My Abscess/Fistula (No Signs Of Crohns) Story (Need Opinions As Well)

Hey everyone,

I have been reading some forums on here for quite some time and thought I would say what I've been going through for almost a year now and maybe get some insight from some of you guys.

I'm 23, overall healthy, 5-10, 152lbs, diet is balanced over all(from chicken, steak and pasta, to junk food(I love burgers, what can I say) .

Last year, I noticed a lump near my back region, and wondered what it was. I thought it was nothing at first until it swelled up to the size of a golfball and hurt like crap!!

I ended up going to walk in care to find out, it was a perianal abscess. I was given antibiotics and sent on my way. After that, the abscess eventually started to tear away and open up and leak out all the blood and puss that was inside. I ended up seeing a doctor to then get a colonoscopy. No signs of crohns,cancer, or any fistulas at the time. He thought the abscess was due to an ingrown hair.

The abscess still didn't end up going away so I ended up seeing a colorectal surgeon 2-3 months later(Doctor was booked so I had to wait, he had good reviews and only wanted the best surgeon in this situation). He ended up doing an incision and drainage of the abscess,no antibiotics, no signs of crohns or cancer. It finally ended up scarring up the past couple months or so now(had the surgery about 4-5 months ago or so)

Now I noticed I started getting a pain once again. I had to see a different surgeon in his office since the one I saw originally was once again booked. He said I had a fissure this time. I was given a cream to put inside me every day and see the doc in a month. Now my abscess region that was originally cut open, was once again hurting, and I could tell it was a fistula.

I went to see the doctor a month later, and he said I had a fistula this time(which I think I might've had before) and my abscess region was swelling up a little bit and he ended up cleaning me out again(2 surgeries in the past 5 months). He also did a colonoscopy, x ray, and saw no signs of crohns or cancer(I just had this done about a week and a half ago). This time around, I was in A LOT of pain compared to the first surgery(maybe because he cleaned out the fistula tract more) since both sides of my buttocks have been hurting.

So I had to see him a little bit more than a week later. I noticed I started swelling in the places of the incision and where the abscess/fistula were. Yesterday he now prescribed me flagyl(3 times a day) and cipro(two times a day) to kill the infection and heal up the speeding process for the next ten days and I see him again in two weeks.

I asked him why did I end up getting this? He thought it was because of a sebaceous cyst that caused the abscess probably.

Do you guys think this is possible? My stools always tended to be hard and I had to strain quite a bit. I didn't have the best diet, but also not the worst, and tended to eat a lot of junk food/microwave meals lately. Maybe not enough vegetables and fiber? Even when I was working out constantly and eating a bit better, I almost always go to the bathroom as soon as I'm done eating. I was wondering if maybe it was my diet that caused this? Also my job has been EXTREMELY stressful at times(symptoms and abscess never happened until about 4 months of working there), and I believe I have developed anxiety from it(my mother also has it as well) and I have just been given a prescription for it(haven't started yet), and didn't know if it was the stress that messed up my stomach/bathroom issues.

Could this really have been caused by a sebaceous cyst? Is it possible the doctors are missing crohns possibly? And if anyone has any opinions as far as moving forward after this would be great.

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this and reply.

Welcome to the forum. I am no expert nor a Doctor, just my opinion.
A lot of people with Crohn's may develop Abscess and fistulas but that does not mean people with Abscess/fistulas may have crohn's. An abscess can be due to sebaceous,infection, ingrowth hair etc, etc, They may come back even after surgery. I do believe stress and/or anxiety can mess up bathroom issues among other things. When you said there are no signs of Crohn's or cancer, are you talking about biopsies results?

Hi n welcome sorry you need to be here , maybe ask for a fecal calprotein test to try n rule out crohns, it can be a good test to find out if u have it or not. Best wishes ...

@Illinois You can review all my posts. I have a similar experience. No luminal Crohns ever identified. But I've been diagnosed with Perianal Crohns.

Hi everyone, and thanks for your responses!!!

araceli-Yes, I was talking biopsy results. I just got a blood test/auto immune test done with my GP and everything came back fine.
I'm still on flagyl and cipro and i think because of them, my blood pressure was high when i went to the doctors the other day, it has been very difficult to breathe and my chest has been hurting, as well as my body feeling very warm, I'm assuming because its trying to fight the infection. Has anyone else had these side effects on it? Also I know my fistula can come back later on, but I'm hoping it doesn't, definitely don't want to go through this again and I'm hoping it won't!

Mandyk-Would you say the fecal cal protein test would be much different, even if biopsy results came back negative? I thought about having this done as well!

Jay Woodman-How did they end up diagnosing you with this, how did you find out? I will review your posts!

I also haven't been eating as much, haven't returned to a normal diet I guess. Would you guys suggest ruling out certain foods all together? Or would it be okay to go back to eating beef, junk food and soda, even eating out or having greasy foods at times?(I'm not going to lie, I love food lol) I've lost 7lbs in the past two weeks, only been eating cereal for breakfast, pasta and chicken breast, a cookie here and there,fruit and vegetables. I'm nervous that what I'm going to eat is going to give me a hard stool. I can still feel the fistula internally, it is healing much better though, but still hurts. I stopped taking the laxatives a couple days ago, and just have been taking metamucil still.

Also, could it be possibly my sphincter muscles possibly being the reason why? With or without stress that is, I tend to tense up most of the time, because of my anxiety and stress. Heres a link of someone relating a dog putting his tail between his legs because of being punished/stressed, and how its the same thing with us as people possibly.

I was prescribed anxiety meds just last week, but I am nervous to take them because I am scared of the side effects and don't want them to change me as a person, even if I was to stop taking them. Plus I don't want to mix them with the cipro and flagyl as I weigh to take them or not.

Thank you all for your responses and I hope you respond again, I'm just trying to find a reason as to why this happened. I'm hoping to never go through this again.

I couldn't post the link to the website due to lack of posts, but I basically summed it up anyways.

Hi illinois93, a faecal calprotectin (sorry spelt it wrong b4) is a newish biomaker that helps to distinguish between IBS n IBD. faecal calprotectin is as substance that is released into the intestines in excess if there is any inflammation there, and it's presence can mean you have an IBD. It can give a diagnosis without a lot of unnecessary invasive investigations for most people.. plus it is cheaper to do than most other tests, hope this helps best wishes ..
ps yes i would say give it a try if you can , wish i had known of it when i was being diagnosed, it could have saved me a lot of time n suffering i feel ..

I myself started out with an absess about 2 years ago now which after surgery ended up progressing to 2 fistulas, which I had a second surgery for a year ago. There was never any mention of crohns at the time and I never had any other symptoms( pain dioreah ect) it was only about 6 months ago that other symptoms started and I was diognosed 1 month ago with crohns after a colonoscopy. I never knew the 2 were related until I was diognosed! The doctor actually told me they should have know at the time and did tests. Hopefully after which seems very thorough tests and colonoscopy it is not anything other than what it is now. Hopefully you will feel better soon I know the struggles of it and how debilitating it can be! Not sure if there's any advice I can give you on the crohns side of things as I'm still learning myself but anything else on the absess/fistula I can help with id be glad to

@Jack85...It would appear I began my journey similar to yours.The Colonoscopy showed no evidence of Crohns ...without evidence I asked how could I have Crohns? My initial manifestation of abscesses & fistulas seemed to be the Crohns course for me. No luminal evidence appeared. My initial surgeon & GI did both indicate Perianak Crohns may often follow with worsening conditions..Both recommended a Biologic ASAP..I finally gave in after the second abscess appeared..Fistulas, EUA, Setons have followed since.. I'm hoping I've held the luminal appearance at bay with my decision to start Remicade. It has not been an easy journey : )

mandyk-Alright, I'm going to ask my regular doctor for that stool test when I go in next time and see what happens!! I do seem to have some symptoms from what I read involving IBS, relieved by defaecation, burning stomach,straining,urgency, hard stools, mucus in stool. What have you done differently now with being diagnosed with it, how have you managed it and are you back to living a normal life?

Jack85-Hey, I also had two colonoscopies but they found no signs of crohns both times. I'm not for sure if its that or not. How have you been healing from your fistula surgeries and has it been fine since?

Jay Woodman-What exactly is a Biologic?

Hi, sorry what I meant is they diagnosed me straight away with crohns after the colonoscopy. I only had that done about a month ago.

The absess I first felt pain with was around October 2013 I had surgery for that in March 2014 there was no mention of crohns then ... I ad another Mri done several months later as I was still having leaking issues which detected 2 fistulas

I had surgery for the fistulas in October 2014 still no mention of crohns although I didn't have any of the usual symptoms for it

5-6 months ago I started getting symptoms, stomach cramp dioreah Fever joint pain vomitting etc

I was diagnosed with crohns 1 month ago,

They did another Mri a few months ago and apparently them at was successful and the fistulas were obliterated although I still have some daily discharge and sometimes slight pain with normal bowel movements, but all in all I'm doing really well so can't complain

Hi illinios. I was diagnosed with crohns just over 3yrs ago via ct scan. After around2-3yrs of symptoms getting gradualy worse b4 i got so poorly i was admitted to hospital.Since then i had a rough year or so. Then after all meds failed me i had a temporary ileostomy for a year then a reversal in feb this year. I have been great since first op n even got myself a new job just last month as i hated my old place. Im currrently in remission n have been for 19 mths n iv have got my life back to normal. Hope it continues to be so !! Hope this helps. If you want to know anything else please ask. Best wishes...

Ps the only thing i did differently after op was give up smoking. I eat n drink what i want,do all the things i did b4 becoming ill. Pre op i could hardly eat or drink anything at all for a while n spent what time i wasnt at work on the sofa or in bed rolled up in agony. The right meds can n do work for a lot of folk n surgery is a last resort but that was what i came too in the end. ...

My doctor stressed to me how bad smoking is for people with crohns. she really made a point of it. I haven't touched s cigarette in 4 months and won't ever again

Well done jack85 good job there keep it up. I feel so much better for giving up. I hope you do too. Best wishes ..

Illinios ok good there will nothing lost by taking the stool test n maybe you will get an actual diagnosis from it. Good luck n best wishes ...

Thanks Mandyk All the best to you to

After being ill for month after month I changed s lot of things. The actual smell of a cigarette now makes me feel nousious, I can't be around them certain foods I loved I can no longer bare. If I didn't have crohns and the fact I'm a man I would swear I was pregnant

Thanks jack85 lol that made me chuckle about the being pregnant, it's a bit shity tho when u cant eat what u want tho !! I know how that feels, luckily i can now but lord knows how long for, tho im in remission at the mo we never know when the begger will return. So im making hay while the sunshines as it were. Heres to all being well as much as poss ... Best wishes ..

Take full advantage while you can and long may it continue
I'm tapering off steroids ATM I don't think I'm in remission. Well being completely honest with you I don't know what I am. It's all new territory for me! All I can say is compared to this time 2 months ago iv never felt better! praying that will last after I finish the steroids

Cheers jack85 i guess your a bit in limbo then atm. Glad your feeling better n hope you continue to keep well too.. Ye it's early days for you yet but we are in this forum to help n support each other so feel free to ask anything u want, we dont get embarresed easy here n between us all someone will have gone thro what ever you need to know about. Best if luck with the tapering off n hope it stays under control for you..