- Location
- Georgia
Hi Everybody -- I've been reading around this forum for several weeks now and have really felt good about the amount of support that seems to be out there.
I could use a little bit of help, if you all wouldn't mind. It would be so much appreciated. I am currently undiagnosed, and perhaps my mind is my own worst enemy...
Here is my journey so far!
The way its gone for me, my symptoms started 11/26/12, with diarrhea, followed by constipation the next day, and then a return to normal the 3rd day. I remained "normal" for another 4-5 days before intestinal cramps came back, which led to more diarrhea and eventually morning nausea. Over a week or two I'd have morning nausea every morning, and gradually feel better into the evenings. I lost some weight as my PCP recommended a 24-hour fast followed by 24-hour BRAT diet, but that trend hasn't really continued. At this point I received my first test results back (blood/stool), which showed positive H pylori Ab through serology. I initially had some bloating and then later hunger shortly after eating, but that's really gone away as well. I don't seem to have any classic H pylori symptoms, and haven't ever been treated for it. I know a lot of people have it and its harmless, could it be I am one of those people where the test shows positive but its not doing anything to me?
Over the next few weeks I gradually got better, bowel movements slowly moved back towards normal (1 each morning), back pain came and went away after a few days (possibly mechanical?), and with only probiotics and a better diet I felt 95-100% for about 2 weeks. My assumption of what I had started to be potentially "Post-Infectious IBS".
I did see a GI back on 12/20/12, and mentioned that my uncle has Crohn's (don't know where its located). He ran an IBD Differentiation Panel, which is what has now got me really concerned. It came back yesterday with some results that I would really love your opinion on. Since I got the results I have gone way down hill, back to diarrhea and couldn't sleep last night, which may all very well be stress related. Here are the results (performed by Quest Diagnostics):
Test Value Reference
pANCA, cANCA, atypical pANCA: Negative Negative
Proteinase-3 Antibody: Negative Negative
ASCA IgG Ab: 24.3 H <20 Negative, 20-30 "Equivocal"
ASCA IgA Ab: 16.7 <20 Negative, 20-25 "Equivocal"
C-reactive Protein (CRP): 0.10 <0.80
So the only flag on there is for ASCA IgG, which is not positive but "equivocal". I've read that healthy family members of Crohn's patients can have elevated ASCA IgG 20% of the time (though, I am a 2nd degree family member, not sibling or child). The other part that's got me concerned is the ASCA IgA as I have seen other studies that say a reference range should be <10 for Negative. GI wants to follow up with Upper Endoscopy (presumably to look for H pylori damage) and colonscopy later this month, but I think I want a second opinion (I want a different GI doc anyway). I also read that Crohn's detected through ASCA+ is generally in the small intestine anyway, so maybe colonscopy wouldn't show anything? I could be wrong, maybe ASCA+ could be anywhere.
I'd really appreciate any thoughts, experiences of similar situation, etc. that you can provide!! Maybe you can take the info here and make something of it. I know you're not doctors, but I bet a lot of you are more knowledgeable about IBD than a lot of GIs!!
Have a wonderful day!!
I could use a little bit of help, if you all wouldn't mind. It would be so much appreciated. I am currently undiagnosed, and perhaps my mind is my own worst enemy...
Here is my journey so far!
The way its gone for me, my symptoms started 11/26/12, with diarrhea, followed by constipation the next day, and then a return to normal the 3rd day. I remained "normal" for another 4-5 days before intestinal cramps came back, which led to more diarrhea and eventually morning nausea. Over a week or two I'd have morning nausea every morning, and gradually feel better into the evenings. I lost some weight as my PCP recommended a 24-hour fast followed by 24-hour BRAT diet, but that trend hasn't really continued. At this point I received my first test results back (blood/stool), which showed positive H pylori Ab through serology. I initially had some bloating and then later hunger shortly after eating, but that's really gone away as well. I don't seem to have any classic H pylori symptoms, and haven't ever been treated for it. I know a lot of people have it and its harmless, could it be I am one of those people where the test shows positive but its not doing anything to me?
Over the next few weeks I gradually got better, bowel movements slowly moved back towards normal (1 each morning), back pain came and went away after a few days (possibly mechanical?), and with only probiotics and a better diet I felt 95-100% for about 2 weeks. My assumption of what I had started to be potentially "Post-Infectious IBS".
I did see a GI back on 12/20/12, and mentioned that my uncle has Crohn's (don't know where its located). He ran an IBD Differentiation Panel, which is what has now got me really concerned. It came back yesterday with some results that I would really love your opinion on. Since I got the results I have gone way down hill, back to diarrhea and couldn't sleep last night, which may all very well be stress related. Here are the results (performed by Quest Diagnostics):
Test Value Reference
pANCA, cANCA, atypical pANCA: Negative Negative
Proteinase-3 Antibody: Negative Negative
ASCA IgG Ab: 24.3 H <20 Negative, 20-30 "Equivocal"
ASCA IgA Ab: 16.7 <20 Negative, 20-25 "Equivocal"
C-reactive Protein (CRP): 0.10 <0.80
So the only flag on there is for ASCA IgG, which is not positive but "equivocal". I've read that healthy family members of Crohn's patients can have elevated ASCA IgG 20% of the time (though, I am a 2nd degree family member, not sibling or child). The other part that's got me concerned is the ASCA IgA as I have seen other studies that say a reference range should be <10 for Negative. GI wants to follow up with Upper Endoscopy (presumably to look for H pylori damage) and colonscopy later this month, but I think I want a second opinion (I want a different GI doc anyway). I also read that Crohn's detected through ASCA+ is generally in the small intestine anyway, so maybe colonscopy wouldn't show anything? I could be wrong, maybe ASCA+ could be anywhere.
I'd really appreciate any thoughts, experiences of similar situation, etc. that you can provide!! Maybe you can take the info here and make something of it. I know you're not doctors, but I bet a lot of you are more knowledgeable about IBD than a lot of GIs!!
Have a wonderful day!!