• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Crohns??

Hi my name is Tracy hoping for some advice please I suffered with UC and as a result now have a proctocolectomy since 2005,I have been fine bowel wise ever since until September 2016 for about a week I had ulcers right at the back of my throat flu like symptoms fever achy joints could not get out of bed. Just thought I had the flu.Then in January it happened again again I thought flu!,but has also happened Feb and March same symptoms.Went to see the Dr twice the 1st time she put me on antibiotics and I was sent away! Saw a different Dr and he gave me a proper examination saw the ulcers he said with my history and also my 75yr old dad just being diagnosed with crohns it could be be my UC flaring up? I told him all myour large bowel was gone so can't have UC anymore he said you can colitis crohns he called it ? I'm a bit dubious about it my iron levels came back low so had to go for a repeat blood test just waiting has anybody else had UC which 'turned' into crohns? Thank you for any response
 
It can be difficult to differentiate between crohn's and colitis, but as you already said, colitis is confined to the colon. Crohn's colitis is crohn's only in the colon. If you have inflammation elsewhere (which you do), then you have probably had crohn's all along, but it was previously only appearing in your colon. So what you have hasn't changed, only the name of the disease. Your original diagnosis of colitis may have been incorrect and you've had crohn's all along. It is not uncommon for a diagnosis of (ulcerative) colitis to become a diagnosis of crohn's later.
 

Lady Organic

Moderator
Staff member
Once I have asked my GI if it could be possible to have both diseases...
as it is possible to have multiple inflammatory diseases in one individual...
as I have an indeterminate colitis since 2001 with both features of CD and UC in seperate occasions, I have asked myself several questions...

as mentioned above too, misdagnosis of UC instead of CD can happen.
 
Even with your colon gone your UC can still flare. Some people need maintenance medicine even after surgery. I would contact your Gi and get their input. It's not possible to have both UC and Crohn's.. but it's possible to be misdiagnosed
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Do you have any rashes with the flu like symptoms ???
Sweets syndrome is rare but can happen with UC even after the colon is removed
It causes all the issues you stated above and adds a rash that may only be a few spots

Ds has it with Crohns
His looks nothing like the photos on line btw


Its dx by biopsy of the rash

Good luck
 
Ooh that rash looks painful thankfully no I haven't but I do have patches of redish blue marks on my torso ? No idea what that is ? Its bruise like and doesn't go away ?
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Please see a dermo
Sweets can be purple blue flat Neft the surface
Raised like hives
Pimple like
You name it can be it
And one person can have lots of types of rashes
Ds has purple like and hive like and pimple like
Always fun to figure out

But make sure the dermo has exp or know Sweets
Good luck
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Sweets lesions for ds
Can sometimes
Itch
Sometimes be painful or burn
Some times both
Flu like symptoms are common with them (including joint pain) and so are mouth ulcers
Ds doesn't have mouth ulcers with his
Hives will change locations (disappear reappear ) within 24 hours
Sweets does not disappear

A good dermo would know by looking and use a biopsy to confirm

Ds gets his typically on his torso face arms and scalp but has had on or two on his legs

Sweets is a reactive disease so for most getting the underlying cause under control
Then the sweets calms down
Ds didn't get that memo
His Crohns is calm and Sweets still flares

Sweets is rare 1 in 500000
Even rarer in kids

It is closely related to PG which also has purple lesions at the start
And often found in ibd patients

Sweets only reoccurs in 30% of patients
 

my little penguin

Moderator
Staff member
Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) and Sweet's Syndrome (SS) are inflammatory skin diseases caused by the accumulation of neutrophils in the skin and, rarely, in internal organs. These neutrophilic dermatosis (NDs) are distinguished by the existence of forms of transition or overlap. They are frequently associated to systemic diseases especially hematologic and gastrointestinal ones. We report a case of a patient with ulcerative colitis (UC) who successively developed two types of NDs: PG then SS. A 66 years old patient with a history of UC consulted in July 2012 for an erythematous swelling of the back of the right hand treated with antibiotics without improvement. At that time, bacteriological samples were negative. In October 2012, he was hospitalized for polyarthralgia and impaired general condition. In physical examination, he had vesiculobullous plaque of 10 cm long of the right hand and wrist, infiltrated erythematous plaque on the right leg and another topped with a large pustule at the left ankle. Skin biopsy showed at the back of the right hand an aspect of PG and at the infiltrated plaques of the ankle an aspect of SS. Prednisone was started with improvement of the skin lesions and a recovery condition. The combination of PG and SS has already been described in cases of hematologic malignancy and rarely in UC. There is also the notion of passage from a neutrophilic dermatosis to another. Indeed, a typical lesion initially of SS can evolve to a future PG. This case demonstrates that neutrophilic dermatoses form a continous spectrum of entities that may occur in UC.


From
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4546795/
 
I think the two diseases can coexist:

A well documented case of a patient with both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis is presented. A 29 year old woman underwent resection of her terminal ileum and ascending colon for typical Crohn's disease with ileocolitis. Eleven years later, an ileoproctocolectomy was performed for typical ulcerative colitis involving the left colon. The resection specimen also showed evidence of colonic Crohn's disease near the anastomotic site. This unusual case shows that Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis can occur in the same patient. The rarity of such cases supports the concept that Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are separate entities, rather than different manifestations of the same disease process.

Taken from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1420082/pdf/gut00406-0101.pdf
 
I think the two diseases can coexist:



A well documented case of a patient with both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis is presented. A 29 year old woman underwent resection of her terminal ileum and ascending colon for typical Crohn's disease with ileocolitis. Eleven years later, an ileoproctocolectomy was performed for typical ulcerative colitis involving the left colon. The resection specimen also showed evidence of colonic Crohn's disease near the anastomotic site. This unusual case shows that Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis can occur in the same patient. The rarity of such cases supports the concept that Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are separate entities, rather than different manifestations of the same disease process.



Taken from



https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1420082/pdf/gut00406-0101.pdf


That's only one study. I know there are a few studies on the subject but most are out dated. Not to mention medical advances in pathology and diagnosis has improved since the early 80's. Most of the top IBD specialists in the country are in agreement that it's one or the other. New research is playing with the idea that there is 100's of types of IBD but it's still early. There's actually a big conference going on till Tuesday. If you go on twitter you can follow the conference through the #DDW its both dr's and patient advocates covering the conference
 
Top