Undiagnosed Pain!!!

I haven't been confirmed yet so I was looking for answers. I had my gallbladder removed in November and they said I would be able to live life happy again. Didn't have a bowel movement for a week. Nurse told me there was nothing they could do. Since then I have had endoscopy, hiatal hernia/inflammation/gastritis, I have also had the colonoscopy, inflammation near my term ileum but Dr. said she couldn't get into ileum, and sharp pain in my right side since. Biopsies from colon show no signs of Crohn's, but Dr. says it could be early and not showing signs yet.

I have every kinda weird bowel movement, including emergency issues where I have had to come home from work to change. It is terrible and I feel so bad for so many people that have to experience this pain and emergency bowel problems.

I have a sharp pain in my right middle abdomen that will not go away. It gets so bad sometimes I can hardly breathe. I have night sweats that turn my shirts yellow and bad nausea most of the day. I went on Flagyl and it seemed to help for about a month and then it was right back. I have so many questions and cant really get any solid answers.

My wife is scared because if I miss any more time I will be put on leave as I have missed about 4 weeks this year trying to get answers. Should I just continue on and get over the fact that this will likely hurt for a long period of my life? I am at a crossroad.

Hi! Welome to the forum!

So sorry to hear of everything you are going through!

Your symptoms do sounds consistent with Crohn's - abdo pain, urgency, night sweats and nausea are all common symptoms.

It sounds like you need an MRI to image your small bowel as the inflammation may be located in the part of the bowel not reached by scopes. This is the case for me - my disease is in the jejunum and ileum.

Are your doctors planning any more tests or treatment?

It would be really good if you could have an MRI done quickly, I think, so that you could start treatment.

I wouldn't give up. I would keep pursuing a diagnosis. This sounds very likely to be Crohn's and it is definitely something. This isn't the sort of thing that you should just put up with and there is the possibility that this could get a lot worse if not treated.

Although it would be best to do more testing - an MRI, perhaps camera pill and a fecal calprotectin test - before starting any more treatment (as in some cases the treatment can mean that the signs are no longer visible on the tests to get a diagnosis), I can understand if you need to try to treat this sooner as you need to be able to get on with your life. I would in that situation then try drinking complete nutrition drinks like Ensure without normal foods. This is a proven treatment to reduce inflammation in the bowel that gets 70-80% of people with Crohn's into remission. I realize you don't have a firm diagnosis but since this treatment has no side effects you might want to try it. It can be a lot cheaper with a prescription though so you might want to ask your doctor if they could prescribe it for you as they think Crohn's looks likely. This is a good first line treatment even with a diagnosis.

A lot of people don't have biopsies that show Crohn's but are nevertheless diagnosed with Crohn's based on other evidence. I really wouldn't give up trying to get a diagnosis.

Thanks for the help. I have had a CT scan done is that any different? And please forgive me I am a 31 year old man so I am very stubborn when it comes to doctors. I have actually had 2 ultrasounds, ekg, upper gi, lower gi, ct scan, and a couple chest xrays.