Hi everyone. I am new to joining this site, but I've been reading posts on here religiously for the past few weeks.
I really need some input on being diagnosed, and maybe some validation or similar stories.
I want to know if it is possible to have Crohn's Disease without detection from a doctor because you never saw them during a flare.
For a little personal background, I've had stomach issues my entire life, mainly IBS related, but lately the symptoms have gotten so bad that it cannot be just IBS. My mom, my therapist, and I all believe that I have Crohn's Disease based on symptoms, but when I finally got an appointment, a month had passed, the flare ended, my physical exam came back normal, and she said all I had was IBS.
I read that Crohn's disease cannot be detected unless it is active, or there is a lot of scar tissue from years of activity.
I don't seem to have the most typical Crohn's, so getting diagnosed is even harder. Most Crohn's affects the ileum or caecum, but I am have symptoms of inflammation in my colorectal area (possibly other places, but that's the worst)
During the assumed flare, I was feeling cramps, sharp pains, and point tenderness around my descending/sigmoid colon, thin soft stools, or pebbles covered in mucus. If the stool was larger in diameter, I would get major pain and a bit of blood on the toilet paper almost every day. Everything was hard to force out, even when soft. I felt like my anus was too small (this is what led me to Crohn's). There is no way there was no inflammation going on. I wish I had a rectal exam during the actual flare because this was NOT IBS.
I am also experiencing extra-intestinal manifestations, including major fatigue, joint stiffness/cracking/pain, severe back pain around the belt-line (I have a herniation, but this seemed to directly relate to the time the flare was going on), night sweats, low-grade fevers (around 99.2, my regular temp is 97), anemia/low iron, etc. I also have hashimotos thyroiditis, which is also an autoimmune, making it VERY likely that I will get another one, seeing as my body is already fighting itself.
I have done a lot of research trying to figure this out, and hypochondria was completely ruled out by my therapist, so please don't call me a hypochondriac. I'm just educated (biology is my passion) and really trying to figure out what is going on. I need some help or advice, because I'm supposed to go away to college in August, and this is going to make it difficult
I really need some input on being diagnosed, and maybe some validation or similar stories.
I want to know if it is possible to have Crohn's Disease without detection from a doctor because you never saw them during a flare.
For a little personal background, I've had stomach issues my entire life, mainly IBS related, but lately the symptoms have gotten so bad that it cannot be just IBS. My mom, my therapist, and I all believe that I have Crohn's Disease based on symptoms, but when I finally got an appointment, a month had passed, the flare ended, my physical exam came back normal, and she said all I had was IBS.
I read that Crohn's disease cannot be detected unless it is active, or there is a lot of scar tissue from years of activity.
I don't seem to have the most typical Crohn's, so getting diagnosed is even harder. Most Crohn's affects the ileum or caecum, but I am have symptoms of inflammation in my colorectal area (possibly other places, but that's the worst)
During the assumed flare, I was feeling cramps, sharp pains, and point tenderness around my descending/sigmoid colon, thin soft stools, or pebbles covered in mucus. If the stool was larger in diameter, I would get major pain and a bit of blood on the toilet paper almost every day. Everything was hard to force out, even when soft. I felt like my anus was too small (this is what led me to Crohn's). There is no way there was no inflammation going on. I wish I had a rectal exam during the actual flare because this was NOT IBS.
I am also experiencing extra-intestinal manifestations, including major fatigue, joint stiffness/cracking/pain, severe back pain around the belt-line (I have a herniation, but this seemed to directly relate to the time the flare was going on), night sweats, low-grade fevers (around 99.2, my regular temp is 97), anemia/low iron, etc. I also have hashimotos thyroiditis, which is also an autoimmune, making it VERY likely that I will get another one, seeing as my body is already fighting itself.
I have done a lot of research trying to figure this out, and hypochondria was completely ruled out by my therapist, so please don't call me a hypochondriac. I'm just educated (biology is my passion) and really trying to figure out what is going on. I need some help or advice, because I'm supposed to go away to college in August, and this is going to make it difficult