Do I have Crohn's Disease?
Lately I have had abdominal pain with
diarrhea and weight loss for no apparent
reason.
I kept thinking it would eventually
go away. Then one day after talking to a
friend of mine she stated that I could
possibly have Crohn's Disease and that I
should see my doctor to get to the cause of
my symptoms.
I thought to myself what is Crohn's'
disease?
I later found out that Crohn's disease is
an inflammation or ulceration of the
digestive tract, most commonly in the last
part of the small intestine known as the
ileum and the large intestine or colon.
After doing some research on Crohn's
disease it turns out that I have several of
the symptoms of Crohn's disease. These
symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea
and weight loss. Some other symptoms of
Crohn's disease that I did not have include
poor appetite, fever, night sweats, rectal
pain and rectal bleeding.
There are several different types of
Crohn's disease which include Crohn's
colitis, Crohn's enteritis, Crohn's terminal
iletis, Crohn's entero-colitis and ileo-colitis.
The two most common types of Crohn's
disease are Crohn's terminal ileitis and
Crohn's ileo-colitis.
Crohn's terminal ileitis is an
inflammation that affects only the very end
of the small intestines. With this type of
Crohn's disease the symptoms are usually
abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Crohn's ileo-colitis is the other most
common Crohn's disease. With this you have
inflammation of the small intestine and
colon. The common symptoms for this are
bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain.
I went to see my medical doctor to
discuss the symptoms that I was having and
to discuss the possibility of it being
Crohn's disease.
I learned that there are several ways to
diagnose Crohn's disease. First a medical
history and physical exam are performed.
Then an imaging test such as a barium x-ray
to look at the intestine and colon may also
be ordered. A colonoscopy is also a
consideration when diagnosing Crohn's
disease.
Crohn's disease cannot be cured but
can be treated with medication that reduces
the inflammation and cures infection which
in turn reduces the symptoms of Crohn's
disease.
After an exam by my physician and a few
medical procedures, I learned thankfully
that I only had an infection causing my
abdominal pain and diarrhea which was
treated with antibiotics.
