It's easy to miss a diagnosis of Crohn's if you're not seeing a top-flight
specialist from one of the top ten hospitals in digestive orders that I
suggested in my previous post. It is exceedingly unlikely that the
diagnosis
would be missed by a gastroenterologist from one of those institutions.
There ARE major differences in doctors. That's why the initiator of this
thread should follow your example and get evaluated at one of those
hospitals. You're doing the right thing, and so should the original
poster.
"Zim" <bzimmerman22@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:0878aabf-3f06-4aed-a1e6-71983feeb4b4@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>I have to disagree with anon. From my experience and reading a lot of
> postings here, Crohn's is easy to miss as a diagnosis. With my first
> gastroenterologist we did bloodwork, ultrasound, x-rays, stool
> samples, and a colonoscopy. He found a c-difficile infection which we
> treated with antibiotics, but my symptoms continued (loose stools,
> frequent urge, feeling of incomplete "voiding" and general discomfort
> and occasional minor pain in gut. He finally did another blood test
> that showed antibody markers indicative of Crohn's though the
> colonoscopy showed nothing. I went to a second gastroenterologist to
> seek more help - none of the drugs from the first one actually helped
> much. Second gastroenterologist completely discounted the blood test
> (his opinion), we did another colonoscopy and found several polyps
> (the first guy missed these a year earlier). Biopsies were benign but
> showed colitis present. Again the second gastro said this was all
> fairly normal.
>
> Like you, I spent a lolt of time wondering if this was all in my
> head. I read a lot of material that says how stress and anxiety can
> be triggers or aggrivators of these problems. This was VERY difficult
> for me to even consider. I've always considered myself very stable
> and in control of my life. Stress is always present in everyone's
> life, and mine maybe a little more so, but I think I've had times of
> much much higher levels of stress than anything I've had preceeding my
> physical problems. While trying to nail down a diagnosis and finding
> an effective treatment thougn, I felt the pressure and stress more
> than usual because of the uncertainty. I felt a lot of guilt about
> missing so much work for relatively minor symptoms.
>
> Anyway, my first gastroenterologist called it Crohn's, and the second
> says it's not but I had to pry out of him that he thought it "could
> be" irritable bowel syndrome, but he really didn't want to even say
> that much. I think he doesn't want to call IBS because he may think
> that one is mostly in my head, but he hasn't given me any new leads on
> where to go for more help. I have scheduled an appointment at the
> Mayo clinic's motility disorder clinic to try their expertise. This
> will be mostly out of pocket $$$ since they are "out of network", but
> I'm serious about getting some relief.
>
> I also went to a local counselor (not a full blown psychiatrist or
> psychologist) for some ideas about stress management. I listen to
> relaxation audios on a regular basis, which does seem to help a little
> with the "anxiety". (I still hate the sound of that, I should be able
> to "suck it up" and move on as before) And I do pray about it a lot.
>
> I hope this helps in some way. Keep looking for help, and keep
> watching the forums like this for more ideas.
>
> God bless!
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