New...being treated for Crohn's w/o dx

Hi all! So nice to find a community who so openly likes to talk about poop! I'm a 34 yo woman. I have a story and some questions, so bare with me. I've always had efficient BMs for years, which may be due to coffee, stress, antidepressant meds, or maybe unrecognized Crohn's? My husband constantly tells me I need to "get help" and "you're not normal!" but nothing so unique either, in my opinion.

Come May, my family and I get a standard stomach flu...their's last last for 2-3 days. Mine, gets worse and worse over the course of two weeks. Mostly diarrhea (ridiculous amounts), then cramping, eventually turning into diarrhea, cramping, a little blood in the poop, nausea, an inability to get out bed, vomiting and fever. But mostly the diarrhea by far and cramping was THE WORST. Towards the end I was only taking in bits of water and gateraid for 3 days. Urgent care ruled out all sorts of bacterial infections and the like and are treating it like Crohn's, which they think it is .

I feel soooooo much better almost instantly! It's been a day on a slough of meds: prednisone, sucralfate, Prilosec, and zofran (I'm ditching the zofran though; don't need it).

Question: I'm now being sent to a GI for evaluation and possible dx. Will all of these very helpful meds mask if I have Crohn's? Not that I want it...I just don't want it to be missed and be in a state of limbo.

FYI, I have a family history with Crohn's: dad, GM, aunt. I can't help but wonder if they prematurely looked to Crohn's because of family history (or because I was getting sicker, not better).

Similarly, I'm small at 5'4" and 104 lbs. Do they see a small person and more readily think GI issue, or I wonder if I am small because of a possible GI issue.

My blood work has always been impeccable, even when they drew it a week ago. They even tested my ESR (11). Doesn't Crohns have some things that show up in a blood test? Like what?

Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the forum.

Yes it could be Crohn's. Prednisone could heal the bowel and therefore nothing would show up on colonscopy.

What country are in?

How long is the await for GI appointment?

Have you heard of faecal calprotectin?

Sorry for all the questions.

yes prednisone can induce remission. At what dosage have you started? In most cases, symptoms will return towards the end of the treatment regimen. You will get more possible answers by then. Some lucky cases can remain in prolonged remission. The GI will most likely take account of all of this when examining you and program tests accordingly if needed. not everyone has positive blood inflammatory markers. Body morphology has not much to do with crohns, but excessive weight loss is common. close family member is a red flag.

So an update and question...I started feeling soooo much better after the prednisone (40mg) and now I'm off all meds. No diarrhea, only mild nausea and stomach upset, some ongoing bowel sounds...but all mild and I'm back at work. GI appt is still not made (took a week for my referral to get fixed...doctors errors). So here's my question...I feel soooo much better, but continue to lose weight...95 lbs now. Does that happen with Crohn's? Feel great but lose weight? Or no...?

Weight loss without any other symptoms can happen with Crohn's. Though it sounds like you do have some mild symptoms still but, as I think happens for a lot of us, when you feel so much better it is easy to ignore the milder symptoms because you feel so good in comparison!

Hopefully you can see the GI soon and they can do the appropriate testing to see if you have Crohn's and rule out any other causes. With your family history and your GI symptoms it does sound worth going ahead with more tests.