Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Blood in Bowel

Question:
I'm a 28 year old male. Hispanic. I've had chronic pain,(left sided abdominal pain that radiates up to my left chest, just under my left nipple area), its going on around 6 years now.. Occasional small streaks of blood noted in stool, occasional diarrhea... I've had the following tests performed over the past years: double contrast barium enema, abdominal CT scan, partial colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, several blood tests, upper endoscopy (I have Barrett’s esophagus and am being treated with nexium), aside from the Barrett’s everything has come back normal. My question is that is it the normal pattern for Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's disease to have a dull pain that radiates to your chest on the left side... or is it the norm for crampy pain to be felt? I've never had what would be called bloody diarrhea  I mean this pain has been on and off for 6 years now.. And isn't necessarily associated with diarrhea or constipation, sometimes the pain is just there and recently, the past year, has been there for about 80% of the time. Which is basically all the time. Is this the pattern for diseases like this?  Could something like Crohn's or UC been missed in my colonoscopy done around 4 years ago. Would blood tests show any anomalies with these diseases? This is driving me crazy.... both psychologically and physically..

Answer:
I have Crohns and have had pain similar except mine goes up the center of the chest. I have Crohns for about 12 years now and had some small bowel removed 8 years ago. 3 years ago I had another relapse and had to go to hospital. They did all the tests again and were beginning to be convinced that it was not my Crohns but something else as nothing showed up. I knew it was my Crohns. It wasn't until I had yet again another colonoscopy that they realized, yes, I did have another stricture. They did eventually operate again, but not until my bowls had fused with my bladder and I was weeing diarrhea and blood. However I have never had visible blood in my movements. Obviously I am not saying that you have Crohns, but just that you can't always rely on the horrible tests! Well, in all honesty, why a partial colonoscopy?  Maybe they didn't see everything.  These dull pains can be part of ibd, most certainly.  You mentioned about some blood in stool.  There is only one way I can think that happens, unless it is hemorrhoids, but you didn't mention that.  Sometimes you c-nca, nuclear antibody, wbc, etc. can be effected, problem with bloods though, they often times are so non-specific. so, I have to say, I think your docs need to keep looking, a little farther. they need to do the complete colonoscopy and I would also suggest a small bowel follow thru (smbft).  Remember, blood in stool, unless you can contribute them to hemorrhoids, is never good, especially if associated with ANY gut pain and diarrhea.  you didn't mention any meds you are on or have tried. I think that you would need a small bowel follow through, and perhaps a full colonoscopy. It could be Crohn's or UC or it could be something else.