confused about bowels

[Purplelover3]

Hi everyone so was just wondering if anyone had similar symptoms.

Iv had 3 children in less then 5 years, after my second born in 2021 i started getting piles every month.

after my baby boy was born in May 2023 I also got the piles but probably once every few months , I was on iron tablets while pregnant due to mild anemia deficiency. I’d have constipation on these and would cause piles to bleed.

My bowels have been a bit up and down , I went away to Egypt end of November and while there had an intense shooting pain in abdomen and back passage that lasted about an hour, then the next day was followed by diarrhoea. (Assumed I’d eaten something)

anyway I did have this pain again last week but was only half hour.

im currently going through gastro neurologist as my calprotectin was elevated at 275. My most recent calprotectin is now 211 so it’s gone down.

I’m due an MRI to check small intestine for possibility of crohns however I don’t feel like my symptoms match this?

my bowels have been pretty normal recently and I don’t get random bleeding or mucus etc

My fit test was normal as was my full blood count so I’m confused

I have health anxiety and recently cut out caffeinated coffee which helped and also white bread

[Purplelover3]

Thank you for your reply 😊

I thought IBS however apparently you don’t get inflammation with that. I did also wonder if having 3 kids in 5 years has anything to do with it but it’s hard to know for sure.

I don’t get bleeding unless I get a pile, and haven’t actually had one in just over two months. Funny enough since cutting out white bread and cutting down on iron tablets.

I have the mirena coil so my periods are extremely light and not painful. But I’d say they come about the same time every month as normal. The pain was a week or so prior to my period.

Awaiting MRI results tomorrow so pretty anxious at the moment. Also having a transvaginal ultrasound tomorrow morning.

Yes I was very gassy 2 weeks ago with some bloating but seems a lot better recently.

Blood tests normal and fit test normal but it’s the calprotecin that was elevated which indicates some form of inflammation. This has dropped recently from 275 to 211 so I have no clue what to make of it. I’m going through private insurance so it’s moving pretty quickly thank god.

[Purplelover3]

Sorry you had to go through all of that, nothing worst then not knowing what’s going on.

Normal range for calprotectin is 0-50 so anything above that can indicate inflammation in bowel etc which normally I believe can point to crohns/ colitis so that’s why they done the MRI on me. I did have an abdominal ultrasound which was also fine.

I will keep you updated on my results. I get a call at 5.30pm today from my consultant so fingers crossed.

[Purplelover3]

So just an update , MRI was clear so no signs of small Crohns or anything going on. I will have a follow up blood test done in 6 months.

Likely I have IBS, so this is a huge weight lifted off my shoulders 😊

[Purplelover3]

Thank you 😊

Oh I really hope you get a good outcome and I’m sure you will , I would say don’t worry but I’m the worst for it lol I suffer real bad with health anxiety!

We all know our bodies but we also know there are many other things it can be other then cancer , so we have to keep hope in that.

It’s stressful not knowing and sorry you’ve had to go through it all.

But I’m sending you all the luck and best wishes , keep me posted 😊x