DSers and Crohns disease or bowel obstructions?
Hey guys, i am sorry, its been a long while since i have posted. There has been a lot going on health-wise in the last year. I hope you can help me out....
Sooo... heres the low down.
I had my DS done in March of 2009. In May of this year I started having tons of abdominal bloating and bouts of diaarrhia non stop daily. If it wasnt diaarrhia, it was what seemed to be like an incomplete bowel movement and my poop was looking "foamy" or like little worms. (TMI I know , but want to give as much info as possible. ) So the next week I went to my dr. thinking I had a UTI. She prescribes me cipro. A few days later I am in the hospital with some pretty bad pain and they find out i have multiple kidney stones and a kidney infection. They scoped me to remove the stones and have me on levaquin for the infection. After they release me from the hospital, they have me on another 10 days of cipro. ( While I am getting the CT scan to find out where the pain is coming from the Dr. mentions I am terribley constipapted. I told him I didnt know how that was possible because I have been having non stop diarrhia. He did not say anything to that. I have never been constipated with diaarrhia before. ) sooo all this continues and the bloating inmy stomach is out of control. I wake up looking like im 9 months pregnant. I was thinking that perhaps the anti-biotics messed up my gut and I start high on the dosing of the probiotics. This continues and I call my pcp and I tell her that maybe theres a bacterium causing all of this. She sends my stools for samples for H. Pylori and C,diff and starts me on flagyl. ( The flagyl made it 10 times worse) My tests come back negative. Sooo a few more weeks pass by and I wake up in the middle of the night with the worst pain I have ever had in my life in my upper abdomin stomach region. I couldnt even speak . I am taken to the ER, they are checking for an obstruction, I had an MRI done and another CT done with contrast. Cannot find anything, but they mention that I am constipated again. OKay..... So they keep me there for 3 days on a liquid diet and then send me home saying that everything looks good. I am still sicker than a dog everyday. The Surgeon I saw wants to do an upper scope on me. Ha, now the pain has moved to where my colon is and i am having bouts of extreme pain. The gasto Dr. Suggests Crohns disease may be the culprit. He states that all the symptoms presented like an obstruction . I have recently started vomiting after I have eaten as well. I thought it was from dairy and then i thought it was from sugar alcohols. Eliminating them did not make a difference.
My question to my fellow DSers is : Have any of you been diagnosed with Crohns disease since your DS and if so how are you treating it? I have a history of Multiple Sclerosis so I would not be surprised if I have some other autoimmune disease to accompany it. I just dont know what to do next. Oh, and I have had my GB removed and they checked the ducts for stones. I feel hopeless and miserable :(
Thank you for your help
I'm the Queen... my pantyhose say so!!!!!!!
HW/ 302 SW/287 CW/140 GW/135
I was reading someones story last night, but I cant recall if it is melody.
I would (as silly as this sounds) love to have an obstruction vs. Crohns. Before I had my DS I had terrible irritible bowel syndrome, and the DS cured it instantly. It was the greatest thing about the surgery. The abdominal swelling is extremely uncomfortable. The pain I am having in the lower groin area feels very much like the Colon spasms I used to have related to the IBS. This time however, It feels like im struggling to pass gas even though I eventually can but there isnt much relief associated with it.
I thought all signs pointed to Partial obstruction especially the look of the poop and not being solid like it used to be.
If anyone can recall a weird obstruction, please let me know!
I'm the Queen... my pantyhose say so!!!!!!!
I would think that they would be able to visualize some inflammation on the CT if it were Crohn's Disease.
Did anyone do bloodwork on you? Check for inflammatory markers? WBC counts (infection)? Any checking for cccult blood in the stool?
Did the GI doc have anything to say about treating the Crohns? Steriods, etc?
I'm pretty sure the inflammation from Crohn's can be so bad to actually cause a bowel obstruction though, so I guess technicaly, it could be both!
Either way, I think you need a colonoscopy and maybe an upper GI series.
Do you have a follow up appointment or some other kind of an appointment with an GI doctor? You may want to research online to see what others are saying about the GI of your choosing. Some GIs seem more suited to just doing preventative care, once-a-decade colonoscopies, etc, and they don't really care that much about diagnosing major or complicated issues. You don't want one of those, you need to find one that doesn't give up.
I had a bad GI and I now have a good one, and the difference is very significant. Bad GI blamed my DS, told me to deal with it. Good GI ordered more imaging, studies, gave sample meds, etc. Huge bag of "tricks."
5'9.5" | HW: 368 | SW: 353 | CW: 155 +/- 5 lbs | Angel to 
Thank you for the reply... I actually have a follow up appt with my own surgeon. When I was hospitalized, I wasn't close to the hospital I had my surgery at so I saw 2 Dr.s who used to preform DS one now retired and one who just does other Bariatricd procedures. The next step in an upper GI, I think a colonoscopy is a good idea. I had a scope last year after my GB was removed because of "gastroparesis" which was actually related to my MS. Basically it causes paralysis of the intestines and I was not digesting food. A round of steroids fixed that and I went back to my normal self after 6 weeks. Its my fault for not seeing my original surgeon in the first place but I actually feel pretty confident in the other Dr's for their continuous efforts. I didn't really see the GI Dr. much last year because my surgeon just gave him the case history and he performed the scope. I liked him from what I did talk to him so I will follow up with him if I can. I guess its just process of elimination.
All blood work is good, no infections. All vit levels are good as well.
I'm the Queen... my pantyhose say so!!!!!!!
Hugssss,
Felicia
