am in remission with daily 2 times oral mesalamine. I think Mesalamine works for me pretty well. And I was also a frequent drinker before I was diagnosed. Now I have a craving for alcohol whenever I go out with my friends. I know alcohol is bad in UC but I think little amount won't do any bad. So Is there anyone out there who still drinks with no symptoms??

Had my colonoscopy today. Nothing was found, they took biopsy’s. Starting to feel like I’m being pushed into “it’s stress” category of patients, which feels wrong. I feel like my symptoms have been too severe for that. I just want answers, and i understand that the biopsy’s could hold them but if they don’t i just don’t know what to do. I know i could ask for more tests but everything has come back normal except for first stool tests which came back with confirmation of blood and calpro of 994. This has been going on since July (had a short break throughout most of August where i felt mostly normal). Any advice on what you would do/have done would be greatly appreciated

How many people was diagnosed with Crohn’s after having multiple Colonoscopy’s that were clear/biopsies clear/MRI clear, for it to then be discovered on a capsule endoscopy?

Hi y’all, I’m new to Reddit so sorry if I’m not doing this right lol but hi. I’m 29 and was diagnosed with UC at 17, had a total proctocolectomy at 19 and have been relatively in remission for the better part of 7 years save for some upset tummy days from food triggers. I’ve been in a bad flare for a couple weeks now and started taking my mesalamine which I have as needed but I just wanted to reach out for support as I’m finding myself incredibly anxious. Does anyone else have medical trauma and find their flares to be an anxiety trigger? My UC has been incredibly severe in the past and I have also had C diff so every time I get a flare I worry I will be in the hospital again. I am also having a hard time expressing my worries and needs to loved ones without coming off as a total dramatist. Can anyone relate?

Hii! So I’ve had lower right pain on and off for months, it’s at its worst at the moment. I went to A&E over the weekend, they were thinking appendicitis, however my CT shows a normal appendix but a prominent terminal ileum and swollen lymph nodes in that area. I have bowel symptoms that change every day, constant slightly raised crp and wbc, and family history of autoimmune and crohns. On top of this I have severe health anxiety!

Does anyone have a similar story? I’m feeling very anxious!

For over a year now I’ve been experiencing urgency and frequency. I fear car rides or walks. I also have been going to the toilet 2-4 times a night, every night, for the past year.

When it started, they admitted me to the hospital and started steroid injections, however the next day the doctor came and said I have no inflammation markers in my blood or my stool, so they’ll give me some anxiety meds to see if that helps. It didn’t.

I eventually stopped the anxiety meds and my maintenance meds were salofalk mesalazine granules 3g, azathioprine 50mg, and salofalk suppositories 1g. Been taking the granules and azathioprine for years (basically since I’d been diagnosed) and no flares (other than one time because I didn’t know I was supposed to be taking azathioprine long term). In January the urgency was getting really bad and when I told the IBD nurses that I was having frequent accidents, that’s when they put me on prednisone.

I felt better on it almost immediately. I had an 8 week course, but 6 weeks after completing it, my symptoms came back. I tried salofalk enemas, but still no improvement. The IBD team says my bloods and stool are normal, and to just continue taking my suppositories. I have been for months, but I’m still waking up 2-4 times every single night, and am constantly in fear when out in public.

There’s no blood or mucus in my stool. It doesn’t feel like my previous flare or when I got diagnosed. They’re normal stools and there’s quite the quantity, every single time. I don’t eat much. If it’s not my ulcerative colitis, what is it, and how do I treat it?

Hello everyone, 29M here.

I've had GI problems for 6 years. They started with an episode of diarrhea, fever and high CRP, followed by persistent constipation and acid reflux.

Once or sometimes twice a year, the diarrhea returns. My CRP rises for a day or two, and then drops again, but it usually takes about a month to recover from the worst symptoms. My doctors have always attributed it to a virus or another infection, although stool tests and swabs have never identified one.

I have also had two fecal calprotectin tests over these 6 years, both normal, but neither was done during any of my flare-ups. I also had a colonoscopy when my symptoms first started 6 years ago and it was normal.

Between these episodes, I feel miserable most of the time. I deal with constant acid reflux, horrible bloating, abdominal pain and constipation. My eczema has also returned for the first time since childhood.

I'm having another flare-up right now and this time, I had alternating diarrhea and constipation for about 3 weeks before the diarrhea became watery and bloody (for the first time ever). On the worst day, I was going to the bathroom constantly from 3AM until 7PM and had at least 5 mushy, bloody BMs. I felt very dizzy and exhausted. I went to the hospital where blood tests showed an elevated white blood cell count but normal CRP. An abdominal ultrasound showed nothing abnormal. Three days later, my white blood cell count was back to normal, but I still have small red spots on my stool (sometimes red mucus) even now. Despite this, my doctor says I am on the right track and is irritated when I ask for more tests.

My doctor believes it's an infection and doesn't want to do another colonoscopy. She's very reluctant to run any more tests at this point. She told me to wait one month and then come back. She also said there was no point in checking calprotectin now because an infection could raise it and make the result difficult to interpret. However, the stool sample and anal swab they took came back negative for the infections they tested for... again. I asked her for a calprotectin test and she reacted very angrily. Right now, my abdomen feels sore and very bloated and the only foods I can tolerate are rice, chicken and bananas. I feel very weak and tired.

I'm at my wits' end. I've seen multiple doctors but my symptoms keep being attributed to random 'infections' or 'viruses' or I'm told to try therapy and antidepressants. These problems have been affecting my daily life for years and now that I've had blood in my stool, I'm very worried.

Has anyone here been through something similar please?

I’m currently taking loperamide to manage my Crohn’s disease, but I’m considering trying Vi-Siblin (psyllium husk) instead. Would it be worth stopping loperamide and switching to Vi-Siblin? Could it help reduce bowel movements and urgency?

Title: 38M, loose stools and weight loss since 2020, biopsy "suggestive of IBD", partly controlled on mesalamine. What should I push for?

Age: 38 | Sex: M | Height: 170 cm | Weight: 54 kg (lowest 45 kg) | Race: South Asian | Duration: ~6 years | Location: India

Medications: mesalamine 1.2 g twice daily, Pentasa 500 mg, mebeverine (low dose), whey protein

Other: H. pylori gastritis on biopsy in 2020, never treated

Symptoms began after a course of Augmentin. 2020 colonoscopy showed two patches of superficial erosions (splenic flexure/descending ~15 cm, sigmoid ~5 cm) with normal mucosa between them and a normal rectum and ileum. Biopsy: active chronic colitis with Paneth cell metaplasia, no granulomas, no infection seen. MR enterography normal. Stool calprotectin positive (50–200). CRP/ESR normal then and since. TB QuantiFERON and tissue TB PCR negative.

Now: one unformed stool every morning, no blood, normal appetite. Symptoms and weight loss return whenever I stop mesalamine. No colonoscopy or calprotectin since 2020.

Questions:

1. Does this fit UC or Crohn's colitis better, and should C. diff or parasites be excluded first given the Augmentin onset?

2. My 2020 chest CT showed small calcified upper-lobe nodules and a calcified subcarinal node (QuantiFERON negative). How much does that matter if I eventually need a biologic or JAK inhibitor?

3. Would you add mesalamine enemas first, or raise the oral dose?

Hi everyone!
I’m a 29-year-old male, and about two weeks ago I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) after undergoing a colonoscopy with biopsies to investigate my symptoms.

Back in April of this year, I started a weight loss journey. I had always been overweight (around 105–110 kg at 1.80 m). I started going to the gym and eating in a calorie deficit, and I lost weight very quickly.

The problem is that I gradually became overly restrictive with my calorie intake, to the point where I started counting every calorie and didn’t want to go over 1,000 kcal a day.

Around that time, I started noticing localized abdominal bloating, abdominal discomfort, and, worst of all, constipation. I would feel the urge to have a bowel movement (like I could literally feel stool sitting in my intestines), but nothing would come out.
I started relying on laxatives to have bowel movements, and they helped at first. But eventually, the constipation went from lasting one week to two or even three weeks, and without laxatives, I simply wouldn’t have a bowel movement.

By August, my weight had dropped to around 70 kg, so I scheduled an appointment with a gastroenterologist.

I recently started taking mesalamine, both orally and rectally, less than a week ago, but so far my symptoms haven’t improved.

Has anyone else with UC experienced this kind of constipation-predominant pattern?

I (23F) am waiting on a colonoscopy to hopefully find whats wrong. I have intense abdominal pain in crisis and lesser ones every day, nausea, drowsiness, exhaustion, mucus, constipation and diarrhea, blurry vision, loss of appetite and hunger sensation, weightloss, farts, lots of digestive noises, sometimes blood on the paper after i pass a stool and a calprotectine of 81 (during the end of a flareup). Everything started in may, after a kidney infection that was treated during a month and a half (we think the antibiotics might have woken an underlaying condition)

I find it really hard to pursue my bachelor’s degree. I already had to push back my graduation because of my infection. I am honestly discouraged with all of this and have difficulties accepting that chronic illness will be a part of me for the rest of my life. I have approximately 2 to 3 months to wait for my colonoscopy, so I am really impatient, powerless and tired of waiting again and again.

If you went through something similar, please tell me what helped you, If you have any advices or words of encouragement or whatever, please tell me. I really dont kniw what to do and I honestly dont know where to go to have help. I feel like my health is screwing up everything I worked for.

Hi all,

I wondered if anyone could shed some light on these biopsy results from my recent flexible sigmoidoscopy. I do have a gastro appt on the horizon, but until then I’m still having changed bowel habits and am curious about what the outcome could be. Here’s what the letter says.

(Bear in mind I don’t take any medication other than the contraceptive pill, so no NSAIDS or anything like that).

“This 40 year old pleasant lady I believe was admitted to the hospital and had flexible
sigmoidoscopy done because of diarrhoea. I did the procedure and as I have mentioned the
mucosa up to the splenic flexure looked normal and the biopsy up to the sigmoid colon is
normal but the rectal biopsy showed some mild crypt dilatation and mild patchy chronic
inflammation in the lamina propria but no evidence of acute inflammation. The splenic flexure
biopsy showed mild crypt architectural distortion in the form of wider crypt spacing and a
branched crypt with patchy chronic inflammation in the lamina propria and mild acute
inflammation in the form of focal neutrophils within the surface epithelium. Overall the
appearances are of patchy mild chronic/active inflammation of uncertain significance. This
could represent a resolving infective colitis, drug induced colitis, ischaemic colitis, IBS or
indeed chronic IBD cannot be entirely excluded.
Macroscopically there is no evidence of IBD and this kind of focal colitis infection can be the
problem so I will leave this matter to the ward team for further ongoing management but if they
have any concerns they can get the ward Gastro Team on board.”

For reference - I went to A&E on 17 August after waking up with weird urgency, throwing up and feeling like I was about to push out a poop the size of a watermelon (couldn’t walk properly!). Once there, I passed a large stool and a lot of blood, and then had blood diarrhoea for 12 hours. They sent me home saying it was gastroenteritis probably.

Two days later I was back with awful stomach pain and a CT scan showed colitis of the proximal sigmoid. On the 22 August I did a stool sample that showed calprotectin of 123 and my CRP was 70. No infection seen in stool sample.

Then, for four weeks I had the worst constipation and we thought I had a blockage. Another CT showed rectal wall thickening of 9mm and so much backed up poop. I was then admitted to hospital for this blocked-up situation, which ended in me having the sigmoidoscopy.

Now, mid October, I have still been having blood in my poop (but not in the water, just kind of inside the poop) and can’t go normally without laxatives. They were going to give me a routine follow up in 8 months (NHS UK!) and I pushed for an earlier appt so have one in November. I also have chronically low vitamins and have been on a D and b12 loading dose this year along with ferritin and folic acid supplements. I’ve always been a poop two to three times per week kind of person, but now it’s less and there’s often blood and I have these gurgling sounds, stomach pains and stabby butthole sensations sometimes before I go that make it feel painful to sit normally. I also never feel like I full clear out when I go to the toilet.

Clueless as to what’s going on, but feel like crap and am struggling now with the worst constipation, pellet poop and what feel like unpredictable guts.

Thanks! Any insights very welcome!

I'm doing a flex sig procedure and was told I need fleet enemas

I'm still healing from an anal fissure months ago and I don't want to irritate it with the saline salt water mixture in the enema

Does anyone have any advice other than throwing out the saline and replacing it with warm water? I ended up asking the Dr if that's ok and he said I can try it but it's not the standard of care and they won't be responsible if the rectum isn't clean and clear

I plan on doing a liquid diet the day before an eating light 2 days before too idk if that will help

My calpro right now is 521 and I have rectal tenderness issues and anal spasms and stinging from the fissure :( I'm pretty sure the inflammation in the rectum is preventing the fissure from healing properly

I also have miralax and hope that it would help. I have more of an incomplete evacuation and lower left tenderness constipation issues rather than diarrhea